Mayor Johnny Smith laid out the plans he recently worked out with Dr. William Meehan, president of Jacksonville State University, to split the cost of sewer improvements needed in order for the university to expand Paul Snow Stadium and add a 400-resident dormitory onto the structure.According to a the agreement, which has not been formally approved by either the Jacksonville City Council or the JSU Board of Trustees, the school would pay for any and all sewer improvements needed up to the 30-inch line that flows into the wastewater treatment plant. That line, which the city’s engineer believes should be replaced with 42-inch pipe, will be the city’s responsibility.
“Whether the university does anything or not – whether they build the stadium, don’t build the stadium, build the dorm rooms, don’t build the dorm rooms – that 30-inch line is something that, fairly soon, we’re going to have to do something with anyway. I’d say sometime in the next five to 10 years it’s something we’re going to have to pick up anyway,” said Smith, adding that if the project isn’t done to accommodate the university it will eventually have to be done to accommodate a new subdivision. “To me, if we shut them down, we’re basically going to have to shut everybody down.”
Smith got an oral agreement on the plan from the council members present at the meeting, but the council will not vote on the arrangement until a formal contract is drafted. He believes the city’s portion of the project, which is estimated to cost $1,379,178, does not have to be done immediately, but sometime in the next five years.
“We would not have to do that immediately. It’s going to take them two years to build the stadium. That gives us time to deal with it. We feel like even with the stadium there we could survive with that 30-inch line for a year or two until we can get something else done. So, it gives us time to work on maybe trying to figure out how we’re going to fund something we’re going to have to do anyway,” said Smith.
Monday night, the council held a public hearing regarding the rezoning of property along Vann Street from business to residential. Eloise Canzater, one of the property owners, addressed the council and asked them to ensure her entire property was zoned residential. Currently, half of the lot is zoned B-2 and the other part is R-3, causing Canzater confusion in the form of two property tax bills each year.
City Attorney Grant Paris and Councilman George Areno, who each live near the property in question, assured Canzater that many homes in the area, including their own properties, have similar zoning and she will not have any difficulty building on the land if she or her descendents chose to do so.
“Because it’s commercial doesn’t mean you can’t do other things with it except commercial. It doesn’t restrict the commercial part from having housing if that’s what you desire to do with the commercial side of it. Mine’s commercial. The lawyer’s is commercial and we both have houses on it,” said Areno.
The council had the first reading of an ordinance to rezone the property and will vote on whether or not to approve it at their November 10 meeting.
During the council meeting, the group approved an increase in the household waste monthly collection fee. The new cost will be $11.56 per can and the health and sanitation charge will be increased to $5.26. The increase in rates will go into effect on Dec. 1, 2008.
In other action, the council:
• Scheduled a public hearing for Nov. 24 to consider an amendment to the city’s zoning code allowing businesses to have digital signs.
• Scheduled a public hearing for Dec. 8 regarding rezoning of Jimmy C. Logan’s property on Church Avenue from R-3 to B-2.
• Approved an increase from $6 to $8 per cubic yard for dumping of non-hazardous waste at the landfill.
• Named Rudy Abbott, Robert Anaker, Lea Fite and Irene Mosley to the Retired Senior Volunteer Program Advisory Council for three years.
