by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
City Council member Jerry Holland insists it’s not a pitch on behalf of the JEA.
Neptune Beach Mayor Dick Brown says the same the thing.
But when Holland goes before the five-member Neptune Beach City Council Feb. 27 to present information about JEA and what it can offer the City of Neptune Beach regarding water and sewer services, to many residents of the small beach town it will sound like Holland is lobbying for JEA to take over those services.
Both Brown and Holland stress that such a takeover isn’t likely. Neptune Beach officials haven’t sought JEA and JEA isn’t looking for 7,500 new customers. However, because Neptune Beach is within his district, Holland has a concern for that community and his constituents.
“Jerry has had a couple of inquiries from folks,” said Brown. “Somebody brought up the water and sewer rates and thought ours were kind of high. That got him interested. He wanted to bring information to us about JEA for future reference. He is going to come to one meeting soon to share that information. The rates are quite attractive.”
Holland wants to assure the residents of Neptune Beach and the officials he’ll address that he is in no way trying to push JEA. He’s well-aware that everyone in Neptune Beach is proud of that city’s autonomy and ability to function without having the ‘big city’ holding its hand.
Although an official from JEA will accompany Holland to the workshop, there will be no attempt to sell anyone on anything.
“It’s more about information to make us aware of what’s available, rather than a pitch,” said Brown, a former Jacksonville City Council and Downtown Development Authority member.
Holland echoed those sentiments and said he will go out of his way to make sure his presentation remains unbiased
“I will not be there to talk about what direction Neptune Beach should go,” said Holland. “I know it’s very political. I know they do not want ‘Big Brother’ looking over them.”
The current water/sewer situation in Neptune Beach is a mixed bag of public sentiment. Brown acknowledged that a majority of the piping east of Third Street needs to be replaced. Much of that area has original piping both in the ground and in the houses. The fact that there have been several water outages recently only lends support to those who would support a shift to JEA. However, the Bal Harbor subdivision — despite the fact it’s much newer —is actually in worse shape.
“Moving to the top of our list is the Bal Harbor subdivision,” said Brown, who is the husband of Jacksonville City Council member Elaine Brown. “It’s newer, but it was plumbed with inferior pipes and and there have been major breaks there.”
Brown said Neptune Beach’s Public Works Department will get Bal Harbor under control before tackling the rest of the city’s problems. Many of the main conduits are original piping, which means the material is deteriorating and is too small to handle the water demands of the homes located east of Third Street.
Shifting services to JEA may be a long term solution for residents of Neptune Beach and there’s growing sentiment for such a switch. Others argue that switching to JEA would mean losing one of Neptune Beach’s last legs of autonomy. Brown and Holland are sympathetic to both sides.
“Some will say if we don’t own our water and sewer system, why have a city? Why exist?” said Brown. “It’s not totally fair to say that. I don’t think there are any serious negotiations taking place right now. There is not any pressure from the rate payers. Looking ahead, the people currently holding office [in Neptune Beach] may not have to address this.
“Jacksonville Beach and Atlantic Beach have mentioned inter-connectivity in the event the Neptune Beach water and sewer treatment plant could not handle the additional capacity. Those are things I think we owe to our constituents to look into.”
Holland said he has talked to Walt Bussells, the CEO and managing director of JEA, about Neptune Beach and said Bussells was receptive to providing any service requested even if, as Holland plans to do, it is just to provide information. Before addressing those in Neptune Beach, Holland will contact homeowners by mail.
“I am going to send a letter to about 2,000 residents in Neptune Beach with information about water bill comparisons,” said Holland. “And, I will ask them: would you like your Council to consider taking a look at JEA service? I will bring a JEA representative with me, but it’s just an alternative and there’s no pressure.
“I have talked to Walt about it and he said JEA would be glad to provide those services. Electric would be more difficult because of their agreement with Jacksonville Beach, but the water service could be taken over without a rate increase. It could be a win-win situation.”
With the new city-wide main conduits and holding tank project that will soon go to bid, a small rate hike will be in order for Neptune Beach residents.
“I think that the small town pride of providing your own services may almost outweigh some small rate reduction,” said Brown. “Privatizing the garbage service [which occurred in May 1992] made sense, but that caused some heartburn.”
Brown said he doubted highly that there would be serious consideration given to JEA taking over services in Neptune Beach while he’s mayor. And, Brown says, it would take more than hearing great things out of Holland and the whim of a few taxpayers.
“I think it would take people showing up at City Hall and saying, ‘You’ve got to do something.’ There are increases in place designed to finance improvements,” said Brown.