by Joe Wihelm Jr.
Staff Writer
Change was the theme of the City’s Waterways Commission meeting Wednesday.
The schedule of a representative from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection changed and that person was no longer available to present an update on the Georgia Pacific pipeline project, due to a trip to Tallahassee.
The commission’s schedule also experienced change when Council President Jack Webb assigned Ordinance 2011-239 to the commission at City Council’s Tuesday evening meeting. The proposed ordinance calls for Heritage Road leading up to the Joe Carlucci Sisters Creek Park and Boat Ramp to be closed and abandoned, so that a new access road to the boat ramp can be built. The old road would be broken down and the area would be converted to a salt marsh mitigation bank, according to Riverfront Associates LLC. The company is managed by Richard Haskew and Thomas Beeckler.
“We don’t have a lot of information on this being that it was assigned to us last night,” said John Crescimbeni, City Council member and commission chair.
Familiar with the road, Council member Bill Bishop, commission vice chair, was initially supportive of the idea of improving the access to the boat ramp.
“Getting in to the boat ramp is easy. Getting out is problematic,” said Bishop.
Plans for the mitigation bank are contingent on approvals from the St. Johns River Water Management District and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
“‘I’ll do this,’ or ‘Trust me’ doesn’t work for me,” said Gary Anderson, discussing the proposed ordinance. “We need to have something in place to make sure they do what they agree to do.”
Riverfront has stated in the ordinance that it will construct, at its own expense, a two-lane road from State Road 105 (Heckscher Drive) to the Joe Carlucci Sisters Creek Park and Boat Ramp. If the proposed ordinance is approved, Riverfront will have five years to permit, construct, plat and dedicate the new access road to the City.
“(Riverfront) have also contacted us to be a part of the construction of the marsh and provide a research area for students at Jacksonville University,” said Dr. Quinton White, executive director of the Marine Science Research Institute at JU. The commission decided to defer voting on the proposed ordinance until it has enough time to review the documents. It also set its next meeting for June 15.
The City purchased most of the land for the park in 1974, and completed the acquisition in 1986 by closing the portion of Old Heckscher Drive that divided the property. The dedication of the park portion took place in November 1987, and construction of the boat ramp was completed in December 1988. The City Council renamed the facility in 1991 to honor Joseph Carlucci, who passed away in February 1986 at the age of 58. In 1978, after serving as a City Councilman for ten years, the voters elected him to the Florida Senate – an office he held until his death.
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