Live blogging DIA

[Noone]

^Some of the discussion centered around Allegretti and being here and there and then voting on legislation here and there then moving on to here and there. You had to be there.

[AuditoreEnterprise]

^Some of the discussion centered around Allegretti and being here and there and then voting on legislation here and there then moving on to here and there. You had to be there.

geez and I was hoping it had to do with the real estate guys sitting on the board... Go figure the one guy everyone actually likes gets spotlighted.

[Noone]

There was discussion about the real estate people but not just confined to the Board. like I said it was a double WOW meeting and you would have thought they were all going from that meeting into an Ethics Commission meeting.

I was there to share with them what should be some of the largest Waterway violations that in my opinion can and should require immediate Federal intervention. It was a tough LOVE meeting to say the least.

[AuditoreEnterprise]

well I am glad to see they are proactively keeping their house in order.

[Noone]

Any idea of when the next meeting of anything DIA is?

[Noone]

SUPPORT 560 with an A (AMENDMENT) was the battle cry at the end of the 10/22/14 DIA Board meeting.

Here is the agenda
Members
Oliver Barakat, Chairman
Jack Meeks, Vice Chair
Craig Gibbs, Secretary
Tony Allegretti, Board member
Melody Bishop, Board member
Dori Goldstein, Board member
Kay Harper-Williams, Board member

No Shows Robert Clements, Jim Bailey

I. Call to order- Chairman Barakat
    A- Pledge of Allegiance

II. Action Items- Chairman Barakat (Requires DIA Action and or Approval)
    A. Approval of September 17, 2014 Regular Meeting minutes
    B. 200 Riverside Avenue Project

III. Chief Executive Oficer Report
      A. Hemming Park Update- Vince Cavin
      B. Development Projects Update- Aundra Wallace
      C. Governance Subcommittee Update- Craig Gibbs (See Sept. Subcommittee Minutes)
      D. Legislative Updates
           BID Plan (ORDINANCE 2014-560)

IV. Downtown Briefing - Jim Klement
      A. DDRB Oct. 2014 Meeting Update

V. Old Business- Chairman Barakat

VI. New Business- Chairman Barakat

VII. Public Comments- Chairman Barakat

VIII. Adjournment- Chairman Barakat
        Next scheduled meeting Nov. 19, 2014 at 4pm

                 Staff Distribution
Aundra Wallace- DIA, CEO
Guy Parola, DIA Redevelopment Manager
Tom Daly, DIA Redevelopment Analyst
Jim Klement, DIA, DDRB
Susan Grandin, OGC
Lawsikia Hodges, OGC
Paul Crawford, OED, Deputy Director
Alex Rudzinski, OED
DIA Council Liason, Lori Boyer, Council member Dist. 5
Jack Shad, Public Parking Officer
Karen Underwood, DIA Executive Asst.
David DeCamp, Public Information Officer

No Shows-
Susan Grandin
Lawsikia Hodges
Paul Crawford
Alex Rudzinski
Jack Shad
David DeCamp

So where to begin? There are never any handouts for the Public at these DIA Board meetings.

So let me share with you two handouts that we're sitting on a Backroom table. The first was a report to the Stand Up for neighborhoods Blight Committee Regarding The OUT OF STATE LAWSUIT PROCESS 9/24/14 from OGC given by Cherry Shaw, Asst. General Counsel. Now we know.

The next handout is the Blight Awareness Campaign
                dated 10/22/14
  Aleizhab Batson, Deputy Director of Communications
  Paul Martinez, Director of Intra- Government Services
Looks like we will be getting an APP for that.
Color T Shirt Options were on pages 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15

Fight Blight
Campaign Kick Off Date
Mid January

Well, back to the DIA (Downtown Includes Alcohol) 10/22/14 Board meeting.
200 Riverside Avenue Project- Just pass it. Get it through city council.
Hemming Park- Change is coming. MJ was mentioned again. Very Positive.
Governance Subcommittee Update- Some Backroom private meetings should clear this all up.

SUPPORT 2014-560 with an A(AMENDMENT) campaign will be bigger than the Governors race. Tony Allegretti was the big idea about Support 560. Here is an amendment that can be attached with 560 by the DIA or by the Jacksonville city council.
Please vote on your DIA Resolution to active Jacksonville city council legislation 2014-305 to attach an amendment that could allow for a 10 minute drop off or pick up for any commercial watercraft at an existing, new, dock, pier, kayak launch in our new 4.8 mile CRA/DIA 2014-560 zone. DIA CEO Aundra Wallace was at the RCDPHS and heard my Public comments and wants to reach out to councilman Crescimbeni and councilman Love and so Jacksonville can only hope that Mr. Wallace will immediately call for a noticed meeting so that 2014-305 can be amended or 2014-560 can be amended. Stay Positive.

I also made the DIA Board aware of Jacksonville's Community's First FIND (Florida Inland Navigation District) subcommittee meeting that is scheduled to take place 10/30/14 at 2pm in council chambers. gary Anderson is the Chair. This is our property tax money. Does anybody care? I made the DIA aware that Sydney Geffin Park on the Northbank was on the chopping block.

