Nine months after City Council passed legislation to create the Mowing and Landscape Maintenance Division and more than six months after the division went into operation, the city is almost done with a list of sites that regularly will be maintained.
The Special Ad Hoc Committee on Jacksonville’s Neighborhood Blight on Wednesday was presented a preliminary action plan by Public Works Director Jim Robinson and Dave McDaniel, mowing division chief.
Legislation passed Dec. 10 created the division to reduce blight. McDaniel was hired Feb. 28 and the division went into operation March 1.
McDaniel presented a list of 90 “corridors of significance,” identified as areas needing mowing and maintenance throughout the county. The list comprises 48 acres of right-of-way along 15.8 miles of roadways within six of the 90 corridors.
The next step is to prioritize the locations as to need and establish a schedule for frequency of mowing.
“We’ve got to operate with a plan. We can’t just do it,” said council member Denise Lee, who chairs the committee.
Robinson said the city has retained the services of HDR Engineering as a consultant and the final plan should be complete by Oct. 30.
Lee said that is unacceptable and told Robinson to have a comprehensive plan complete by Sept. 30.
“We should have had it three or four months ago,” she said.
Chief Administrative Officer Karen Bowling said she understood there is a concept for the schedule and would today provide to the committee an outline of the plan and deadlines. The administration wants to “make sure the plan is headed in the right direction,” she said.
Recognizing and reporting blight and connecting with city services to help fight blight soon will be easier for residents.
The committee saw the
concept for a new addition to the coj.net website that will consolidate links to city services and provide information about disposing of trash and yard waste, recycling and illegal dumping.
“We wanted a website with more information,” said Aleizha Batson, deputy director of communications for Mayor Alvin Brown.
The site will have links to information about illegal “snipe” signs, the city municipal code and how to volunteer with Keep Jacksonville Beautiful.
Also included are direct links to Florida State College at Jacksonville’s adult education programs, Citizen Planning Advisory Committees, Sheriff’s Advisory Councils and a list of neighborhood organizations.
Lee directed Batson to provide to committee members a confidential link to the prototype website for their review.
Batson said the “Blight COJ” web link could be installed on the coj.net home page as soon as Monday, pending approval by the committee. The new site will be promoted through the city’s email database and social
media.
“We want to get it online immediately,” said Batson.
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