A $30 million
slate of projects to improve Jacksonville's parks won preliminary
approval yesterday, though the list could change in the coming
months.
A special council committee voted 4-2 to approve the list, which
includes three new youth sports complexes and major improvements to
nine others. The list will now go to Mayor John Delaney's office
before coming back to the council.
All projects are part of a proposed $94 million bond issue that
will also put $52 million toward drainage improvements and $12
million toward "town center" projects. After Delaney's office
approves the project list for the entire bond, it will then go
through various council committees -- the standard process for all
legislation -- and then to the full council near the end of the
year.
"Hopefully, as we work through the committees we can get
everybody on board," said council President Matt Carlucci, who made
bolstering the number and quality of parks in Jacksonville one of
his top priorities as council president.
Councilman Jerry Holland and Councilwoman Gwen Yates cast the two
dissenting votes.
"I just felt that we had enough time to continue to work on
this," Yates said. "Obviously, this will be going through committees
and we'll have another stab at it."
Holland said he thought some projects -- such as $1.9 million for
proposed improvements to Fletcher Morgan Park and a planned $6
million Little League baseball complex at 9A and Baymeadows Road --
ignore needs in areas north of Butler Boulevard and west of the
Intracoastal Waterway.
The city Department of Parks, Recreation and Entertainment, which
compiled the list with the input from council members, has been
working on a comprehensive map to show where all the county's parks
are and what facilities are offered. That project is not expected to
be completed until the spring, and Holland said he'd like to have
that completed before deciding how to spend the $30 million.
"How do I know that we're serving the greatest number of people
with this?" Holland asked.
Delaney could change the list if he decided to, though he said
his staff, which has been following the committee process closely,
is telling him that may not be necessary.
"Staff is reporting that they think I'll like it," Delaney said
Tuesday.
The parks department, following Carlucci's lead, had only looked
for projects that cost more than $500,000. The list approved
yesterday had one exception, spending $250,000 for a feasibility and
engineering study for a stadium complex on the Northside.
The proposal also includes spending $5 million to buy land and
develop the North Jacksonville Regional Park, which would have
soccer, baseball and multi-use fields. Another new project would put
in a pool and a four-field girls' softball complex at Cecil Commerce
Center for $3 million.
"It's still a work in progress," said council Vice President
Suzanne Jenkins, who chairs the special committee on active
recreation that approved the list yesterday. "This is just to get
the process started, and I'm sure we'll hear plenty of debate on
it."
The drainage projects in the bond issue haven't been determined
yet, and $2 million would be spent in each of the city's six
planning districts for the "town center" projects, to create areas
similar to San Marco Square and Five Points in Riverside.
