This will be another long day!
During the opening of the meeting, there is a Fire Rescue Citizen Commendation, a Proclamation, and a Parks and Recreation Hall of Fame Recognition in addition to the usual Public Safety Update and Clerk of Court’s Report.
Public Comment is Time certain from 11:30 – 12:00 AM or at the conclusion of the Regular Agenda.
Consent Agenda Items
There are 34 items on the Consent Agenda with a few being of particular interest.
Consent Agenda Item 18 – Commercial/Industrial Solid Waste
If you’ve ever wondered about the Solid Waste contracts and who holds those contracts, check out this link: Consent Agenda Item 18
Consent Agenda Item 20 – Awarding of bid for Mickler Road and State Road A1A improvements. Much needed improvements at Mickler Road are included in this item. Consent Agenda Item 20
DB Civil Construction, LLC is being awarded the bid at $4,699,650.00. The approval on Tuesday would include transfer of $1,600,000.00 from Impact Fees Roads Zone B Capital Outlay Reserves to Mickler A1A Intersect Imp Improvements Other Than Buildings for the Mickler Road and SR-A1A Intersection Improvements Project.
“Contractor shall improve the existing signalized intersection by adding two eastbound left-turn bays on Mickler Road, constructing a westbound left-turn bay on Ponte Vedra Boulevard, and constructing a second northbound through lane on SRA1A (which shall be extended to the Crossroad Lakes Drive/Lauden Court intersection, approximately 0.4 miles north of the signal). In addition, the Contractor shall be responsible for relocation of existing St. Johns County utilities along Mickler Road as noted in the approved construction plans. Sidewalk, striping, roadway, and signal adjustments shall be as designed in the construction plans.”
Consent Agenda Item 29 – Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program FY 2023-2024 Annual Action Plan, SF-424 Universal Application and Certificates for the October 1, 2023 – September 30, 2024, CDBG Program Year.
This is a 1180-page presentation buried in the Consent Agenda. The presentation includes the responses to the Community Needs Assessment Survey conducted in March of 2023. The 310 responses from the community are included in detail in the report, as well as a list of all public comments included in the survey responses. That’s 310 out of what is estimated to be over 300,000 residents in St. Johns County. That’s less than 1%; hardly a fair representation of the needs of the community. Consent Agenda Item 29
Regular Agenda Items
Agenda Item 2 is an update on the role Fire Watch is taking in Northeast Florida. For those not familiar with Fire Watch, check out this link: Fire Watch
This organization is focused on ending Veteran suicides in Florida. Link to their Tuesday presentation is here: Agenda Item 2
Agenda item 3 is an interesting one as it is a rehearing of an item previously denied. The topic is the Mivo Multi-Family Development with a request to “rezone approximately 15.7 acres of land from Open Rural (OR) to Planned Unit Development (PUD) for the development of 204 multi-family residential dwelling units. The property is located southwest of the US 1 South and Watson Road Intersection.”
The development was denied in a 2-2 vote in October of 2022 and the applicant filed an appeal. At the March 21 BOCC meeting, the County Attorney recommended the Board reconsider the application. After discussion and public comment, the Board voted 4-1 to reconsider the application. This is the rehearing.
Agenda Items 4 – 10 are smaller, more localized items including some easements and a carport approval. I expect the 11:30 Public Comment to provide a break in these items and they will continue on after a lunch recess.
Agenda Item 11 is the Workforce Housing Land Development Code Amendment, Second Reading. This was originally to be heard at the May 2, 2023 meeting and was postponed to the June 6 meeting to allow for time to address questions raised by Commissioners Joseph and Dean. At the June 6 Board meeting, there was much discussion about some of the changes that had been incorporated into the Amendment. Motions were made to revise some of those changes. The Board agreed that staff needed time to incorporate those revisions into the amendment and the item was continued to the June 20 meeting.
The updated Amendment can be found here: Workforce Housing LDC Amendment
Agenda Item 12 is of interest to our Ponte Vedra residents. The St. Johns County Utility Department (SJCUD) is a separate utility that provides water services to the Ponte Vedra area. This item is to approve the new schedules for “water, wastewater, and reclaimed water rates, deposits, fees, charges, and costs that reflected reductions to all current Main System water and wastewater usage rates by 3.0% (or as indicated in the Utility Rate Tariff document attached to this agenda item).” Agenda Item 12
Do you have a houseboat? Then you’ll be interested in Agenda Item 13, the First Reading of the Floating Structure Ordinance. This is in response to concerns raised about the anchoring and mooring of “floating structures” in the County during a February Board meeting. Floating Structure Ordinance
Pro Tip! If you are interested in only 1 or 2 items on the agenda, watch or listen to the meeting on the GTV web-site or on local television. In southern St. Johns County, Channel 3, northern St. Johns County, Channel 29 or 261 and in Jacksonville, Channel 26. Link to GTV here: Watch GTV
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Beth Tate 