by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Within the next two years, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office should have a $3.4 million marine waterborne operation and docking facility. A majority — $3.3 million — of the costs will come from a United States Department of Homeland Security grant, while the City will pay for the remaining $75,000 out of its Special Law Enforcement Trust Fund.
According to Sgt. Leonard Propper of the JSO’s Marine Unit, surveyors are already on site.
“We should have the design plans by October and break ground shortly after that,” said Propper, adding the facility should be completed by March 2009. “This is going to be a state-of-the-art facility and one that should make everyone proud.”
The facility will require an additional $1.03 million in fiscal year 2007-08 to meet the City’s overall 25 percent matching grant obligation. When completed, the facility will cost $4.43 million with $4.1 million being construction costs.
Originally planned for Metropolitan Park, the facility is now slated for the Arlington Lions Club Park, which is off University Boulevard North. According to City Council member and Waterways Chair Lynette Self, the original Northbank location didn’t fit with the City’s long term plans for the area and she’s fine with the Arlington location.
“It’s a good location if you had to go to the Intracoastal (Waterway) or Downtown,” she said.
The JSO’s marine unit currently consists of eight boats and six officers that enforce boating safety laws, speed limits and monitor local waterways. According to Propper, the unit has issued 240 speeding tickets since Jan. 1.
Other notes from the Waterways Commission meeting:
• Thanks to cooperation between City and State officials, the Goodby’s Creek dredge project will be finished this month.
According to Self, the permit expired Wednesday and the contractor — Subaqueous Services, Inc. out of Orlando — was on the verge of being forced to come back in November to finish the project. John Pappas, an engineer with the City’s Public Works Department, said the contractor had 10-15 percent of the project’s original 2,950 feet left to dredge. He worked with John Maher with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to get the permit extended through the end of March.
“It has been a challenge and DEP helped get the extension,” said Pappas. “The contractor is staying at it full-bore.”
Maher said state laws require manatee spotters be on site during the entire project and others have been added.
“In March, the manatees return and traditionally Goodby’s Creek is their first stop,” said Maher. “If they show up, we have to stop.”
Goodby’s Creek runs under San Jose Boulevard. The dredging project is from the City-built marina just east of the bridge that crosses San Jose, west to the St. Johns River. Pappas said the 21,000 cubic yards of material dredged from the creek will be deposited on Bartram Island, which is the eastern portion of the island under the Dames Point Bridge.
• The Commission approved legislation that will provide $223,012 from the City’s Environmental Protection Board Trust Fund for a joint project between Jacksonville University and the University of North Florida. The schools will produce a comprehensive report on the state of the St. Johns River. However, the authors of the report intend to make sure it’s simple to read and understand.
“Rather than just data, we will put this in an understandable format,” said Dr. Quinton White of JU.
Dr. Dan McCarthy of JU is also working on the project that will use historical data to covey the status of the river.
“It will be a public report, something the general public can read and get a feel for the general trends in fish population, the vertebrates, the different species, algae and water quality,” said McCarthy. “We are not handling the physical data, but rather the historical data and compiling it. It will be easily dispensable to the public and we’ll put it on paper and in Web format.”
Copies of the report will go to the City. And plans are to establish a Web site and hold public forums where citizens can learn what’s going on with the river and voice their concerns about issues surrounding the river.
• Propper also reported the JSO Marine Unit has purchased two new Sea Doo personal water craft. He said the Sea Doos will allow his unit to better pursue and catch other personal water craft users who speed on the river.
“Police boats don’t work very well when you are chasing someone doing 70 miles per hour,” he said, adding there were two fatalities on the river last year due to people speeding on personal water craft.
“This piece of equipment is needed for areas that don’t have clearance for boats,” said City Council member Art Shad, who helped push for the funding.
Propper said the Sea Doos won’t be marked in an effort to blend in with regular river traffic, but they will be equipped with blue police and strobe lights.
• According to Propper, Jacksonville has the second-highest number of registered boaters per capita in the country.
• City Council member Warren Alvarez reported that a new yacht club broke ground Wednesday in his district on the St. Johns River just north of the ferry. The club will provide dockage for 500-600 boats including yachts up to 120 feet and dry storage for boats up to 45 feet.
According to Alvarez, there is a fee to belong, but you will benefit from lower fuel cost.
The yacht club is slated to open in September or October.