FELLSMERE — Fellsmere city leaders are ironing out the details of how they want their downtown to look and feel once the Old Fellsmere School reopens as City Hall.
“We need to make some adjustments,” City Manager Jason Nunemaker said regarding tweaking the site to allow for drainage, parking and festivities.
The Fellsmere City Council met Thursday evening during a workshop designed to get their feedback on signs, landscaping, parking and lighting.
“We’ve been given some new direction,” Nunemaker said, which will require staff to re-evaluate the plans.
Originally, the city thought to use annexed vacant lands for the Frog Leg Festival, Fellsmere Day and other such celebrations. However, city leaders have since decided that they much prefer to keep the festivities in Downtown Fellsmere close to businesses and government offices.
But choosing to go that route has required city workers to rework the drainage and stormwater retention near the Old Fellsmere School in order to keep the property clear enough for the special events.
Next week, members of the council, employees, planners and members of the public who wish to participate, will gather for a walking tour of the downtown area to get a better sense of where the new signs and landscaping might be placed and evaluate the parking options for the festivals.
“It’s one thing looking at it on paper,” Nunemaker said, noting that they could get a clearer understanding of what is being proposed if they get away from the council dais.
The council has debated having a traffic circle on Orange Street near the Old Fellsmere School. The circle, however, would require some old oak trees to be uprooted, which Nunemaker said the council did not want to do.
Instead, the council might decide to have the city’s seal embedded as a mosaic into the street as a pedestrian amenity that might incorporate a flag or clock tower.
The Fellsmere City Council has also discussed ways to make the improvements more eco-friendly. Such options could include using LED lighting, recycled materials, solar-powered lights and sign lighting, and recycling receptacles.
How much money it would take to create the Downtown Fellsmere the city is currently envisioning is not known as the plans continue to evolve.
However, Nunemaker said that the funding would come in part from grants and revenue from the Community Redevelopment Area, which encompasses the area of the Old Fellsmere School, City Hall and the nearby police complex.
