Mayor Lenny Curry’s proposed $1.275 billion budget includes about $83 million in capital improvement projects spread among Jacksonville’s 14 City Council districts.
That’s about half of what the mayor has set aside in the 2017-18 portion of his five-year capital improvement program, which includes new and ongoing infrastructure improvements, solid waste and stormwater projects, and what he’s called his safer neighborhoods investment plan.
The program is a $1.2 billion funding initiative slated to run through the 2022 fiscal year.
Several of the more than 100 projects listed for the 2017-18 year, which begins Oct. 1, span multiple years.
This year, an additional $77.5 million is proposed to address infrastructure issues on a countywide basis, with money earmarked to improve city roads ($13.3 million) and to make sidewalks compliant with the American with Disabilities Act ($14 million).
Other larger items this year include $12 million to upgrade the city’s parks and recreation areas, and $12 million for the design and construction of a 12,000-square-foot emergency communications center and backup system for the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department.
As is the case every year, council has the final say on the budget legislation.
While countywide projects will touch every district in some way, several projects are focused on improving publicly accessible assets like parks, senior and community centers, roads and sidewalks in specific parts of town.
Nearly $3.6 million could help improve existing senior centers throughout the city, such as Frances Padgett Arlington Senior Center at 1078 Rogero Road in District 1.
Council member Joyce Morgan, who represents the Arlington area, said she was “pleasantly surprised to see the mayor making such a considerable effort to improve conditions at this center and others.”
Morgan, serving her first term, said she’d like to see the $944,000 proposed for improvements used to modernize the building.
“I’d like to bring in more light to make it more comfortable and inviting,” said Morgan.
She said the center is “adequate, but we don’t want to settle for just adequate.”
“I never thought it was representative of what we should be providing for our seniors,” she added.
Morgan’s district also could benefit from the mayor’s safer neighborhoods investment plan, which includes upgrades to public swimming pools like the one at Woodland Acres Park.
The mayor has proposed $1 million to retrofit pools across the city for year-round use.
The topic of pool safety and drowning prevention came up at the end of the last fiscal year, and is likely to be a focal point under new Finance Committee Chair Garrett Dennis.
“It’s huge for him to step up like that, to take a step in improving public safety,” Dennis said of Curry’s plan.
“That’s our No. 1 goal as public servants in Jacksonville, to provide a safe and healthy place for the people we represent,” he said.
Roads and sidewalks also could get more attention in the next year.
In West Jacksonville’s District 12, Curry is setting aside $3 million in 2017-18 to widen Chaffee Road South from Interstate 10 to Normandy Boulevard.
Through 2022, the project could cost $26.2 million, and is one of largest city-funded projects for any district.
“We need it, that’s for sure,” said council member Doyle Carter, who represents the area.
“We’ve approved almost 2,000 new homes in that region, along with the big Amazon projects, so that road is going to be over capacity very soon,” he said.
Carter said the most exciting item in the budget for him was a project not in his district, a $4.2 million fire station near Argyle Forest.
“I think we’ve been waiting for that since about ’99 or 2000,” Carter said about the station for District 14.
“It’s going to save people millions in insurance costs to have more rescue coverage in that part of town.”
Another area of interest is enhancing access to the St. Johns River, a priority shared by council member Lori Boyer.
During her term as council president last year, Boyer focused on the river with several efforts, including the addition of “nodes” or access points to connect parts of Downtown.
In 2018, she’s hoping that $1 million, which she said was moved from last year’s budget, will be used to repair and enhance Friendship Fountain.
“We want to create an interactive experience there that is unique to Jacksonville,” she said.
Her District 5 is slated to receive another $5.9 million for new and ongoing projects, including $600,000 to continue rebuilding the Riverfront Park bulkhead that was damaged during Hurricane Mathew, and another $1 million to continue expanding and enhancing the Southbank Riverwalk.
Boyer said Thursday that some of the line items, such as $425,000 for street and pedestrian improvements at Children’s Way and Nira Street on the Southbank, “are there to fill in the gap from existing infrastructure or for projects we’ve already completed.”
Boyer said other projects, including those for Downtown, have been in previous capital improvement budgets, “waiting their turn for funding.”
Downtown, which is part of District 7, could get more than $33 million to tackle blight and enhance the infrastructure in the neighborhoods outside the urban core.
About half, $16 million, is earmarked to demolish the old Duval County Courthouse and City Hall buildings, and to continue the Liberty Street, Coastline Drive and parking deck projects.
One of the most controversial line items in the program so far seems to be $8.4 million to improve dormitories and construct a community field at Edward Waters College, a project Curry announced before his budget was released July 19.
District 7 council member Reggie Gaffney said last week he is extremely happy to see the mayor “investing in that area, which needs a lot of attention.”
Gaffney said there’s enough support for the projects because the community field at Edward Waters College provides a “safe place for young people.”
Gaffney and council members representing districts in North and Northwest Jacksonville serve on the Finance Committee and will have significant input into how projects are funded.
Some districts won’t see a lot of capital improvement projects outside of countywide proposals.
District 3, roughly bordered by Wonderwood Expressway south to Butler Boulevard, and from St. Johns Bluff Road east to San Pablo Road, has no specific projects outlined in the program.
It’s the same for District 11, which extends south of Butler Boulevard to the St. Johns County line, and east from about Philips Highway to St. Johns County.
Council Vice President Aaron Bowman, who represents District 3, said while it may seem those districts are being left out, “the reality is, there’s already a lot of projects going on.”
