Daily Record Financial News &
Tuesday, April 5, 2016
Vol. 103, No. 102 • One Section
35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com
Saving costs, helping students Schools save $6M in utilities with help from JEA program By Max Marbut Staff Writer Duval County Public Schools has an extra $6 million that will be used over the next year to help students not performing at grade level. The additional funds aren’t from a tax increase, cutting teacher salaries or providing less instructional materials. They are gained from conserving electricity, which JEA helped the system accomplish. Schools Superintendent Nikolai Vitti said it wasn’t difficult to
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decide how to spend the money. “It will allow us to fund additional teaching positions in our schools to help students with reading and math,” he said. The district’s energy cost of $151.42 per student is the lowest among the seven largest urban school districts in the state and the second-lowest cost per student among Florida’s 67 school districts. Schools are conserving utilities through a process that ranges from installing lighting that uses less electricity to using sensors that cut off lights in empty class-
rooms to investing in high-efficiency HVAC equipment when it’s time to replace older units. The school system recently replaced five HVAC chillers with more efficient equipment at a cost of about $345,000 — after a $75,000 rebate from JEA based on energy conservation. In addition to installing the equipment, the school system is adding controls that reduce airconditioning and heating costs at night and on weekends when schools are not occupied. “HVAC is our most significant cost for electricity,” said Vitti.
In addition to the rebate that lowered the capital cost for the equipment, the more efficient units will save the schools 700,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year, which translates into a payback on the new units in four to six years. “When we reduce the use of air-conditioning, we reduce costs,” Vitti said. Rebates for energy-efficient lighting have been offered by JEA to commercial and residential customers since 2009. Since then, 4.9 million compact Savings continued on Page A-3
Carter renews push for VP
Bowman out, veteran Crescimbeni remains Photo courtesy of The PGA Tour
By David Chapman Staff Writer
No cat costume, no win for Dvorak
Curtis Dvorak waves just before teeing off at The Players 17th Hole Charity Challenge at TPC Sawgrass. Last year, Dvorak — as Jacksonville Jaguars mascot Jaxson de Ville — won the event. On Monday, professional golfer Bob Duval captured the honor, with a shot 11 feet from the hole. Dvorak was 19 feet, 5 inches away. See more photos on Page A-3.
A former Japanese steakhouse that operated in Arlington since about 1979 is slated for renovation for O’Steen’s Auto Body. It moves O’Steen’s Auto Body to a more visible location along Atlantic Boulevard, which has become a major Jacksonville auto dealership corridor. The body shop repairs all makes and models, but specializes in Jaguar, Land Rover, Volkswagen, BMW, Porsche and Mercedes-Benz. Those dealerships, and several others, operate along Atlantic Boulevard from the
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Regency area through Kernan Boulevard. A sign at the 10055 Atlantic Blvd. location says the new O’Steen’s Auto Body business is coming soon. O’Steen’s Auto Body, led by Mark O’Steen, operates nearby at 241 Tresca Road. That site is about a third of a mile north of the new location. O’Steen could not be
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reached for comment. He also is the manager of MODO Properties LLC, which as the trustee for the Atlantic Land Trust, bought the restaurant property Jan. 12. MODO paid $825,000 for the site from Tran and Duong Corp. Records show Tony Hung Duong issued a fiveyear $660,000 mortgage to MODO. Tran and Duong Corp. bought the property for $710,000 in 2000 from Yano Corp., led by Takatoshi Yano. Some area residents might O’Steen’s Auto Body will redevelop Mathis continued on Page A-4 the site at 10055 Atlantic Blvd.
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Photo by Karen Brune Mathis
New life for Japanese steakhouse
When Doyle Carter hosted an open house of sorts to discuss his candidacy to become City Council vice president, it didn’t exactly go as he had hoped. Only a couple people showed up for that late January meeting. None of them were council members. Given the opportunity, Carter went through with his speech anyway. “I thought it sounded pretty good,” he said Monday. He said that session was “early” and scheduled during a committee meeting, which he believes led to some of the noshows. On Monday, he had another meeting, this time with council member Aaron Bowman — one of four vying for the council leadership role who already had gained some support. And then a funny thing happened. After Carter gave a Carter brief speech about his qualifications and leadership, Bowman said he would sign a letter of support for Carter. He did, and Sam Newby, who sat in on the meeting, also signed a letter. Newby had previously signed a letter for Matt Schellenberg, but Schellenberg also was dropping from the race, said Newby. Both first-term council members praised Carter as a unifier, someone who could bring together both the new and old guard on the council and always showed dignity and respect. Council continued on Page A-4
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