Port's blockbuster deal with Hanjin in trouble, Korean company ready to nix Jax

[CS Foltz]

To be honest not sure just who from the Ports had the lead on this on..............I know it was not Rick Mullaney but I can not say from the City side who had the lead! Usually someone is tabbed "Lead Negotiator" but there has been no press release indicating anything............so if you say so, I'll take your word.........but I want to see it in print!

[JaxNative68]

Ferrin had better tighten up the ship or Jacksonville can kiss that possibility goodby!

How is Rick Ferrin supposed to control the union? Throw all the bums out? I'm sure he'd love to, but I don't think he can do so.

Why doesn't Hanjin just build their own terminal, hire their own people, and control the entire process themselves, sorry Rick, and not deal at all with JPA? That would be some serious Union Busting, and it would give the news stations something to do.

Hanjin's original idea was to fund and build their own terminal (they even had an entire design team on board and ready to go).  Their timetable was to get it designed and built prior the widening/deepening of the Panama Canal that would allow the larger container ships from the Pacific to reach the east coast.  They chose Jacksonville due to the location and existing port system.  Unfortunately they had to go through the city for site selection and site purchasing.  The folks the city put in charge of heading this up kept ehfing up so badly that the Hanjin people started to second guess Jacksonville on a whole.  When they told Jax they were no longer interested, Jax came up with the idea that the city would build the port and lease it back to Hanjin, all Hanjin would have to provide was the automated crane equipment (which is in the mega millions of dollars).  Hanjin became interested again, but since it was a city job, and the magnitude was so great, the selection of the design team would have to go out for public bid.  Hanjin was ok with this as long as they could sit on the selection board.  The city of Jax agreed that they could.  Hanjin had two members on the selection board up to the short list selection.  When it came time to select the finalist, the city removed the two hanjin board members at the last minute and replaced them with a city purchasing agent and city engineer, to my knowledge, who knew little to nothing about the project or how an automated port worked.  Hanjin was not happy about this.  They no longer had a say in who was going to build the port, but the team they wanted was rated first out of the three short listed.  Hanjin sat in the crowd during the short list presentations, and cheered when the team they wanted finished their presentation.  This made the city angry.  After all three teams presentations where finished, the city board voted on a winner.  Somehow after the vote, it was a three way tie.  And the board did not know how to settle this to choose a winner.  The two new city members that replaced the Hanjin members came up with a hair brained idea of adding up the votes in a way that made absolutely no sense.  After this was done, the team that started the day in third place ended up getting awarded the project.  Some of the things that were said by the new board members smelled of a prearranged behind closed city doors bs job with out of town lobbyists/palm greasers involved.  Hanjin was not completely happy with the city of Jax at this point, but was willing to go along due to schedule time constrains.

Now the union issues are stirring Hanjin wrong and could be the straw to break the camel's back.  Unfortunately the union is only thinking of itself and not all of the other businesses that lose out if this port does not happen.

In short, the city of Jax may have ehfed this one up a long time ago and is trying to hide their skeletons.

[CS Foltz]

JaxNative68 that is about the flakest situation that I have ever heard of...................but knowing Johnny and his team just about par for the course! I think I hear skeletons rattling now! I am thinking just to wait and see just what takes place.............I don't think anything will come to fruition and Jaxport is sucking wind!

[mtraininjax]

This made the city angry.

I have been involved in a number of city contracts, even some that cost the city money because some idiot on the 4th floor in legal did not read a contract the right way. If Peyton has done anything, he has brought in more and more good people who review the details. If Hanjin really got up and was peeod over who was building the city leased dock, they can take their game and go somewhere else. That was a heckuva deal the city gave them, and for the city to give up control, would have been wrong and much worse (shipyards) for the taxpayers.

I don't give Peyton much if any credit, here, his people did the right thing in looking out for the best interest of the citizens of Jacksonville. They took a stand, and look Hanjin is still here, so they must want us more than we need them.

[CS Foltz]

mtraininjax...........I have my toes crossed! Like I said before, I am just going to sit back and see what takes place!

[JaxNative68]

This made the city angry.

I have been involved in a number of city contracts, even some that cost the city money because some idiot on the 4th floor in legal did not read a contract the right way. If Peyton has done anything, he has brought in more and more good people who review the details. If Hanjin really got up and was peeod over who was building the city leased dock, they can take their game and go somewhere else. That was a heckuva deal the city gave them, and for the city to give up control, would have been wrong and much worse (shipyards) for the taxpayers.

I don't give Peyton much if any credit, here, his people did the right thing in looking out for the best interest of the citizens of Jacksonville. They took a stand, and look Hanjin is still here, so they must want us more than we need them.

say what you must, but this one smells to me.

[tufsu1]

from what I understand, this was discussed at the JaxPort board meeting today...the agreement is going to the attorneys and, if all goes well, will be complete in about 2 months.

[JaxNative68]

In all likelihood Hanjin is going to acquiesce, by creating enough bs jobs to keep the labor unions happy and this project will move forward.  But I’m still disappointed in how the design team was selected.

[billy]

Who is on the team?

[JaxNative68]

it isn't who is on the team that bothers me, it was just the selection process.

Halcrow, Inc. was the team that ended up winning (who has no past experience with automated terminals).

[tufsu1]

it isn't who is on the team that bothers me, it was just the selection process.

Halcrow, Inc. was the team that ended up winning (who has no past experience with automated terminals).

actually, Halcrow was ranked #1 (after a tiebreaker) by the technical committee....the final decision is made by the Board, and they have not voted yet.

[mtraininjax]

it was just the selection process.

Know EXACTLY how you feel. We were shut out of bidding for parts on the new downtown library, we had the exact spec and could fit the need, but the JPL Advisory board, wanted to follow with the same manufacturer used in the Nashville Library, which was also designed by the same architects, so even being local had no value with the JPL. In the end, the business went to a Miami vendor who carried that product.

The selection processes in Jacksonville are usually not fair to local vendors or local interests.

[tufsu1]

The selection processes in Jacksonville are usually not fair to local vendors or local interests.

actually I disagree....most City contracts provide a credit (around 5 points) for local firms....and last year there was a move to raise the credit and offer it only to firms with local hedquarters....that was ultimately squashed, as it should have been...why give advantage to a 20 person local firm over a firm with 200 people here but HQ in another city.

[buckethead]

Because you want to keep as many dollars in your city as you can?

Local firms and their employees pay local property and sales tax on a permanent basis. Not that I disagree with your sentiment, tufsu. As a politician, that would be my logic.

There is also the consideration of which firm can better serve those making the decisions. (if not the project itself)

[tufsu1]

Because you want to keep as many dollars in your city as you can?

Local firms and their employees pay local property and sales tax on a permanent basis.

exactly...which is why a firm with a 200-person local office (regardless of HQ location) should carry as much (if not more) weight as a locally-HQ firm with 20 employees.