North Jacksonville property owners say they understand the potential economic impact the shipping industry could bring to Jacksonville if the river channel is improved.
They also say they don’t want to be victims of the progress.
“The economic impact of doing this is not lost on the homeowners of Chicopit Bay,” said Bradley Lewis.
“We just don’t want to be the ‘what happened?’”
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers held a public workshop Monday to hear comments and concerns about a $37 million project to correct a section of the shipping channel known as Mile Point.
About 150 people attended the workshop at the University of North Florida University Center.
Mile Point is the section of waterway that experiences crosscurrents at the point where the St. Johns River intersects the Intracoastal Waterway.
Those currents limit the amount of time cargo ships can move in and out of the port.
The Jacksonville Port Authority has partnered with the Corps to conduct a study to find a solution to the problem that would benefit both the shipping industry and the environment.
The proposed improvements to Mile Point include removing the western 3,110 feet of the Mile Point training wall, constructing a new western training wall and relocating the eastern training wall.
The dredging material created from the project will be used to restore Great Marsh Island in Chicopit Bay.
“Approximately 10 years ago, Great Marsh Island was one island, and then it broke through. With restoration of Great Marsh Island, we are proposing to restore up to 53 acres of low and high marsh,” said Samantha Borer of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville Division.
“This is the least-cost disposal alternative for the dredging material, saving the project about $9 million by restoring Great Marsh Island with the dredging material,” she said.
Another part of the project will be to construct a flow improvement channel in Chicopit Bay to offset the changes made to Great Marsh Island. The channel is proposed to be 80 feet wide, 6 feet deep and a little more than 3,600 feet in length.
Property owners expressed concerns about what would happen if the solution proposed by the Corps didn’t work and if they would address future problems with the changes.
“This is why we held this workshop, to collect comments and hear people’s concerns so we can work on the proposal,” said Barry Vorse, of the Corps.
“We weren’t required to hold this workshop, but we wanted to give people a chance to meet with us and learn more about the proposed improvements,” he said.
Public comments will continue to be accepted until Monday. They can be submitted at www.saj.usace.army.mil.
After the public comment period, a report will be sent to the Atlanta district offices of the Corps and then to Washington, D.C., headquarters.
A chief engineers final report will be prepared by March 12.
The “project is being readied for potential authorization in 2012,” said Stuart Appelbaum, chief of the planning and policy division for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville Division.
As soon as the report is sent to the D.C. office, the Jacksonville District will begin the design and permitting phase of the project, said Steve Ross, U.S. Army Corps project manager.
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