DeLand Mayor Bob Apgar
The DeLand City Commission and the Downtown DeLand Community Redevelopment Agency will meet Monday, Nov. 7, to talk about planned improvements to West Voorhis Avenue and longtime Mayor Bob Apgar’s retirement.
CRA
The first city board to meet is the Downtown DeLand CRA, which will convene at 6 p.m. Nov. 7. The board is slated to discuss the latest updated design plans for improvements to a two-block stretch of West Voorhis Avenue in Downtown DeLand.
Plans for the Voorhis Avenue streetscape project have been in the works since last year, and this meeting will be the latest opportunity for development firm CPH and the Downtown CRA to show the project off to the public.
While originally projected to cost less than $1 million, the scope of the project has grown and the cost has increased to approximately $2.8 million. That price tag includes road improvement — like a sidewalk bike path and designs to slow traffic — improved lighting, a traffic circle at the intersection of West Voorhis Avenue and South Clara Avenue, and a decorative intersection at West Voorhis Avenue and South Florida Avenue.
The CRA will discuss whether to approve borrowing $950,000 for the project.
City Commission
Next, at 7 p.m., the DeLand City Commission will convene.
One item on the agenda is the introduction of four new DeLand Police Department officers: Angel Mercado, Jermaine McQueen, Javon Kelly and Anthony Denatale Jr. The City Commission will also discuss details about the transfer of property to facilitate the extension of Beresford Avenue.
The Nov. 7 meeting of the DeLand City Commission will be longtime Mayor Bob Apgar’s last meeting before his retirement. Apgar has served a total of 34 years on the DeLand City Commission as a commissioner and a mayor, and he has served five consecutive terms as mayor, from 2001 to 2022.
The City Commission will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 15, for a special organizational meeting to swear in the new members of the DeLand City Commission — Dan Reed, who will take over the seat left by City Commissioner Chris Cloudman so he could run for mayor, and either Cloudman or Reggie Williams, the two candidates seeking to be the city’s next mayor.
DeLandites will know who their next mayor will be after ballots are tallied on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 8.
Both the Downtown DeLand CRA and the City Commission will meet in the City Commission Chambers at DeLand City Hall, 120 S. Florida Ave. Both meetings will also be available to watch live online at the city’s website, HERE.
The full agendas for the CRA meeting and the City Commission meeting are also available online on the city’s website.
