Daily Record Financial News &
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Vol. 102, No. 183 • Two Sections
35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com
Can Hemming be self-sustaining?
Friends will need more money when contract ends
Vince Cavin, executive director of Hemming Park, speaks at the City Council meeting Tuesday night.
Photo by Fran Ruchalski
By Max Marbut Staff Writer For the second time in less than a year, legislation was introduced to City Council to make more lenient the fundraising performance standards required of Friends of Hemming Park. “It’s a bad indication,” said council member Bill Gulliford, who introduced the legislation Tuesday to amend the $1 million contract between the city and the nonprofit. The legislation was introduced as a one-cycle emergency to allow the
Friends to receive a $150,000 installment from the city that was scheduled June 1 but withheld. Based on a report submitted by the organization to the city, the fundraising performance requirement in the contract that would allow the payment was not met unless concession sales and other fees collected could be included with donations. The contract calls for $200,000 to be raised within nine months of the Sept. 1 effective date of the contract. The organization is required to raise a total $250,000 within a year of the
effective date. The city agreed to pay the Friends $1 million to manage the park; to date, the organization has received $600,000. Nearly $90,000 in non-donation revenue was disallowed as fundraising when the Friends submitted a financial report required to receive the June 1 payment. That caused the organization to fall short of the $200,000 mark and delayed the payment, said mayor’s office spokesman Bill Spann. The latest legislation would change Hemming continued on Page A-3
Travelers through Jacksonville International Airport will learn soon how a new baggage screening system will affect their travel, but it likely won’t have a major impact on convenience. The Jacksonville Aviation Authority is preparing to renovate its baggage-screening and handling system in a $19 million project. The authority said the Transportation Security Administration will fund 90 percent of the project and JAA will pick up 10 percent. The city is reviewing a building-permit application for the job by Balfour Beatty Construction at a construction cost of almost $17.4 million. Community Relations Administrator Debbie Jones said the project is a total upgrade of the checked-bag screening equipment and conveyor equipment. “The current machines have reached the end of their lifecycle,” she said. The current machines were mandated by the TSA in the wake of 9/11. That system was installed in 2002 at a cost of $20 million, with half paid by state and federal grants and the rest by JAA. About 4,500 pieces of luggage are processed daily at the airport. Jones said the new machines will handle baggage more efficiently and accommodate higher demand as airport traffic increases. She said construction for the new system should start within the next two months and should be completed in a year to 14 months. Jones said the authority is working through final details and coordinating the new system with the airlines on the logistics. She said there would be a small impact in processing checked luggage into the system, but before any changes start that Mathis cont inued on Page A-2
Public
Photos by Fran Ruchalski
JIA plans $19M for baggage system
City Council member Al Ferraro talks to a couple who appeared before council to discuss a zoning issue.
Opening night for 11 members A few bumps, but mostly smooth first session
By David Chapman Staff Writer For 11 members on the dais, it was a night of firsts. A three-hour opening act filled not with controversy, but instead small, easily correctable mistakes along the way. Like floor leader Joyce Morgan missing the green button while reaching toward the screen, instead hitting the red button — and initially being the lone dissenter — on a bill about the property appraiser’s budget. Or Al Ferraro forgetting to stand while talking about a zoning issue. (Council members sit during committees, but stand during full meetings.) Or Tommy Hazouri not turning on his microphone before praising the efforts and coordination of Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and others in their search for 21-month-old
legal notices begin on page
B-1
Lonzie Barton. “First mistake for the first meeting,” Hazouri said with a smile. Since taking office July 1, members of the new council class have taken different routes to prepare for Tuesday’s first moments on the big stage. “A lot of reading,” said Scott Wilson. “You dig into it … it’s a lot more than just the first and second page.” Wilson has experience with the council process and the people after serving as executive council assistant to former District 4 representative Don Redman. That’s given him a leg up, Wilson said, in terms of understanding aspects like filing a bill and knowing a lot of the people at City Hall. Like Wilson, Hazouri has experience. It’s just been everywhere but council, it seems. The former mayor, legislator and school Council continued on Page A-7
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