Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department director still assessing damage from Irma.
Jacksonville City Council members want a better idea of the upkeep and gaps in amenities at the city’s 424 public parks and facilities.
At a special meeting Wednesday, Recreation and Community Services Department Director Daryl Joseph was asked which parks offer what amenities and how the department prioritizes maintenance issues.
Joseph told council members that for most of the city’s 15 regional parks, “upkeep of recreation areas and golf courses are the major challenges.”
“You can almost get to a point where they’re not in playable condition,” said Joseph about athletic fields at some regional parks.
To change course, Joseph said the department has begun encouraging people to use other green spaces to keep certain athletic fields in better shape.
“You don’t need a football field or a soccer field to just throw the ball around,” he said.
He said every park presents different opportunities and issues, but some council members were not satisfied with his general lack of specifics.
“Our No. 1 concern is maintenance,” said council member Scott Wilson afterward. He chairs the special committee on parks.
“We have a large park service in Jacksonville and I don’t want to say we do a poor job, but I think we can do a better job at maintaining that system.”
In addition to the department’s $44 million budget, the mayor’s capital improvement program sets aside $12 million to upgrade the city’s parks and recreation areas.
The budget also provides $1 million to retrofit pools at city facilities for year-round use.
Council member Lori Boyer said the information distributed Wednesday by Joseph lacked key information on where the city needs to focus maintenance dollars.
“I think we need something that better quantifies that for us as to where your needs and challenges are,” she said.
Wilson said he’s also trying to get specific details on the damage Hurricane Irma caused last month and the impact it could have on ongoing projects.
“I’m not sure when we’re going to have a clear assessment,” said Wilson. “What I can tell you is we’re focused on addressing those problems.”
For example, $600,000 was earmarked to continue restoration of Riverfront Park in San Marco. The project has stalled since the area still is dealing with floodwaters during high tides.
Wilson said he knows most of the city’s parks took on “minor damage, like fallen trees and the like.”
Joseph did not respond to an email asking which parks were damaged by Irma and the potential impact to the capital improvement program.
Jacksonville’s park system also has the capacity to expand, according to a list provided to council members by Joseph.
Twenty-one parks throughout the city are considered undeveloped, while others have what many council members referred to as “gaps in amenities” for different age groups.
Boyer asked for a list of each park and the amenities they offer “to determine where we need to fill in the gaps.”
“I’m just trying to get the information so we can do what we’re assigned to do,” she said.
As JEA continues negotiating with the city for a proposed new Downtown headquarters, at least one council member has been left wanting more.
Council member Matt Schellenberg, council liaison to the publicly owned utility, said he would like to see JEA consider other locations.
“I’m not against a new office building,” said Schellenberg. “I just think building next to other government offices will create a black hole at night.”
He argues that the proposed location across from the Duval County Courthouse will only add to inactivity in the area at night.
“Right now, people leave work and they leave Downtown, so I’m not sure that’s the right spot,” he said.
Schellenberg said the authority also should be looking at vacant Downtown office buildings before committing millions to develop a new campus.
Early estimates by the utility say the new campus could cost at least $78 million to complete.
The utility is negotiating a land swap and development agreement with the city to move from its 1.84-acre headquarters at 21 W. Church St.
The 19-story structure built in the 1960s has an assessed value of $1.66 million, but JEA has said the building’s major systems are almost beyond repair.
The new location, 1.52 acres next to the courthouse, is owned by the city and used for parking.
JEA wants about 220,000 square feet of office space for its 800 employees.
When the city Planning Commission meets this afternoon, it is scheduled to debate several agenda items seeking to expand beer and wine sales.
Starbucks wants the ability to sell beer and wine when it moves from its current spot attached to a Publix-anchored strip mall at 4765 Hodges Blvd. to an outparcel in the same shopping center.
The company is asking for an exemption and a waiver, given its proximity to a nearby elementary school and churches.
In the Tinseltown area, Cinemark USA Inc. wants to join other movie theaters across the country in selling wine and beer to customers.
The commission is scheduled to meet at 1 p.m. today at City Hall.