A.G. Gancarski
Passed at Tuesday’s Jacksonville City Council meeting: an emergency appropriations bill to get dune restoration moving forward from Beach Blvd. up to 16th Street … and potentially south of Beach Blvd. as well.
$7.5 million will be moved from the debt management fund for the work, with oversight from the mayor’s office’s CFO and Chief Administrative Officer, and the public works department.
Of that sum, $6.5 million will be for dunes; $1 million for sea oat planting.
More money would have to be allocated by council at a later date.
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The agenda meeting ahead of the council meeting fleshed out the parameters of the bill.
CFO Mike Weinstein cautioned in the council agenda meeting against “betterment” of the dunes, pending a full FEMA declaration, saying “any indication that you’re doing this to be reimbursed” can hurt reimbursement.
Weinstein added that “we’re on very thin ice” regarding this, but “it’s to our benefit to do this quickly rather than slowly.”
Weinstein advised that the scope of the work must be limited to “replacement” and not “betterment.”
FEMA authorized the money for dune restoration earlier on Tuesday, as FEMA expanded its reimbursement to include public facility repair and restoration, which makes this an eligible activity.
Historically, Weinstein said during the actual council meeting, reimbursement came through the county.
“There are many, many requirements for reimbursement,” said Weinstein, and historically 75 percent of it comes from FEMA, with an additional 12.5 percent from the state.
“The first step is for us to wire $6.5 million to the Corps,” Weinstein said. “But we’re not going to move too quickly … we’re going to move very carefully.”
Sometimes, Weinstein added, the reimbursements take two years.
Meanwhile, Weinstein added later, the Army Corps of Engineers will extend its contract with the current contractor to expedite the process.
“There are five companies in the entire country that can do this work,” Weinstein said.
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Councilman Bill Gulliford noted the “very short window” for commencement of the work, adding that the contractor is moving at “500 feet a day,” and it would cost “somewhere in the millions of dollars to bring that dredge back” to complete the work.
Time is of the essence, in other words.
“It could be as much as double the cost if we brought him back later on,” Gulliford said, adding that failure to restore the dunes could leave the beach vulnerable to flooding should another storm hit.
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Beaches Mayors had their say; specifically Mitch Reeves of Atlantic Beach, Charlie Latham of Jacksonville Beach, and Harriet Pruette of Neptune Beach.
Reeves noted that his city council passed a resolution Monday night, supporting the dune reconstruction.
Reeves, in his remarks, noted the cost savings that could be effected by timely restoration of the dunes.
Pruette presented a letter to Council President Lori Boyer “strongly encouraging” passage of the Jacksonville measure.
Pruette noted that Neptune Beach’s annual budget is only $4.3 million a year, and that the city sent Jacksonville $5 million in ad valorem taxes last year while only getting $2 million back.
“We’re all in this together,” Pruette said.
Latham was up next, describing his fear of completely losing his house during the storm.
“We locked arms and we got through it,” Latham said, referencing city leaders who worked together in the Emergency Operations Center during the storm.
Latham spoke to dune depletion leaving some areas of the beaches “completely exposed,” to the point that a Nor’easter could cause significant damage to the beach neighborhoods via flooding.
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Council members had questions. Including about deficit spending.
Councilman Greg Anderson spoke to a perceived “lack of participation” among beaches officials during a public notice meeting earlier Tuesday on this subject.
Latham noted that “we’re a little bit at your mercy at this point,” forecasting “catastrophic” damage should another major storm hit before dune restoration is complete.
Gulliford, meanwhile, noted the importance of the “maintenance” aspect of maintaining vegetation, such as sea oats, to protect the integrity of the dunes.
Councilman Garrett Dennis then threw cold water on the beach lovefest, noting the issues in many council districts, ranging from subpar parks to septic tank issues to bad drainage.
“Councilman Gulliford, well tonight you’re going to get your $7.5 million … and I’m going to be a supporter of that,” Dennis said.
“Tonight … we’re going to vote for $7.5 million of debt for an emergency. But moving forward, this is a point of education for all of us,” Dennis said, saying that all council members should put their needs forth in the form of an emergency to get their funding.
Councilmen Scott Wilson and Reggie Gaffney likewise spoke to needs west of the Intercoastal, including remedying blighted properties and a need for a “true dialogue” as far as taking care of Jacksonville’s many underserved neighborhoods.
