A.G. Gancarski
Two of Jacksonville City Council President Anna Brosche‘s most prominent antagonists on the Council (Tommy Hazouri and John Crescimbeni) have called for a public workshop on JAXPORT dredging.
But Brosche made the call Tuesday, saying that’s not happening.
Noting that there have been “several years of public consideration” of the project already, Brosche asserted that the workshop would not be appropriate for ten reasons.
One reason: JAXPORT is an independent authority of the city, whose board voted to dredge, and “as such, the dredging project is already underway.”
A second reason: there are no standing appropriations requests for the project to the city from JAXPORT.
A third reason: there may never be such a request for funds.
The other seven reasons include legal justifications (including JAXPORT being involved in legal action currently), and no way to actually know if there will even be costs to Jacksonville taxpayers.
The door is open, however, to a public hearing down the road — once the current legal entanglements are resolved.
“JAXPORT Interim CEO Eric Green has made the commitment to participate in public discussions regarding the
harbor deepening project upon resolution of the current lawsuit, at which time I will evaluate all of the relevant circumstances and consider sponsoring or holding a public workshop,” Brosche asserted.
Councilman Hazouri, meanwhile, isn’t taking no for an answer.
Citing “unknown variables” such as ultimate cost to the city and environmental impact, he vows to continue pressing for a public workshop on dredging.
“It is disrespectful to our citizens to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on such a massive project without having more definitive and clear-cut answers to the final cost of the dredging and impact it may have to our St. Johns River and waterways,” Hazouri asserted via media release.
“Just as the members of Council and the citizens of this City have the right to know these answers,” Hazouri added, “JAXPORT does not have the right to remain silent.”
