Q: Can you update us on the end of the year/beginning of the new year City Council schedule?
A: We’re entering into a quiet time with the holiday break. Council meetings don’t start until Jan. 6 with the next full council meeting on Jan. 14. As always when contacting our office, I encourage the use of email as it allows us to be more organized and keep up with your concern.
Q: What’s the latest on the Mandarin Road sidewalks?
A: The intent has always been to extend the sidewalk all the way to Walter Jones Park once funds were available. I’d like to make it very clear that this is nothing new and this project has been in the works for 10 years. While I appreciate there are a few who fear the adverse impact this may have on the character of Mandarin Road, if you take the time to walk all or a portion of what was installed prior, you can see that the damage many feared then simply did not materialize. The Mandarin Road Overlay speaks to the importance of maintaining the tree canopy and we’re very sensitive to this. There will be a Town Hall meeting in late January/early February (date and time still to be determined). Please contact my office in January for more information.
Q: Is the Beauclerc Road resurfacing project scheduled to start soon?
A: This project is in the queue and I fully anticipate it to be started in January or February 2025. I’ve been working a number of years to get the City of Jacksonville to address this project and am happy it’s finally in the queue. It’s due to the active interest of constituents that we were able to get this done.
Q: What can you share about the city’s Solid Waste Disposal Fund and appropriations from the general fund to accommodate actual costs?
A: The solid waste fee program was put in place in 2010. Each residence is charged a monthly fee of $12.65 per month and that rate has not changed since. The capacity was there for the council to increase this rate, but it wasn’t automatic and hasn’t been done. Instead, we’ve offset the difference between the costs we are paying the contractors (which have increased over the years) and what we collected from residences with funds from the operational budget. I anticipate the budget tightening in the coming years and that it will be more difficult to continue to use the operational budget to make up the differential. This will likely be addressed in the coming months.
Q: What is the best way for our readers to contact you?
A: Community members can email me at MBoylan@coj.net or call (904) 255-5206.
