Daily Record Financial News &
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Crunch time for JaxPort deepening Federal, state, local funding due in year By Carole Hawkins Staff Writer Container cargo through JaxPort could triple by 2035. Nearly 14,000 new jobs could be created. The regional economic impact could top $850 million per year. But before that can happen, $684.2 million must be spent to deepen JaxPort’s shipping channel. A bit less if the scope of the project is scaled back. The first installment of that money needs to be on the table within a year or else JaxPort will fall off a timeline, an outcome that would affect market confidence. “I don’t think we’re running out of time as we sit here today,” said JaxPort CEO Brian Taylor. “On the other hand, if we were to reach a point in time where our customers see we’re not moving and other ports are, then I think that’s the tipping point.” With the federal government slow to spend money on infrastructure, state and local funding will likely play a larger role than normal
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Baptist North to include YMCA
in starting the deepening project on schedule. JaxPort wants to dredge its shipping channel from 40 to 47 feet in order to accept larger container ships, which have overwhelmingly grown to drafts of 45 feet or more industrywide. Dredging JaxPort to 47 feet would create almost 14,000 new jobs by 2035, a 2013 port study said. Research completed this summer by The Boston Consulting Group said the 2016 completion of the Panama Canal expansion will divert as many as 9 million East Asia containers per year from West Coast to East Coast ports by 2020. That’s almost three times the number of containers handled by all of Florida ports combined and twice as many as JaxPort’s main competitors to the north, Savannah and Charleston, combined. “It’s going to be more than any one port can handle,” Taylor said. JaxPort’s call to deepen its shipping channel JaxPort continued on Page A-3
“If we were to reach a point in time where our customers see we’re not moving and other ports are, then I think that’s the tipping point.” Brian Taylor JaxPort CEO
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Vol. 102, No. 212 • Two Sections
35¢
The proposed Baptist North Medical Campus at northeast Interstate 295 and Dunn Avenue is designed to include a YMCA of Florida’s First Coast fitness and healthy living center in the first phase. Baptist Health has a long-term strategic partnership with the YMCA of Florida’s First Coast. It will be integrated into the medical campus’s Healthy Living Center at the site. Eric Mann, president and CEO of the YMCA of Florida’s First Coast, said the inclusion of a new Y Healthy Living Center at the campus is a natural extension of the partnership. The center will offer Y and Baptist Health wellness programs. “We believe that this will create more convenient access to care for the families we serve in North Jacksonville,” said Baptist Health President and CEO Hugh Greene. He said Baptist Health is integrating a focus on health education, disease prevention and wellness through the work with the Y and other community partners. Baptist Health said the first phase of the campus has been planned and approved with an anticipated investment of $35.7 million. Work on it should start in the fall with completion by the end of 2016. The first phase will include an almost 28,000-square-foot, 24/7 emergency center with eight beds for adults and eight for children. The children’s side will be staffed by Wolfson Children’s Hospital-trained pediatric staff. The first phase also will include a threestory, 40,000-square-foot medical office building. The Y will take 15,000 square feet of Mathis continued on Page A-4
Restoration of JFRD safety officers sought
By Max Marbut Staff Writer If there’s going to be a “charm” for the restoration of designations that came with promotions within the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department, it will have to be “the third time.” And that time must come before the City Council adopts the 2015-16 budget by the end of the month. Based on the budget submitted by the department, district chief positions to serve as health and safety officers were included.
Public
When the Finance Committee on Aug. 28 reviewed the budget, it unanimously approved demotions, elimination of some positions and reclassifications that would reduce the salaries of 14 people. The adjustment trimmed $330,779 from the department’s $210.7 million budget. On Sept. 1, the final day of budget hearings, a motion to reconsider the reduction was defeated, leaving the full council vote as the last resort for restoration of the district chief ranks. The department declined to
legal notices begin on page
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comment for this story, citing its policy of not discussing budgetary deliberations until the process concludes. The International Association of Firefighters Local 122 doesn’t follow that policy. Union President Randy Wyse said the concept of having personnel serve as safety officers began in 1986 and the position was adopted as full time in 2002. The safety officers perform tasks connected to job-related injuries including patient tracking and resolution of issues involving JFRD continued on Page A-4
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Move would add $330,000 to budget
Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department safety officers respond to the scene of major fires.
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