Like a game of hot potato, the St. Johns River ferry has changed hands several times since it started in 1948.
The Florida Department of Transportation ran it for decades. The city took over until it shifted it to the Jacksonville Port Authority. The port returned it to the city in 2012.
Almost four years later, the service has a new home with the Jacksonville Transportation Authority.
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City Council approved the transfer Tuesday, ending what’s been a delayed hand-off after months of dealing with nuances over capital costs and putting the latest round of repairs in the past.
The ferry initially was supposed to be transferred Oct. 1. Instead, both sides in August said March 31 was a more likely timeline.
Council member John Crescimbeni wasn’t enthused when he became head of the St. Johns River Ferry Commission back in 2012. But he said Tuesday he would miss participating in the ongoing discussions.
Before the council vote there was one final issue that needed addressing. Last-minute language inserted by council would have established JTA operating the service every day of the year.
The JTA board last week nixed that part of the agreement. Council and Mayor Lenny Curry’s administration agreed it wasn’t needed Tuesday and also eliminated it.
Instead, the city will rely on JTA’s pledge that it continue to operate the service in the way it’s being run.
JTA CEO Nat Ford said as much, telling council there were no plans to change the frequency of the service, but operating a 20-year deal with little to no flexibility would have been difficult.
The goal, said Ford, would be to expand — not reduce — the service.
When the city took over the ferry in 2012, ridership had fallen below 230,000 per year and revenue was down to $990,000.
In fiscal 2015, ridership increased to more than 480,000 annually and revenue was about $1.5 million.
The transfer agreement’s biggest hang-up was determining who paid for future capital costs, said Crescimbeni.
As agreed upon, there are two types of expenses.
The first is for simple capital that doesn’t exceed $1.5 million. Grant money JTA receives for any project is deducted from that and the authority pays the first $250,000. The remainder is evenly divided between JTA and the city.
For any expense over $1.5 million, the same formula is used but once it passes that threshold, both parties will meet and determine how to move forward.
Journey money OK’d
Jacksonville Journey anti-crime programs will soon receive extra help for children and teenagers after council approved almost $1.9 million in additional funding.
Money will go toward workforce development for teens and young adults, summer jobs and early learning centers.
One $350,000 snag from last week also was resolved. Council committees held back $350,000 intended solely for extra summer camp funding.
The camps, administered by the Jacksonville Children’s Commission, already had received more than $700,000 in recent weeks and questions were raised about the type of camps needed.
That issue was resolved Tuesday with a floor amendment by council member Sam Newby.
The commission allocated $250,000 of its past summer camp funds slated toward regular summer camps and placed it toward Journey-advocated camps that last seven weeks and feature a literacy focus.
Of the held-back $350,000, $100,000 will go toward those camps. Combined with the $250,000, it leaves the $350,000 amount intact.
Of the $250,000 that remained from the extra funds, $65,000 will be for the Rec’N’Roll in the Parks that programs activities in 13 parks in seven targeted ZIP codes.
Almost $92,500 will be added to the initial $350,000 for teen programs. And the same amount will go toward programs for teens and young adults ages 16-24.
‘Project Star’ a go
Incentives legislation to bring an unnamed international company’s North America headquarters to Jacksonville and create 100 jobs unanimously passed.
Project details match those of Scotland-based City Refrigeration, which wants to open in Southside.
City Refrigeration’s website now lists 8211 Cypress Plaza Drive as its U.S. office.
The unnamed company will receive $353,000 in taxpayer incentives for creating 51 of the jobs that have an average salary of $67,000. They’d be created by Dec. 31, 2017.
Of the incentives, the city will contribute $230,600 through two grants, one for the created jobs and the other for the increase in the tangible personal property tax. The state would pay the remaining $122,400 for the created jobs.
The company is expected to contribute $5.7 million in capital investment.
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