by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
The committee that will help steer the future of Jacksonville’s seaport and airport met for the first time Tuesday to set the structure and goals for the recently created Seaport and Airport Special Committee.
Dist. 12 City Council member Daniel Davis will chair a three-person committee created by City Council President Ronnie Fussell to assist the Jacksonville Port Authority and Jacksonville Aviation Authority to find funding for infrastructure improvements and cultivate business opportunities for Cecil Field. The former Naval air base on the Westside is in Davis’ district.
“The committee is going to play a vital role in one of the most important issues the city faces,” said Davis. “The development of the port and the infrastructure that is needed to move cargo and containers across the United States is critical to Northeast Florida.”
Half of the job of the newly created committee will be to identify improvements that need to be made and the other half will include identifying “potential state and federal funding sources for these improvements; and act as the liaison with local, state and federal officials to help prioritize infrastructure projects and assist with funding sources that stimulate economic development.”
Council members Art Graham and Stephen Joost have also been chosen to serve on the committee. Both Graham, president of ART-Environmental Consulting Services and Joost, vice president and CFO of Firehouse Subs, have experience in developing business.
The committee discussed some of its goals at its first meeting Tuesday. Dredging the port to 45-50 feet to accommodate boat traffic was the first goal discussed. The committee also identified infrastructure improvements as a goal. Those improvements are needed to get the cargo off the boats and shipped throughout the country. Improvements to roads and railways were deemed necessary to address these issues. More than 8 million tons of cargo was shipped through the port in 2007.
The development of Cecil Field as a major distribution center for the port was the third goal identified by the committee.
Graham was interested to see the engineering study that the mayor’s office is developing on railway infrastructure at the seaport. He also wanted to find out what would be needed in the future for the port and distribution centers as far as warehouse space and road needs.
Acquiring land for future distribution hubs was another issue Graham thought needed to be addressed.
Joost was absent due to a scheduling conflict.
The committee will meet again Aug. 26 at 4 p.m. This meeting will be the first “official” meeting and it will feature groups who will be involved with port and distribution development. CSX is scheduled to give a presentation on railroad issues at the port. Representatives from the Port Authority, JAA, the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission and the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce are expected to attend also.
Committee meetings will occur regularly on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month at 4 p.m. at City Hall, just prior to regularly scheduled Council meetings.
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