Staff Writer
With a full City Council budget vote looming next week, the final Council Finance Committee meeting Tuesday was anchors aweigh for Chair Daniel Davis, while one Downtown project was left unanchored for the time being.
An ordinance that would provide formal City support for the Jacksonville Historic Naval Ship Association to bring the retired naval vessel USS Charles F. Adams Downtown as a floating museum was deferred, to the dismay of Council member Bill Bishop, who sponsored the ordinance.
The ship association is raising funds to berth the vessel as a floating museum on the River City Brewing Company side of the Acosta Bridge, but needs City support to remove a dock in the area where the ship would be moored. The privately raised funds would go toward the dock’s removal.
While Bishop said there is no financial obligation to the City, and no incentives nor tax deferrals, other Council members decided to defer the matter until language concerns were resolved.
Council member Warren Jones, in both the Finance preboard and regular meetings, sought deferment and said he has a meeting planned with the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission and City General Counsel’s Office to ensure taxpayers are protected with the move.
Jones, along with Finance members Michael Corrigan, Ronnie Fussell and Davis, said they supported the museum, but wanted any issues resolved.
Bishop said he understood their concerns, but believed it was important to pass the ordinance, and not a resolution. He said City support would aid in fundraising efforts and show the public it is a solid project.
He discussed how the state, and not local government, is the entity that provides submerged land leases and how the City currently has a nonexclusive land lease on the property.
“It’s living on borrowed time,” said Bishop of the deal.
As for the current language, Bishop reiterated that the City would bear no financial obligation in the deal and he disagreed with the suggestion of discussing the deal further with JEDC.
“Ron Barton doesn’t like this project,” said Bishop, referring to the JEDC executive director.
“I don’t know why,” he said. “This is an energizer and an acting driver for Downtown.”
Davis, who is resigning from Council effective today to succeed State Rep. Jennifer Carroll, ended the discussion by telling Bishop it wouldn’t pass Finance at the time and said it needed to be further vetted.
In other news from Tuesday’s Finance Committee meeting:
• In one of several floor amendments to be discussed Tuesday, Council member Kevin Hyde introduced a measure that would tackle the hotbed issue of the library by reshaping the board of the library trustees. Under the amendment, the board would be composed of at least 14 members, with 12 being appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the Council. At least 11 would be Duval County residents, with every member serving a four-year term. Terms would be staggered. Remaining members, each nonvoting, would include the Council president or a designated Council member, the Duval County Schools superintendent or a designee, along with a possible second Council member.
• Newly appointed Council member Dick Brown, replacing Art Graham, provided a memo looking into an additional form of salary reductions for non-union, non-independent authority employees within certain pay ranges. Salaries of $60,000-$100,000 would be reduced 4 percent while those above $100,000 would be reduced 5 percent. The move would save close to $600,000, said Brown, who worked with auditors. The current proposed pay cut for employees, regardless of salary, is 3 percent. There’s one hitch, though. Council can’t really make that move, said General Counsel Cindy Laquidara. As the legislative body, Council can make line item measures, but not individual ones such as the pay range. The cuts would be up to the executive branch, said Laquidara.
• An ordinance passed requiring businesses entering into contracts with the City to verify all workers are legally allowed to work in the U.S. using the E-Verify system. The measure was sponsored by Davis, who won’t be on Council for the final vote.
Davis had some parting advice for his colleagues.
“I’d hope the committee members would be strong on Tuesday night.”
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