by David Chapman
Staff Writer
Following February’s hectic marathon of a board meeting devoted to compiling a stimulus project list, Thursday’s North Florida Transportation Planning Organization meeting was tame — but still featured a few stimulus related items.
Of the 13 projects approved by the board for stimulus dollars from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 recently signed by President Barack Obama, two Northeast Florida projects won’t be fulfilled for different reasons.
The $4.2 million Collins Road project from Shindler Road to Old Middleburg Road (rated as ninth most important by the board members) that would have added lanes and reconstruction in Duval County, was disqualified as not being eligible for federal aid.
The other, a $7.4 million lane addition and reconstruction project on Ft. Caroline Road from Caroline Vale to Merrill Road, went unfunded due to lack of funds. It was 13th of 13 on the list, with North Florida TPO projects only being allocated $22.4 million, according to Florida Department of Transportation estimates.
A list of projects for the Jacksonville Transportation Authority’s stimulus list, to also be funded by the stimulus bill through the Federal Transit Authority, was approved by board members — $7.5 million worth of projects in all, with most focusing on capital and preventive maintenance on JTA services.
“Overall, I think we did a pretty good job,” said TPO Chair and City Council member Art Graham, reflecting on the updated list and prior work.
North Florida TPO Executive Director Denise Bunnewith agreed during her executive director’s report and hinted to board members from the several Northeast Florida counties and organizations of the potential for another such stimulus package that could benefit transportation.
“Start putting together another list (of priority projects for each county),” said Bunnewith, recalling discussions she heard while in Washington, D.C. “There’s potentially supposed to be a stimulus (part) two ... be ready.”
Bunnewith added that bridge replacement funding would fall under another such package.
Other news and notes from Thursday’s North Florida TPO meeting:
• Michael Blaylock, JTA executive director, gave a 10-minute presentation on the impact of the Better Jacksonville Plan revisions with an update to the discussions of Mayor John Peyton’s proposal for funding alterations. After giving a brief history of the organization and how funding has been changed through the years, Blaylock concluded: “We have not reached a conclusion with the administration at this point.” Blaylock went on to later add that he believed such a conclusion was close, though.
• Discussion of a regional transportation authority was reintroduced after the focus on stimulus projects, with Graham recommending a small task force of members to determine what the makeup of such a governing body would be. “Should it include commissioners? Chamber members? Big business members?” asked Graham. “What is it going to look like in the future?” Vice Chair Doug Conkey would be in charge of the committee.
• A formal discussion on the evaluation of Bunnewith took place, with Graham concluding that she “is doing a good job. We challenged her to a lot of things.” Bunnewith’s salary, he added, was 20–25 percent lower than other such directors in Florida, and discussion needed to take place at a later time to determine how to boost compensation within the means of the economy.
• The organization approved a consultant for its marketing services, choosing to enter negotiations with former consultant M. Victoria Pennington Marketing. The company was one of 10 that submitted a response to a Request for Proposal. North Florida TPO underwent major marketing changes last year, said Public Information Officer Marci Larson, and subsequent marketing work will be handled on case-by-case basis.
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