Daily Record Financial News &
Vol. 102, No. 127 • One Section, Supplement A-K
on
Photo by David Chapman
Mayor Alvin Brown and challenger Lenny Curry squared off in a second televised debate Monday that featured pointed criticisms. They’ll have one last chance to impress TV viewers before the May 19 election, when the two debate again Thursday night at Jacksonville University.
Brown, Curry blister each other
By David Chapman Staff Writer The animosity began just before the cameras went live. “Going on the attack tonight, mayor?” Lenny Curry quietly asked. To his right, Mayor Alvin Brown slightly looked away, took a sip of water and ignored the inquiry. So, Curry goadingly asked again with a smile. Again, no response. It was going to be that kind of night. The second televised mayoral debate had intense back-and-forth but lacked direct answers, despite the moderators’ best attempts. Right off the bat, a straightforward question for the two from WTLV TV-12/WJXX
TV-25 anchor Shannon Ogden: Who are you voting for sheriff? All it needed, he said, was a two-word answer. Curry began a longer-winded answer about working with whoever is elected, before Ogden cut him off and asked again. Same type of answer from the Republican challenger, so Ogden went to Brown. Same answer from Brown: He was looking forward to working with whoever … then Ogden cut it short. It was that kind of night. There were questions about what each would do in different parts of the city. Combat crime in Northwest Jacksonville, improve commerce in Arlington and how they’d work with the Beaches communities. But the focus for the candidates contin-
By Max Marbut Staff Writer
Page A-2
2014 Delinquent Real Estate Tax List SEE TODAY’S SUPPLEMENT A-K ENCLOSED View the list on our website at www.jaxdailyrecord.com
Public
ued to be their tried-and-true stances on some on the broader topics, only this time peppered with more barbs. “Unlike my opponent,” was how Brown started many an answer, along with many “proven track records” thrown in. He continuously mentioned his left-leaning stances on support of minimum wage increases, equal pay for women and voting rights, all of which he claimed Curry — the former Republican Party of Florida chairman — opposed. Curry hammered away at what he called Brown’s newfound support for those measures, saying the mayor had four years to back those but only in recent weeks has publicly supported them. Debate... Continued
on
Page A-3
JEA faces $41M in building repairs
The plumbing in JEA’s Downtown headquarters is leaking and causing damage and flooding in the basement, where the emergency generator is located.
legal notices begin on page
Special to the Daily Record
Mathis... Continued
www.jaxdailyrecord.com
Few answers, many jabs
Industrial park to open in Northwest
A 317-acre Northwest Jacksonville business park is gearing up for development by yearend, opening up property for jobs and growth in an area long targeted by city economic leaders. The SunPort Industrial Park, along Lem Turner Road off of the Interstate 295 West Beltway, is a master development by SunCap Property Group of North Carolina. SunCap’s Jacksonville experience includes developing the FedEx Group Package System property at Cecil Commerce Center. SunPort, a master-planned industrial park, comprises more than 500 acres, with 317.5 acres entitled for development of 4.8 million square feet of space. It was formerly known as Lem Turner Industrial Park. SunPort’s marketing materials state it will be “pad ready” by mid-December, meaning it would be ready for sale or a build-to-suit for a tenant that would lease the structure. The St. Johns River Water Management District is reviewing an application, submitted Thursday, for the 70-acre first phase of the project. That phase includes construction of the entry road off Lem Turner Road along with clearing and filling Pad 1 and extending utilities from Newcomb Road. Prosser is the civil engineer. Colliers International Northeast Florida is marketing the park. Marketing documents show the property is zoned as industrial light and is entitled and ready for development. The property, just off of I-295, is less than 4 miles from I-95 and about 11 miles from 1-10. It’s less than 2 miles from Jacksonville International Airport. It also is near railroads and not far from the Intermodal Container Transfer Facility under construction for completion this year. The property is marketed by Hobart Joost and Guy Preston at Colliers. Joost, senior vice president and principal at Colliers, said the property has had “four dry runs” over the past four years under other ownership. SunCap Southeast Industrial Joint Venture, based in Charlotte, N.C., acquired the land in June. Joost said the property is active. “We are just getting ready to turn the corner. It has been a tough six years,” he said. While the national economic recession ended officially in June 2009, industrial
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
35¢
Spend $41 million or look for another place to do business. That’s the challenge facing JEA in the next few years as its office tower and customer service building Downtown along Church Street are showing their age. Chief Financial Officer Melissa Dykes said Monday the building’s plumbing is leaking and causing water intrusion and damage in the basement, where the building’s emergency generator and other critical equipment are located. Heavy rain also caused flooding in the basement, she said during a budget presentation to the
A-10 Published
for
26,654
publicly owned utility’s Finance & Audit Committee, According to the report, a storm surge of 2 feet or more would cause the electrical system and chilled water pumps in the tower to fail. “If we were hit with a Category 3 (hurricane), we likely would be out of this building for months,” Dykes said. Other “operational risks and challenges” identified with the buildings are the elevators, HVAC system and the fire protection and security system, which Dykes said does not meet current standards. There are 73 “major failure points” in the elevators in the 19-story tower. One elevator JEA... Continued on Page A-3
consecutive weekdays