“My district is fairly young in the scheme of things, and there’s been a tremendous amount of local and state dollars for projects over the last decade,” Bowman said Tuesday at the council meeting.
“We’ve got projects going on at Kernan (Boulevard) and Joeandy (Road) and others as we speak,” he said.
Bowman said like all budgets, taxpayers should take into consideration how much money the state and federal governments are investing into infrastructure.
“The city isn’t the only player here,” he said.
Beginning in August, the Finance Committee will hold hearings to comb through the entire $1.275 billion budget, including the capital improvement program.
Dennis said he’s been “digging through the budget, page by page, since the mayor released it.”
“There are 19 members of council, 14 districts, and as finance chair my job is to make sure I’m balancing the mayor’s priorities and the priorities of each district council member,” he said.
“It’s a balance, but one I think we’ll have a handle on come August,” he said.
Boyer said she doesn’t anticipate specific line items being completely cut.
“I think, like in previous budgets, we may find room in there for other projects down the line,” she said.
Boyer said this year the council has more flexibility to focus on capital improvements after addressing the $ 2 billion unfunded employee pension liability through passage of a half-cent sales tax that takes effect after the Better Jacksonville Plan expires in 2030.
Boyer said when it comes to lack of funding for capital improvements in the past, the problem wasn’t that the city couldn’t take on new debt.
“The issue was we couldn’t make our monthly payments to service that debt because a large portion of our operating budget was being consumed by the pension issue. The important thing to know with this budget is we are not taking out more debt than we’re paying down,” she said.
“That means some projects, which have been waiting for funding for years, could finally have a chance at getting done.”
These projects are part of a 5-year capital improvement program. Numbers indicate funding for 2017-18 only.
Arlington Sr. Center Renovations: $944,000
Woodland Acres Park - Pool Retrofit#: $200,000
4 Projects Total: 1,330,162
Huguenot Memorial Park Beach Access: $550,000
Jackson Street Floating Dock: $500,000
2 Projects Total: $1,050,000
No Specific Projects: $0
Fire Station No. 63 - New#: $4,440,385
Southside Senior Center: $600,000
6 Projects Total: $5,998,097
Friendship Fountain Repairs & Nodes: $1,250,000
Southbank Riverwalk Extension & Enhancements: $1,000,000
13 Projects Total: $6,908,378
Mandarin Senior Center Expansion: $1,500,000
Julington / Cormorant (Loretto RdConveyance & Pond)^: $1,484,600
4 Projects Total: $4,002,085
EWC Student Housing / Community Field Improvements#: $8,400,000
Courthouse / City Hall Remediation & Demolition : $8,000,000
16 projects Total: $33,572,220
Riverview Area Water Extension: $1,000,000
Jax Ash Site Polution Remediation*: $1,000,000
8 Projects Total: $4,652,600
Jax Ash Site Polution Remediation*: $1,000,000
McCoy’s Creek Greenway: $600,000
5 Projects Total: $2,476,000
Jax Ash Site Polution Remediation*: $1,000,000
Charles Clark Park - Pool Remodel: $450,000
8 Projects Total: $3,856,225
No Specific Projects: $0
Trail Ridge Landfill Expansion - Solid Waste: $4,500,000
Chaffee Road widening: $3,000,000
5 Projects Total: $9,442,950
Mayport Docks: $900,000
Hanna Park - Parking Lot 11: $660,000
5 Projects Total: $2,492,500
Fire Station No. 61 - New#: $4,210,385
Big Fishweir Creek - Ecosystem Restoration Project (ACOE joint Project): $1,600,000
5 Projects Total: $7,219,985
* - Projects spanning multiple districts ^ - Stormwater CIP # - Safer Neighborhoods Investment Plan
(Includes CIP, Stormwater, Solid Waste, Mayor’s Safer Neighborhoods Investment Plan)
Traffic street light (mast arm paint): $75,000
New Sidewalk Construction: $1,399,398
Public Buildings - Roofing: $400,000
Public Buildings - ADA: $2,600,000
Pavement Markings: $1,000,000
Traffic Signalization: $350,000
Roadway Safety Project - Pedestrian Crossings: $300,000
Roadway Sign Stripe and Signal: $1,350,000
Citywide Intersection Improvements & Bridge Rehab - Bridges: $3,000,000
Railroad Crossings: $75,000
Citywide Intersection Improvements & Bridge Rehab - Intersections: $1,000,000
Sidewalk Curb Construction and repairs: $3,000,000
Roadway resurfacing: $13,347,595
Facilities Capital Maintenance - Gov’t: $1,100,000
ADA Compliance - Sideawlks and Curb: $14,000,000
Countywide Bulkhead / Assessment, Repairs, Replacement: $500,000
Hardscape - Countywide: $500,000
St. Johns River Bulkhead Assessment, Restore: $1,000,000
Traffic Signalization - Enhancements: $75,000
Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Improvement Project: $1,100,000
Traffic Calming: $150,000
Fire Station Diesel Exhaust Systems: $2,162,000
Countywide Parks and Recreation Projects: $12,000,000
Drainage System Rehabilitation - Cap. Improvements ^: $679,000
Drainage System Rehabilitation - Cap. Maintenance ^: $4,200,000
Stormwater Pump Stations - Cap. Maintenance: $150,000
Combined 911 Comm. Center Facility & Back-up # : $12,000,000
* - Projects spanning multiple districts ^ - Stormwater CIP
# - Safer Neighborhoods Investment Plan
(Includes CIP, Stormwater, Solid Waste, Mayor’s Safer Neighborhoods Investment Plan)