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ORANGE PARK – Town council members and staff addressed three key issues at a workshop early Saturday morning: the town’s waterways, infrastructure and American Disability Act compliance.

Mayor Randy Anderson said the three issues were complex and the workshop format gave each of the matters more time that a normal board meeting wouldn’t.

He called for an aggressive plan to clean up the town’s waterways that’s practical and cost-effective.

Town Manager Sarah Campbell said the town has identified eight problem-laden basins from a 2020 stormwater plan. Town staff also listed a large amount of work the town had done or completed, such as improvements Shaw Street and Winfred Drive.

Anderson asked for a month-to-month update of projects for residents and a quarterly maintenance plan for what the town would attempt to do. Vice-Mayor Eddie Henley added that there should be signage about where work is performed.

“There may be an area residents want to avoid because of work,” Henley said.

Council Member Alan Watt said the town’s plan is sound, but the town doesn’t have the money to accelerate it. He said the grant process is slow and he previously broached the idea of a bond issue for the town’s approximately $10 million in stormwater projects.

“We have a plan, we’ve had a plan for two years,” he said.

Councilmember Susana Thompson said the town should use some of its remaining American Rescue Plan Act funds for stormwater projects. The town has set aside $500,000 toward retention ponds from ARPA dollars and will receive $2.2 million from ARPA in September. “I find that this is a need for our town and we should look at potentially putting these ARPA funds towards these necessary repairs of our tributaries,” Thompson said.

Turning to infrastructure, streets were a major topic, with the council briefly reviewing its Capital Improvement Program list.

For ADA, resident Sherri Snow advocated for a disability task force in the town. Resident Frank Ricketts asked for it to become policy and procedure that the town exceeded ADA’s minimum standards.

“With particular areas where accessibility is problematic at the onset, we need to seriously look at those areas to make sure we are above the minimum standard to minimize the complications that are going to occur,” Ricketts said.

Watt said ADA is a federal law with no variances. He said public involvement and better practices for the town were worth discussing, but the town already adhered to ADA.