Daily Record Financial News &
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Vol. 102, No. 152 • One Section
35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com
New public safety needs top $20M Promised 147 officers won’t come in Curry’s first year
By David Chapman Staff Writer Along the campaign trail, priority No. 1 for Mayor-elect Lenny Curry was public safety. On Monday, his transition team received an early glimpse that it could cost more than $20 million to meet those additional needs.
Forty police officers, 40 community service officers and the needed equipment and IT would be more than $7 million. Another $4.9 million for technological needs like replacing broken laptops and servers along with updating fingerprint identification systems. How many officers will be included in Curry’s first budget
Funding and speed are keys in transition
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academy couldn’t process 147 new officers in the first year. On the fire department side, more than $3 million is needed just to keep 55 firefighters employed. The two-year federal grant that funded those positions ends in February. Rescue units come in at about $1 million and stations cost $2.5 million to $3 million.
In the next month, Curry and his team will determine how much to spend on priorities leading to his July 20 budget submission. That work started Monday when Sam Mousa, Curry’s transition executive director, and a team of budget volunteers began meeting with city departments Safety
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“It’s a place where you are going to know who your kids are playing with.” Jerry Dean, Jacksonville division president for Vintage Estate Homes
Photo by Carole Hawkins
Former Mayor John Delaney collected all of the city’s job- and capital investmentcreating agencies under the umbrella of the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission starting in 1996, soon after he took office for two terms. On Monday, he began leading the charge by Mayor-elect Lenny Curry, a fellow Republican whom he strongly supported, to recommend how the city should proceed with its economic development efforts. “I’m guessing funding and speed will be the key things,” Delaney said after Curry’s Economic Development Transition Subcommittee completed its first hourlong meeting at the University of North Florida, where the former mayor is president. “I’ve been gone 12 years,” he said. “There have been a lot of changes since then.” Delaney is chairman of the subcommittee. It expects to meet seven more times and wrap up by July 9, about a week after Curry takes office July 1. Mayor Alvin Brown, a Democrat, turned the JEDC into the Office of Economic Development within his office to deal with countywide opportunities. He also led the creation of the independent Downtown Investment Authority to focus on creating jobs and economic impact in the central business district. The JEDC focused on both the county and Downtown, although former JEDC Chair Ceree Harden collegially reminded Delaney of his administration’s push to provide economic incentives for areas just north and west of the St. Johns River. Curry’s transition team wants the economic development group to consider three key objectives: Create an accountability matrix for recipients of public economic development funding; “process map” relationships between city agencies and independent authorities, JAX Chamber, Visit Jacksonville and the Jacksonville Sports Council to determine redundancies and understanding; and evaluate appropriate staffing levels. Members were vocal coming out of the gate. Harden, chairman of the Harden &
hasn’t been determined, said spokesman Brian Hughes. But, it won’t be the full 147 officers Curry promised during the campaign. “We’re going to get the number up as quickly as we can without breaking the bank,” said Hughes, noting that “multiple years” of budgeting led to the problem. Hughes also said the training
Vista Wood in northern Duval County captures the advantages of “boutique” subdivisions, which often means larger lots, natural settings and more variation in home designs. It gives the feeling of an established neighborhood, said developer Chet Skinner.
Small can be just right size
‘Boutique’ neighborhoods gaining an audience By Carole Hawkins Staff Writer It’s easier saleswise to be Amazon than the corner bookstore. To compete, “small” must find ways to say “unique” to buyers. It’s perhaps why “boutique” is being used to describe small communities put together by local builders who face tough competition from large public builders. To the builders, boutique is more than just window dressing for developments of 50 homes or less, though. It’s an emerging niche that aims to win over homebuyers with larger lots, natural foliage and more creative home designs. The first time developer Chet Skinner used the term “boutique” was to describe
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Oak Bluff Estates, an 11-home enclave in northern Duval County completed in 2013. He doesn’t remember hearing the word used for a community before. But, it captured what Skinner Bros. Realty was trying to accomplish. “A lot of times we’re working with bigger-sized lots,” Skinner said. “So, if you master-plan it right, you’re able to carve the subdivision around these great natural assets.” Assets that may include mature trees, Boutique continued on Page A-3
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An 11-lot boutique development like Vista Wood appeals to buyers who want more of a neighborhood lifestyle, said Jerry Dean of Vintage Estate Homes.
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