by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
If you own a boat and have had trouble docking in certain areas of the marina at Metropolitan Park lately, there’s a good reason for it.
Nature has taken its course and over the past couple of years silt has slowly started to fill in around the pilings at the marina. According to Kelley Boree, deputy director of Parks, Recreation & Entertainment, the water is little more than four feet deep in places.
Monday, the City Council Finance Committee approved a bill that sets aside nearly $700,000 for the project.
“The marina is in a cove and because of the natural flow (of the river), the marina holds silt,” said Boree, explaining that the City’s police and fire and rescue vessels started noticing the problem, as did the City dockmaster.
Boree said the project, which will be monitored by the Public Works Department, will go to bid shortly after the full Council approves the legislation. Hopefully, she said, the project can be awarded and completed during the winter months — in time for both the spring boating and events season and manatee season.
The silt, Boree said, will be pumped onto a barge and deposited in an approved area.
“There’s is just under 8,000 cubic yards of silt that needs to be dredged,” said Boree, explaining that after the project, the entire docking area will be at least six feet deep.
In other news from the Finance Committee:
• The Committee approved $38,605 for new thermal imaging equipment for Jacksonville Fire & Rescue stations.
“This sounds like a pretty good plan,” said Finance Chair Art Shad. “I saw a documentary on this technology. It’s pretty amazing.”
• The Committee also approved $175 million worth of revenue bonds or commercial paper notes for two new commercial terminals at the Jacksonville Port Authority. The first, Mitsui OSK Lines, is already under construction while ground hasn’t been broken for the second planned terminal, the one for Korean cargo shipper Hanjin.
“This is exciting,” said Shad. “This is capital investment for the first Port deal and part of the second.”
• One bill was quickly deferred: funding for the new County Courthouse.
• Speaking of the Courthouse, Shad said he would like to see public comment about the Courthouse on a near-future Finance Committee agenda. He said Council meeting regular Martha Shirko suggested it during Monday’s Finance agenda meeting.
“I thought it was a good idea,” said Shad.
The mayor’s office has proposed the construction of a $400 million County Courthouse complex.