• Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce Chair Ron Autrey has informed City Council President Daniel Davis that the Chamber’s board of directors has adopted a resolution regarding the current rift between the Navy and Westside property owners. According to Autrey, the Department of Defense employs 46,000 people and has an annual economic impact of $8 million. However, Westside property owners argue that land use laws restrict their property rights near NAS Jacksonville. The resolution supports the “prompt adoption of a temporary variance process to provide relief for homeowners demonstrating a need for immediate relief” until mutually agreeable legislation is drafted.
• The folks at One Ocean Resort Hotel and Spa in Atlantic Beach (formerly the Sea Turtle) are getting closer to finishing the renovations. There’s an invite-only cocktail reception set for April 29. Attendees will get a tour of the resort.
• Sara Dougherty is the new volunteer coordinator at the Sulzbacher Center. She started Monday after a 10-month stint in the Peace Corps in Kenya. Dougherty said she was supposed to be in Kenya for two years, but violence forced the Peace Corps to withdraw early.
• The process to name something in honor of the late Don Davis is already underway. City Council member Jack Webb suggested renaming one of the parks in his district, Palmetto Leaves Regional Park, after Davis, but the City’s Parks Department pointed out the designation “Palmetto Leaves” was a reference to Harriett Beecher Stowe’s literary contributions to Florida, so technically the park’s name is already an official recognition. The new regional park at 9A and Baymeadows Road might be a candidate for the Don Davis designation but as Webb said last week, “It might end up not being a park at all. We’re exploring all the possibilities.”
• Some changes in how the Times-Union covers City Hall. Mary-Kelli Palka is moving from the mayor’s office to cover education. Davd Hunt will switch from education to the mayor’s office and Tia Mitchell will cover City Council, taking over for Beth Kormanik. According to communications chief Susie Wiles, Hunt is the 16th reporter to cover City Hall during her time with either Mayor John Delaney or Mayor John Peyton.
• Those that live in City Council member Richard Clark’s district will get a chance to hear first-hand how they can apply for a stormwater fee credit. Clark and officials from the City’s Public Works Department will discuss the fee may 5 at Alimacani Elementary from 6:30-8 p.m.
• Add the Greater Arlington/Beaches Citizens Planning Advisory Committee to the list of those officially opposed to an ordinance that would allow JTA to install advertising-funded bus shelters all over town. According to CPAC Chair Helen Ludwig, the shelters will degrade the City’s streetscape and they will be in highly visible areas as opposed to areas of need.
“The university is no longer a quiet place to teach and do scholarly work at a measured pace and contemplate the universe. It is big, complex, demanding, competitive, bureaucratic, and chronically short of money.”
– Phyllis Dain, U.S. librarian, educator and historian