by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
City Council members Lake Ray and Jerry Holland have drafted legislation to suspend the current contract on the Duval County Courthouse for 90 days.
With a current $268 million budget, Holland and Ray said Thursday the project has “gotten out of hand” and that there is no guarantee that the budget won’t continue to grow.
A press conference to introduce the bill is scheduled for today at City Hall.
“If we move forward with this legislation and suspend the contract,” said Holland. “We would use that time to allow other contractors to bid on the project to see what kind of figures they come back with. Later we would draft a design bill whereby one contractor would be required to work within a very specific budget and on a detailed time frame.”
Holland said the current construction manager, Cannon Design, would also be allowed to resubmit a bid.
“It’s only prudent for us to try something else,” he said. “We have to keep the costs as low as we can.”
Glorious Johnson, who is co-sponsoring the bill, said other contractors should be approached.
“We need to stop playing around on this,” she said. “We’ve wasted enough of the taxpayer’s money already.”
Ray was scheduled to meet with Mayor John Peyton and his staff Thursday to explain the bill and to potentially receive the mayor’s blessing.
“What we’re saying is, we should explore our options, all of our options,” he said. “We’d like to have the mayor’s office on board, but we agreed on $232 million last year and we should be able to make it happen for $232 million.”
That figure, said Ray and Holland, should be able to cover land and construction costs, and fees incurred by various consultants to date.
“Obviously, we intend to pay for those services,” said Holland.
Further details of the forthcoming legislation are sparse, though Holland and Ray said, if it passes, it would also require that the courthouse project not exceed the original $190 million budget approved by voters as part of the Better Jacksonville Plan.
The remaining $42 million would be covered through Peyton’s previously announced bond plan that would be repaid through a $15 surcharge on current courthouse fines.
“It makes sense,” said Ray. “With a different plan, we believe we can complete this project for less while still meeting the needs of the judiciary and the clerk of the court.
“It’s also quite possible to use the funds left over to pay for future expansions. Why wouldn’t we want to try?”