Jacksonville, FL — In a surprise move, newly elected Mayor Lenny Curry announced Friday that he is disbanding the Port Task Force convened by his predecessor, Mayor Alvin Brown. The task force met monthly for over one year and had recently voted 8 – 1 in favor of the proposed dredging of Jacksonville’s harbor. Co-chair John Baker said at the April meeting he thought they would meet two more times in order to make recommendations on funding for the massive project. The task force had suspended meetings in May after the mayoral election where incumbent Brown lost to Curry, but JaxPort officials said they expected the group to reconvene in August.
In addition to recommending funding sources for the city’s projected share of the project ($784M in total, with half coming from the federal government, one quarter from the state, and one quarter from the city), the task force intended to ask for $50M in environmental mitigation to offset harm to the St. Johns River caused by dredging. About $25M would go to restoring the Ocklawaha River by removing the Rodman Dam, with another $25M for projects that would have a direct improvement to the water quality of the river. Projects discussed were faulty septic tank removal, restoration of oyster beds, and street sweeping to prevent debris from flushing into the river.
The Army Corps of Engineers had only recommended about $3M in mitigation which involved buying conservation land. The St. Johns Riverkeeper has criticized the corps’ assessment of potential damage as “woefully inadequate” and lacking a direct benefit to the river.
The Corps is the agency charged with evaluating the feasibility and environmental impact of port development in the country. It originally planned to recommend removal of Rodman Dam, which would restore fresh water to the river, but public outcry in Putnam County, where the dam is located, caused them to back off. (The dam has created a large lake which is popular with bass fishermen and is an economic driver to the county.)
Mayor Curry said the city will negotiate directly with JaxPort to secure funding, although it’s unclear at this point if they will ask for additional mitigation funds. Several environmental groups, businesses, elected officials, and members of the public had spoken before the task force. Riverkeeper Lisa Rinaman said, “How is the public going to be represented now?”
Details of the new arrangement were not immediately clear.
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