With the Sept. 30 deadline creeping closer for the Jacksonville Port Authority to halt its operation of the St. Johns River Ferry, local and state leaders met Thursday to discuss the progress of securing financial commitments to continue the service.
The St. Johns River Ferry connects the north and south ends of Florida A1A in Duval County, linking Mayport Village and Fort George Island.
The City Council Ad Hoc Committee on Funding the St. Johns River Ferry discussed its timeline for presenting a funding plan to state Transportation Secretary Ananth Prasad at the end of the month.
Committee Chair Bill Gulliford said he will speak with Prasad today in a conference call.
Gulliford said he plans to have financial commitments of about $300,000 in place by the end of June so he can ask for a state match.
The department has yet to take a position on the matter.
“We need to show a positive response from the local community when we approach the department at the end of the month,” said Gulliford.
Previously, the committee had targeted the Jacksonville Port Authority, the Jacksonville Transportation Authority and local-option tourist development taxes as possible funding sources for the ferry.
That list changed slightly because the committee learned that the tourist tax revenues could be requested for promotional costs but not for operations.
Also, the committee is working to secure funding from the City rather than the JTA.
Gulliford also said he spoke with Atlantic Beach Mayor Mike Borno and Neptune Beach Mayor Harriet Pruette about supporting the ferry.
State Rep. Mike Weinstein (R-Orange Park) also has been active in the effort to continue the ferry operations.
He visited the Jacksonville Port Authority on June 7 and will return to its June 28 meeting to ask the board for a financial commitment.
At the June 7 meeting, Weinstein reminded the board about state funding.
“As a heads-up, what we are probably going to do is come back to you and have you considering doing an extension, maybe a nine-month extension, with the ability to potentially bring in City money, potentially state money, to help with the deficit for that nine-month period,” he said.
“The state would also like to remind the board that the majority of its capital improvements over the years have been state funded. That’s just something in the back of your mind as you consider in the future whether you would be willing to extend service while we work out the long-term situation for the ferry,” said Weinstein.
Port board member John Newman asked for clarification of that statement.
“You reminded us that our funding comes from the state. That could be interpreted as a veiled threat,” said Newman.
Weinstein responded. “It’s information and a reminder. It’s not implied as a threat. It may be inferred as a threat as you take it in, but it was mentioned to me as we try to get a solution of all the players that the state participates in a very great extent to the capital improvements here as well as all the other ports,” said Weinstein.
During Thursday’s meeting, Weinstein said cooperation and contribution to the effort to save the ferry would help the port to be a “hero in the effort to save the ferry, rather than a
villain.”
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