City Council wrapped its last meeting of the calendar year Tuesday by finally coming to terms on legislation that will bring council-organized community events to neighborhoods throughout the city.
Council member Reggie Brown in July introduced the bill that would set aside $70,000 for council members to host events meant to strengthen areas and inform residents of government initiatives.
Brown said he introduced the measure after finding out there was no policy in place on how to attain services for the events. He said his goal was “basically cleaning up the process we should have done a long time ago.”
However, there were plenty of bumps along the way before the final product was approved Tuesday.
The use of the funding was made more concise, as spending can only be on the city’s internal services like renting the space or bleachers or hiring security. Spending on food isn’t allowed, but third-party donations can be made to the city.
The events themselves are prohibited from being political in nature but could be recreational or educational.
The review process was locked in and requires several city departments and the city’s ethics office to sign off on before the council president ultimately OKs the event and spending.
That spending has been another concern for council members, which also was hammered out Tuesday.
While the pot remains $70,000 for events, council members are restricted individually to $3,500. Before an amendment Tuesday, it was more of a first-come, first-served basis.
Several members took issue with not having limits despite Brown and others saying they didn’t believe anyone would try to take advantage.
Still, even with the months of work and careful crafting, not everyone could support the bill that passed 17-2.
Council members Danny Becton and Al Ferraro said they couldn’t sign off on it because they didn’t believe taxpayer funds should be spent on such events.
Other news from council’s meeting:
• The long vacant Palms Fish Camp in North Jacksonville received approval for a new beginning.
Council OK’d a contract with a group led by Donald “Marshall” Adkison and Marc Hardesty to finish renovations and open the much-maligned restaurant as a fish camp.
The city in 2002 bought the land that housed the former popular restaurant and tore it down to rebuild, but the group it contracted with never finished and the dispute ended in a lengthy court battle.
The city settled the dispute over the summer, which led the way for the new group to take a shot at restoring the spot to its former glory.
• The TaxSlayer Bowl will receive its contractually required number of seats after council signed off on spending $415,000 to install close to 2,200 temporary seats for the Dec. 31 bowl game.
The ongoing renovations at EverBank Field removed club seats that were part of the contract with the game operators, which require the additional spending.
The amount wasn’t included in this year’s budget, explained city Chief Financial Officer Mike Weinstein, because it wasn’t known earlier in the year.
There’s a similar expense for the annual Florida-Georgia football game. The money comes from the city’s general fund.
• Grace Aerospace was approved to receive a $332,500 financial package for the New York-based manufacturer to move its headquarters to Jacksonville.
The company makes wire harnesses and other electronic military aircraft equipment. The deal calls for the company to create 25 jobs at an average wage of $50,675 by the end of 2019.
It already has a satellite office at Cecil Commerce Center, where the relocation would also go.
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