As the City Council begins to grapple with another difficult budget year, Council member Stephen Joost stated at a Tuesday meeting that if he had to choose between operating the St. Johns River Ferry and staffing at the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office he would choose public safety.
“When you look at it, if I have to inconvenience someone with an extra 20 minutes on their car ride versus calling 911 and making sure someone’s there to answer and respond, then I’m going to fund public safety first,” said Joost, talking about the extra time it would take motorists to drive over the Dames Point Bridge instead of using the St. Johns River Ferry.
Council Vice President Bill Gulliford scheduled the special meeting to discuss the issue of saving the St. Johns River Ferry, which is currently scheduled to be shut down after Sept. 30 by the Jacksonville Port Authority. Gulliford represents District 13, which includes the Jacksonville Beaches, and he also chaired the Council Ad Hoc Committee on Funding the St. Johns River Ferry.
“Our feeling is that (the ferry) is critically important to the area. It is paramount to the redevelopment of Mayport. If you eliminate the pass through, it makes redevelopment that much more difficult,” said Gulliford.
Gulliford was joined by appointees of the St. Johns River Ferry Commission Elaine Brown, Aaron Bowman and Rich Reddick. The appointments are awaiting Council approval. The group outlined a plan to cut the annual deficit of about $650,000 in half, which included increasing the fare by $1 and selling advertising in both the parking areas and on the ferry. Ridership was estimated at 250,000 vehicles annually, which could translate into $250,000 produced by the fare increase. The group also predicted that advertising could bring in $100,000 in the first year.
“We think these are reasonable, practical numbers,” said Reddick.
Joost said he appreciated the information, but still had concerns about the project in a tight fiscal climate.
“What you have described to me as your program sounds pretty reasonable, but my other concern is before we start cutting policemen and everything else, what is the No. 1 priority for this community? It’s public safety,” said Joost.
“We are in extraordinary economic times where we have pension costs going up $50 million. Our property revenue is down $25 million. All of the sudden we have a $75 million gap overnight,” said Joost.
The ferry connects A1A at Mayport and has been in operation since 1948. The Florida Department of Transportation was the first operator, followed by the City in 1997 and JaxPort in 2007.
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