Deltona staff told the City Commission on May 3 that next year’s Parks capital program would total about $8.25 million and would fund major upgrades at West Croud Park (sic), Dewey Boster, Thornby Park and other facilities.

Finance Director John McKinney said the projects listed for FY2026 — pavilion improvements, restroom replacements and playground replacements — would be funded by fund balance if the commission chooses to proceed. “All of these projects for next year add up to $8,250,000 That as well is completely funded by fund balance, if that's the way we choose to move forward,” McKinney said.

Commissioners raised specific local concerns. Commissioner Vila Vasquez (District 3) told staff she was disappointed several parks in her district were not included and asked why Lakeshore Park and Lake Gleason were omitted; staff said Lakeshore is tied to a larger drainage/4B infrastructure project and that the city wants to finish that work before redesigning the park.

Public Works Engineering Manager Mark Manning told the commission that stormwater fixes at Manny Rodriguez Park were handled after Hurricane Milton and that the park improvements shown do not include additional stormwater work: “The stormwater issues are not part of the parks. There was an issue after the last storm that was rectified immediately and that has not happened since,” Manning said.

Staff said designs and community meetings held in the previous week identified several larger park concepts (Tom Hoffman Park, Festival Park, Harris Saxon Park, Keyesville Park) that will come back to the commission with design details and cost estimates.

Next steps: staff will finalize estimates, bring designs back to the commission for approval and may use mid-year budget allocations if reserve funds remain to expand work to parks not yet listed.