Posted on July 27, 2017
By David Bauerlein, jacksonville.com
The Rotary Club of Jacksonville had hoped to hear opposing sides of the debate over plans to deepen the St. Johns River, inviting JaxPort’s top administrator to share the podium with a critic during the club’s Monday luncheon
But Jacksonville’s port authority turned down the invitation, citing an ongoing lawsuit by St. Johns Riverkeeper, an environmental non-profit trying to stop the deep dredge.
A JaxPort official delivered the message in brief remarks to the Rotary Club, which has been a go-to place for discussion of the city’s most pressing issues since its founding in 1912. The decision left some Rotary Club members scratching their heads.
Rotary Club member Bill Mason, who used to serve on JaxPort’s board, said he doesn’t understand why the port authority didn’t take up the offer.
“It doesn’t make any sense,” Mason said after the meeting.
St. Johns Riverkeeper Lisa Rinaman said JaxPort is grasping for excuses to avoid a public discussion about the river deepening, which would require $47 million to $150 million from the city as its share of the $484 million project.
“It’s another attempt to avoid a public debate about the pros and cons of this project,” Rinaman said.
The Rotary Club heard a presentation by Dale Lewis, a transportation consultant who questions the economic justification used by JaxPort for the river deepening. The Rotary Club invited Eric Green, interim CEO of JaxPort, to speak as well.
Before Lewis launched his presentation, the club gave Nancy Rubin, communications director for JaxPort, a chance to explain the port authority’s decision, which applies to all community groups similar to The Rotary Club.
Rubin said JaxPort has engaged repeatedly over the years in public meetings and community forums about the deepening, but the Riverkeeper’s lawsuit prevents JaxPort from participating in those kinds of discussions.
“Regrettably, the Riverkeeper’s current lawsuit shifts the harbor deepening conversation into the courthouse and prevents JaxPort from participating in forums such as this one, under advice of our legal counsel,” Rubin said.
Rinaman, who was in the audience, said after the luncheon there hasn’t been a single public discussion about how the city will pay its share of the funding when JaxPort asks for it in two years. As for the lawsuit, Rinaman said, the Riverkeeper sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. JaxPort wasn’t named in the lawsuit, but the port authority recently petitioned to participate in the case as an intervenor.
The Corps plans to start the first phase of the dredge by early 2018 by using federal, state and JaxPort dollars. The city hasn’t committed any funding for the project. JaxPort says it will request city funding starting in the 2019-20 fiscal year.
JaxPort has been meeting individually with City Council members in the past month about the deepening and related projects for handling cargo ships on Asian trade lanes, but those sessions are not open to the public.
“JaxPort right now is able to say whatever they want, and there is no public forum for review or accountability, and that’s a problem when local dollars are invested,” Rinaman said.
Mason said he’s not convinced Jacksonville will get enough cargo business to justify the steep cost involved.
“We are betting the farm,” he said.
Former City Councilman Lad Daniels, who was in the audience, said he used to support dredging as much as anyone could, but he’s undecided now.
“I don’t think they’ve made the economic case, and they certainly haven’t mobilized the community behind this,” he said.
Rotary Club member John Fryer, who used to be Duval County school superintendent, said he thinks City Council should convene meetings about the deepening.
“The City Council needs to get more involved,” Fryer said. “They need to hear enough to be able to say that it’s a rational thing to do.”
Source: jacksonville.com
