from staff
Sam Mousa, a longtime City engineer and former Chief Operating Officer under both former Mayor John Delaney and current Mayor John Peyton, is back with the City as a consultant on the County Courthouse project.
Mousa confirmed Tuesday afternoon that he has agreed — at the request of Chief Administrative Officer Alan Mosley in the form of a letter dated Monday — that he will offer his services through the end of next February on the much-maligned project.
Mousa — who is the executive vice president at J.B. Coxwell Contracting Inc. — was in the Delaney administration when the Better Jacksonville Plan was passed in 2000. That plan included what was a voter-approved $190 million courthouse. That cost has escalated to nearly $400 million and Mousa said one of his primary goals is to quickly assess whether that cost is accurate and determine the next course of action. He said his recommendation will be relatively simple: either build the courthouse and get on with the project soon or scrap it altogether.
According to Mosley’s letter, Mousa will provide “executive level oversight of the proposed Duval County Courthouse Facility project.” Under the agreement which both Mousa and Mosley signed Monday, Mousa will also work with City Council, to pass the necessary legislation, as well as Turner Construction, who will build the facility.
The contract between Mousa and the City must be approved by the City’s Professional Services Evaluation Committee.
“I look forward to working with you on this project and am confident that your presence at an executive level on our team will add significant value to the effort and be of great service to this community,” wrote Mosley.
Mousa said he’ll remain with Coxwell and that a clause in the contract gives him the right to terminate the agreement with a seven-day written notice.