City Council President Anna Lopez Brosche said Tuesday that she is opposed to holding workshops on deepening the St. Johns River, even after calls to do so from other council members.
During the Finance Committee’s review of Mayor Lenny Curry’s city budget, council members John Crescimbeni and Tommy Hazouri called on JAXPORT leadership to be more forthcoming about the $500 million dredging project, which has drawn opposition from environmental groups and others.
Brosche issued a statement Tuesday saying that workshops would not be appropriate, “after evaluating information made available from several years of public consideration for the project.”
She listed 10 reasons, most of which reference the lawsuit involving JAXPORT, the St. Johns Riverkeeper and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
During Friday’s budget review committee, Hazouri pressed JAXPORT interim CEO Eric Green about the dredging, saying the independent authority was “hiding behind lawyers” to avoid a public dialogue.
Council member Lori Boyer suggested council and JAXPORT hold a shade meeting, which is not open to the public, to answer questions.
In her statement, Brosche said she was “confident that we can continue to pursue a balanced approach regarding harbor deepening so we can grow our economy and support international trade while also protecting the environment.”
“I do not believe a public workshop and or discussion by the City Council will yield results to the satisfaction of those requesting the same, nor do I believe a public discussion will yield an outcome different than the path on which we currently find ourselves,” the statement reads.
Here is Brosche's list of reasons:
- JAXPORT is an independent authority of the City of Jacksonville, whose Board appointed by the Governor and Mayor voted to proceed with the harbor deepening project. As such, the harbor deepening project is underway.
- JAXPORT has not requested any funding during either the 2016-2017 or 2017-2018 fiscal years to proceed with the harbor deepening project, i.e. there is no funding request before the Jacksonville City Council for the harbor deepening project and there is no legislation before the Jacksonville City Council related to the harbor deepening project requiring a vote
- Per JAXPORT Interim CEO Eric Green, JAXPORT may not ever make a request of the City of Jacksonville for funding of the harbor deepening project, i.e. JAXPORT may independently fund the harbor deepening project through other funding sources;
- Per General Counsel Jason Gabriel, the City Council cannot command JAXPORT or its Board to stop the harbor deepening project;
- The St. Johns Riverkeeper has sued the Army Corps of Engineers, a lawsuit to which JAXPORT formally intervened and became party as host to the harbor deepening project;
- I have had meetings with the St. Johns Riverkeeper, Riverkeeper advocates, and JAXPORT officials, in which each party asserts the other party is using incorrect numbers and assumptions in the analysis of economic benefits and environmental concerns regarding the harbor deepening project;
- As a result of the active lawsuit, the Army Corps of Engineers will not be present to respond to questions about the work they performed or reports they issued in connection with the harbor deepening project;
- On the advice of both General Counsel Jason Gabriel and third-party counsel hired by the General Counsel, JAXPORT will not participate in a public discussion regarding the harbor deepening project in light of the active lawsuit regarding the same matter;
- The funding requirements of the project and related implications on Jacksonville taxpayers are not certain or known, are continuing to evolve, and may never materialize; and
- The harbor deepening project has been under public consideration and discussion for 8+ years, including being a hot topic of inquiry during my campaign for office.
