The St. Johns River wasn’t on City Council President Lori Boyer’s agenda six months ago.
She was busy with political efforts heading up to her year of leading the 19-member legislative body.
However, she started to see it a little clearer the past several months — longevity on council, she said, helps members see how interests and efforts are working but sometimes don’t always intertwine.
Civic and private groups along with public entities all have plans and efforts current and past for the natural asset many call the city’s best.
Many had the same premise or theme. People just weren’t aware of them all, including the ones making those efforts.
It wasn’t on her agenda, she said, “But I am a person when you see an opportunity, you seize it.”
Her initial effort led to about 100 river-enthusiasts packing a small City Hall room Thursday afternoon filled with charts, maps and information of the past.
They included council members past and present, JAX Chamber officials, members of Mayor Lenny Curry’s administration and representatives of Downtown, development and river organizations.
It’s time to get coordinated, Boyer said, to make the effort far more than the sum of the parts and make “our national asset our greatest asset.”
To make the river not just a series of waterfront facilities, but an experience for those who don’t necessarily live near the water.
It will take marketing and awareness, but also the time, effort and patience of the supporters who filled the room.
The effort starts with information and awareness.
The Northeast Florida Regional Council talked about its Maritime Management Plan, a partnership with the University of North Florida and Jacksonville University, which is gathering information about waterfront facilities and the needs of the community.
The Downtown Investment Authority noted its recent push to analyze riverfront design and underutilized properties.
The Florida Inland Navigation District talked about its funding for Exchange Island, Half Moon Island and area boat ramps.
Others stepped up to talk about public and private efforts, too, but the underlying theme was that it is happening — efforts to improve the river are there. People just don’t always know about it all, said Boyer.
She wants to bring those pieces together in a more concise way that shouldn’t require the funding that large-scale efforts or projects might cost.
Those in attendance and members of the community are being asked to sign up for a host of river-related groups focusing on topics like motorized and non-motorized vessels; fishing; marketing; private business opportunities; trails and linkages; and regulatory and permitting.
To sign up for a group, email Carolyn Clark, Urban Land Institute North Florida senior director, at [email protected].
Once those groups are established, Boyer said, they will be asked to review those subjects and come back with information, such as inventory, needs and suggestions to be part of that bigger picture.
Legislation to move forward any part of this effort could happen when needed, she said.
Boyer separately is working on a plan to revamp the local tourism plan, which could include a requirement to better market the St. Johns River and its offerings. Those are details that could come from this river effort.
One of the benefits of this idea, she said, is that it shouldn’t require much funding. That’s often been a stumbling block for the many plans of the past.
Marketing, she said, has been one of those points often discussed along with the many river efforts themselves. People constantly ask what Jacksonville’s signature attraction should be and float riverfront ideas like Ferris wheels, zip lines and others.
Perhaps, she said, the attraction has been here all along — maybe people just don’t know all it has to offer and the many efforts happening.
“We’re already doing it,” she said.
It’s now just a matter of putting all those pieces together.
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