Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves provided updates on several key city initiatives during a press conference on Wednesday, highlighting progress on stormwater improvements and the growth of the city’s recycling program.
Stormwater Projects on Track
Major stormwater projects remain on schedule. “Despite the rain this summer, we still are on track as we announced in early July when the closure took place. We are still on track to reopen this intersection on Friday, Sept. 5,” Reeves said regarding the Main Street at B intersection closure, which will benefit approximately 1,700 homes by reducing street flooding.
- The project at Ninth Avenue and Bayfront Parkway near Admiral Mason Park is expected to wrap up in about four weeks, while work on 12th Avenue and Fairfield Drive is ahead of the 40-day schedule and may reopen by the end of the month rather than next month.
Recycling Program
The city’s recycling initiative has reached 2,700 households, representing about 13% of current sanitation customers.
- “We were aiming for 10% the first month, so we were actually surpassing what we expected,” Reeves said. Recent direct mail campaigns have generated 200 postcard opt-ins, and the program has collected 42,000 pounds of recycling material to date.
Community Center Improvements Move Forward
The bid process for Cobb Center renovations closed Tuesday, with three submissions received. After the lowest bidder withdrew, the remaining two bids are under review by the purchasing department. “This is phase one of saving and restoring Cobb Center that was well on its way with yet again deferred maintenance and neglected maintenance here in the city,” the mayor explained. “That tends to cross my desk certainly more often than I would like because it’s been forgotten about for generations.”
- The project represents efforts to prevent the community center from reaching “a point of no return that we’ve already seen previously.” The contract award is expected to go before the city council on Sept. 25.
Bay Bluffs Park Progress
The city has finalized a grant agreement with Conservation Florida for Bay Bluffs Park improvements after months of waiting for state environmental approvals. The mayor expressed his eagerness for the project: “There’s no one more impatient about getting Bayless Park done inside these city limits than me. So whatever urgency you feel, add 10% and that’s the urgency I feel about getting Bayless Park up and going.”
The $2.2 million project agreement, supplemental budget resolution, and site dedication will be presented to the city council at the Sept. 11 meeting, marking the first major step toward implementation.
The CRA board approved moving forward with Portland Loo installations at MLK Plaza and Blake Doyle Skate Park, with work beginning early September and completion by the end of November. Reeves prioritized MLK Plaza, saying: “I feel like DIB has been waiting, and lots of folks, public and private, have been working on porta-potties there for a long time.”
- Since 2022, Inweekly has paid for a Port-a-Potty, aptly named “Potty for the People,” that has remained available 24 hours daily for public use. The paper stepped up after discovering the other portable toilets were only unlocked on Saturdays for the Palafox Market’s customers.