90 Million more to be spent on Everbank Stadium?

[copperfiend]

http://www.news4jax.com/news/jaguars-city-propose-90m-amphitheater-indoor-practice-field-stadium-improvements/36283342


Questions are being asked.  While the administration seems poised to embrace the idea others who pay close attention to our city finances are asking why"

From what I have seen, those most against it don't even understand the funding source.

[Adam White]

http://www.news4jax.com/news/jaguars-city-propose-90m-amphitheater-indoor-practice-field-stadium-improvements/36283342


Questions are being asked.  While the administration seems poised to embrace the idea others who pay close attention to our city finances are asking why"

From what I have seen, those most against it don't even understand the funding source.

Really? I certainly haven't seen that to be the case - but then again, I've only been following this on Metro Jacksonville.

[tufsu1]

total bs. 
a 'sports district'?

Please, what even is that?  A stadium used once or twice a month surrounded by practice fields and green space?  there is another word for this: Dead zone.

well the district also includes a baseball/soccer stadium that is used about 90 times a year...and an arena used about 100 times a year.

[mtraininjax]

It's nice to see. In the world of professional sports owners, Jax is lucky.

We are and you are right, Met Park is an old dilapidated dump. It needs to be torn down and used as part of the Shipyards deal. Nothing worth saving at Met Park that a new development could not fix and/or improve.

Most of the people against the deal have no idea where the funds come from for the deal, its really a disgrace, local media gets the people all hot and bothered and does a crappy job of explaining the entire program. Its shoddy journalism and all who report half-truths should be ashamed.

[Noone]

Connecting rather obvious dots isn't speculation.

That's exactly what it is: 

"the forming of a theory or conjecture without firm evidence"

The "firm evidence" part is what's throwing you.

The 11/2/15 Jacksonville Ethics Commission meeting had Carla Miller the Ethics Director calling time out. Agenda item 7. Two Discussions. First was Public Records Issues and PROPOSED LEGISLATION. Second was Discussion of Jaguar Football Ticket Distribution.

The Ethics Commission didn't meet in Oct. On the Jaguars, Carla Miller told the Commission that there is a concern about the Jacksonville city council members that attended the 10/17/15 party on Khan's yacht. Now you have active legislation that is seeking a $45,000,000 yes vote from a council member. The cost of this EC-Expensive Charter needs to be settled before legislative action should be advanced by our elected legislative representatives.

Stay Positive while the "firm evidence" is being created.

[Rynjny]

Reaction on the council has been supportive. Even one of the staunchest critics of stadium spending, Councilman John Crescimbeni, said he likes the idea because tthe money is from bed taxes not property or sales taxes.

"This money is being paid into the accounts by people staying in hotels in Duval County, probably not Jacksonville citizens -- unless I got kicked out of the house or something," Crescimbeni said. "It's very limited on what we can spend it on, and this is what it's intended to be spent on."

http://www.news4jax.com/news/city-council-votes-on-million-dollar-proposal/36359702

[tufsu1]

^ interesting that the article highlights the stadium deal and potential 2% raise for Council....but leaves just a single hanging line at the bottom about extending term limits from 8 years to 12 years...very odd

[vicupstate]

The cables supporting the tent are falling apart, and the mayor's staff said the plan is to close the stage until repairs are made. The park itself remains open. How long repairs will take and how much they will cost is unknown, but the mayor's staff said the closure has nothing to do with the EverBank Field expansion plans.

I wonder if the people inspecting these cables are the same ones that determine if houses in Springfield in danger of falling down.

[Tacachale]

^ interesting that the article highlights the stadium deal and potential 2% raise for Council....but leaves just a single hanging line at the bottom about extending term limits from 8 years to 12 years...very odd

I'm all for extending term limits so that we don't keep hemorrhaging institutional knowledge every election. But are our City Council members underpaid compared to similarly-sized municipalities?

[tufsu1]

^ I leave that for others to decide....currently they are paid $44,000 for what some consider a part-time job

[riverkeepered]

The devil is in the details.  We all need to read the contract before deciding if this is a good deal for the taxpayers of Jax.
http://cityclts.coj.net/coj/COJbillDetail.asp?F=2015-0781\Original%20Text

[Noone]

^Is there a detail of concern for the Riverkeepered?

[ProjectMaximus]

http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2016/01/15/despite-met-park-concerns-planned-festivals-go-on.html

Is this a typo? They say $49 million from the city?

[Steve]

^Not sure about Thursday - the Jaguars' State of the Franchise Address is Friday at 11 (Available live on Jaguars.com). I have no doubt that this will come up, whatever the situation might be.

[MEGATRON]

Shad Khan employing a 'bait and switch' deal for amiptheater millions?
This came via email from a reader.

I was at the Economic Roundtable Luncheon today and Mark Lamping showed a brand new video of the proposed practice field amphitheater and it looked completely different.  It was a short video with lots of fancy effects but I could still tell the original design they sold to the city was much more cutting edge (expensive) utilizing a curvilinear lattice structure and what was shown today was a standard steel truss structure with some kind of fabric on top.  He said they'd be officially released to the public Thursday.

I was at the same presentation.  I thought the design was fantastic.  Is it the same as the preliminary drawings?  NO, but I never expected it to be.  Regardless, I think everyone will be very impressed (although I am certain there will be plenty of MetroJax posters who will be overly critical).  The video unveiled yesterday will be shown at Friday's state of the franchise address.