by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
In a proposal submitted Wednesday to Berkman Plaza’s legal counsel, the City, pending its own damage assessment, offered to help pay for repairs to a leaky bulkhead running under the $70 million development’s half-built Riverwalk.
Assistant General Counsel John Germany said City engineers were ready “right away” to inspect the damaged bulkhead. An engineer for Berkman builder D.B. Holdings estimated a $1.3 million fix, which the Atlanta-based developer requested the City pay.
Germany said the City was “skeptical about that price,” and proposed that City divers examine the leak to determine if the bulkhead needed to be rebuilt as asserted by the developer’s engineer, or if a less-costly patch job would suffice.
“We’ll help pay if the leak is something that will affect the Riverwalk,” said Germany. “If it’s something they want done to cosmetically improve their development, the City will not be responsible for that.”
Germany said the City was awaiting the developer’s go-ahead to inspect the leak.
If the leak is judged to threaten the planned Riverwalk’s structural integrity, Germany said the City would help pay for the repair. Before Wednesday’s meeting, which included Germany and Public Works representatives, an e-mail from Jacksonville Economic Development Commission chief of site development Ray Newton said the City expected the developer to pay for the repair on its own, having already budgeted $2.4 million in City money to build the Riverwalk.
Although D.B. Holdings, according to the 1999 redevelopment agreement, accepted the land as is and was charged with examining the property’s soil prior to signing the deal, Germany said the City and the developer budgeted the job at $2.4 million without knowledge of the bulkhead repair.
Germany said the City would not pay for the Riverwalk’s maintenance until it was complete and conveyed back to the City, which has so far dismissed bills from the the developer charging for the Riverwalk’s maintenance.
“Until the Riverwalk is complete, they own that property. They’re billing us for maintaining their property,” said Germany.
Although the developer can wait until 2006 to decide whether to build Berkman Plaza’s second phase, Germany said he expected the completed Riverwalk to stretch from Catherine Street to Liberty Street before the 2005 Super Bowl.
Berkman spokesperson Jeanne Ward said she was happy with the City’s proposal, adding she was confident that Riverwalk and Phase 2 construction would proceed according to the agreement’s timetable.