Deegan vows to fight any JTA toll revival as the agency faces a $39 million operating gap
A union complaint at UF Health, a city loan for a Downtown restaurant and new store plans around town.
Jacksonville quit charging people to use its roads in the 1980s, when voters agreed to a half-cent sales tax instead. That history came back fast once tolls came up at a council meeting about JTA's money troubles.
Tolls came up when JTA first sat down with the City Council's Financial Audit and Oversight Committee. In a rare Saturday morning statement from her press office, Mayor Deegan vowed to fight any JTA effort to bring tolls back, calling the agency "a regional state agency." "There are many other solutions that should be considered to alleviate the current financial crisis. Tolls are not one of them," she said. JTA says interim CEO Cleveland Ferguson III never proposed or pushed for reviving bridge tolls, and it blamed inaccurate reporting. The agency says he mentioned tolling only as a dormant power under its authorizing law, tied to its past as an expressway authority. After a council vote Tuesday night, JTA will soon be able to put $30 million in gas tax authority toward debt. Nobody has said yet how JTA will close its $39 million operating deficit. Without tolls, the cost lands on the public some other way.
Temaki moves toward the old Bellwether space Downtown
City reviewers are looking at a permit for an estimated $571,076 total build-out at 117 W. Forsyth St., the former Bellwether. On Aug. 27, the Downtown Investment Authority board approved a $198,863 forgivable loan for the build-out. That loan equals a little more than a third of the estimated total cost. Bellwether closed in March. Pearl Hospitality Group plans to bring it back refreshed, with a more ambitious bar program. A Temaki Room would serve Japanese hand rolls and omakase, and a breakfast and coffee program would cover mornings. Still, a permit under review is a step short of an opening.
Harbor Freight plans a store in the old Food Lion space at Pablo Station
Harbor Freight is lining up a store in Pablo Station, in the former Food Lion, later a Big Lots, at 14333 Beach Blvd. Three permits under city review cover gutting and renovating 16,958 square feet inside. Estimated costs for the three permits total $2.4 million. Outside, the plans add a new entry door and a forklift ramp. The old store would be split in two. Harbor Freight would lease Suite 18, leaving Suite 17 open for someone else. It would be the tool and equipment retailer's fifth Jacksonville store and seventh in the area.
Hawaiian Bros Island Grill puts Jacksonville in its Florida plans
Jacksonville is on the map for Hawaiian Bros Island Grill, which has a deal to enter Florida. Its deal with Southern Rock Restaurants LLC is expected to yield 52 restaurants within six years. They would be spread across Jacksonville, Gainesville, Orlando and Tampa. The company says 24 of them will come in the first three years. How many land here, and where, has not been said. Plates run to glazed chicken or pork with white rice, mac salad and vegetables, with Dole Soft Serve for dessert. The company says it cooks without freezers, fryers or microwaves. For now this is a development target, not a storefront.
A speakeasy-style restaurant is planned beside The District SPR
A one-story Springfield house at 2030 Walnut St. could become a 913-square-foot fine dining restaurant. It sits next door to The District SPR, on land zoned light industrial. City paperwork lists 24 outdoor seats. Business partner Jorge Gonzalez put it simply: "It’s going to be a speakeasy style space." Gonzalez said it would probably open Thursday, Friday and Saturday, though the schedule is still being worked out. That points to a small room with limited hours, not a nightly operation.
UF Health Jacksonville unions take their contract fight public
More than 2,000 workers at UF Health Jacksonville are now in an open contract fight with their employer. Two AFSCME locals took the dispute public on Oct. 14. Nurses, therapists and other patient-facing staff belong to Local 1781. Local 1328 covers food service and support workers. This summer, the health system declared talks at an impasse. The union went to the National Labor Relations Board on Sept. 18, alleging an unfair labor practice in UF Health's refusal to bargain. One sticking point lands right at the holidays. UF Health has proposed taking away 40 hours of holiday-season paid time off from union members. In a statement, UF Health Jacksonville said it is "committed to providing competitive compensation and benefits" and will "continue to adhere to the collective bargaining agreement."