A.G. Gancarski
The last Jacksonville City Council Finance Committee of August had more deferrals than Washington insiders had Vietnam War deferments. Still, the value is in the journey, not the destination. Here are the highlights.
• “Everybody comfortable? I think you can hang meat in here.” – Councilman Bill Gulliford.
• A non-exclusive Grant of Easement (2015-313) to support the JEA 42-incc Force Main River Crossing, which conveyed to JEA a utility easement and two temporary construction easements, in, over, and under portions of Metropolitan Park and an Everbank Field parking lot, was not the easiest sell to Finance. Questions abounded about everything from the logistics of the project to the mechanics of the bill. The location has changed, to align with the extant crossing.
Councilwoman Lori Boyer signaled an intention to vote no, as she wanted to ensure the bill accorded with the Metropolitan Park plan, and didn’t want the measure on the Consent Agenda. Public Works’ Jim Robinson asserted that there would be no conflicts, and that this work would be “more compatible with existing facilities.”
Boyer was not mollified. “I know JEA’s been anxious to move it forward.” JEA urged that permitting of the design-build project was contingent on the approval.
Councilmen John Crescimbeni and Matt Schellenberg wanted to know specifics on the time frame of the job, so that it could be finished by the 2016 Jaguars season. The project would take from March to August, spanning the fallow period between the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament and the beginning of the new Jaguars season.
With 4 1/2 million gallons of sewage a day going through a 45-year-old pipe, time would seem to be of the essence. Pushing the project back two weeks would, it was asserted, potentially require the whole project to be pushed back for another year.
The bill was originally introduced on May 12.
Gulliford quipped: “I’m going to have so much interesting material like this to put in my book about my time on City Council.”
Then he said that this needs to move through, lest there be a headline saying, in effect, City Council defers vote; 45- year-old pipe springs leak.
A 6-1 vote moves the bill through. Transportation, Energy, and Utilities mulls this measure on Monday afternoon.
• An ordinance was approved authorizing $5.453M of CDBG money for “activities that provide decent housing and suitable living environments by expanding economic opportunities … for low and moderate income people.”
Boyer noted that many of the agencies that would benefit from it also benefit for public service grants: $700,000 in the current measure. She cautioned against redundant encumbrances, saying that “maybe these dollars should be put into infrastructure,” citing a HUD directive to do just that.
The bill was approved without dissent.
• A sales tax referendum, which was discussed during the previous council to fund pension costs, was brought up at the end of the meeting. Time is of the essence for Council, said Gulliford, if they want to get this on the ballot for the March presidential preference primary.
“We’ve got a problem,” said Gulliford. “We need to move ahead and stop dragging our feet on it because we’re running out of time.”