A new Authority
Embrace It
Or
It will Embrace Us

[Noone]

Just announced DIA subcommittee meeting 10/30/14 at 1:30 pm 3rd floor at city hall and this will be about the CRA. Has The BID been separated from the CRA? At 2pm will be the Community First FIND subcommittee meeting of the great LOST to look at FIND projects that have not been made Public in any media outlet. Stay Positive.

Visit Jacksonville!

[tufsu1]

The CRA, by state law, must be approved by City Council.  The BID is purely a local document and may or may not require Council approval.

[Noone]

The first committee meeting of our new DIA  and the strategy for our CRA had me leaving the meeting with St. Johns River written on my hand and my new best Friend is DIA Board member Tony Allegretti. I've got a gut feeling were going to be FIND buddies and the timing couldn't be better.

There were only 4 people in attendance from the Public. Besides myself I recognized Doug Skiles, and councilwoman Lori Boyer. Committee chair Melody Bishop ran a great meeting and opened it up to everyone that wanted to participate. Mr. Harris and Mr. Allegretti were the only extra DIA Board members that attended this meeting in addition to Paul Perez.

One of the highlights for me and a shocker is that TIF as a potential funding source won't be available till 2017. Can that be true?

Sound like we need to FIND FIND now. During Public Comment I mentioned FIND also 2009-442 and mentioned that the administration is now aware of this pre TIF 2017 Bennie for Downtown.

So who wants to Make a scene in a Post Thanksgiving day paddle Downtown. Special shout out to my new Best Friend. Or anyone else who wants to write a check for even a buck to supporting (Local) the Artificial Reef Trust Fund that will tell the world that we are joining Mayor Brown in making Downtown a Destination and not a pass through on our St. Johns River our American Heritage River a Federal Initiative.

CRA/DIA meeting today at 1:30 3rd floor city hall. And the Community First FIND subcommittee meeting of the Jacksonville Waterways Commission is at 2pm in council chambers. Will there be any media covering any of this? Will the NEW super duper Downtown Docking Zone map be made available?

Sydney Geffen Park. Is it in our out as a FIND project?
Another key element is the healthy and stealthy combo of Ashley Smith Juarez and Scott Shine and throw in Tom Ingram for a land hand SUP, Kitesurfing, Kiteboarding, kayak launch between the DCPS building and the JEA property. What does the Civic Council say about that positive inclusive benefit?

Will DIA CEO Aundra Wallace provide an update to his announcement to reach out to Dist.14 Jacksonville city councilman Jim Love and At-Large councilman John Crescimbeni Group 2 on an amendment to 2014-305 that is still in two committees RCDPHS and Finance. HEY! After the 10/29/14 Special Committee on CIP that my councilman Don Redman and I rode up the elevator and we should have gone right to Mayor Brown's office because we were talking about the Southbank Riverwalk and 2014-190 remember the 900' that it was going to be short. But instead we talked about the two new yet to be built floating docks and for the first time Don was open to a spot on one of the docks that could be for 24/7 Public Access and Economic Opportunity. That is POSITIVE.

[Noone]

The 10/30/14 CRA/DIA 1:30 pm meeting on the 3rd floor of city hall has been cancelled.

[Noone]

3/6/15 Special meeting of the DIA Board on Shipyards in less than an hour. Will MJ be there live blogging? A NATIONAL DESIGNATION Presentation is on the agenda. Starts at 9am 1st floor city hall open to the Public.

[Noone]

Next DIA Board meeting? Anyone. Next DIA meeting of any kind?

[Noone]

There is a DIA Board meeting in 1 hour. WOW! Anyone going? Has anyone seen an agenda? Will there be any media there?

[Noone]

I am here.  Bill Hoff also just entered the room.  MUCH smaller crowd than the first meeting.  This meeting should really only cover the CEO search criteria. 

For a meeting that was only supposed to cover the CEO search criteria it turned into a marathon that landed me my first $15 parking ticket in a long time. It appears that it will be an anything goes Authority that will just embrace picking the winners and losers and we'll figure out how to pay for all this stuff later on. In the meantime get ready to stick your hand out and get in line.

Intuition Ale  I'd love to see you build your dream location next to the Bay St Entertainment Zone along our St. Johns River our American Heritage River a Federal Initiative. Just show up and ask. That's all you have to do. Just show up. If one of the first recommendations can be a resolution for an eminent domain action by this DIA against a private land owner then a Public request by a business should be met with the same euphoric acceptance especially when it is the former Shipyards/ Landmar location. Total destruction of the Public Trust.

I arrived for the 2 o'clock meeting. There will now be another meeting Monday, Nov. 5 at 2pm. In the St. James bldg. first floor. The sole purpose is to fast track this for city council vote and approval.  Kinda like the FSCJ Golden Parachute Ride by a Board.  The JTA super thank you bailout package by a Board. The stuffing for Thanksgiving hopefully will be delivered by our city council for this Board.

I filled out the sign in sheet and in the future you can only hope and cross your fingers that there will be minutes of the previous meeting made available for the Public.

The highlight of the meeting and there were a couple. But to just touch on one and I'll have more later but I'm always amazed how an interim director and it never matters what dept. it is just passes the ball along. But I think of it as a fumble and the teammate picks it up and runs for a touchdown and then wins the game for the city. Thus was the case when Mr. Lindstrom was asked to go and then prepare a presentation for everybody. And that was the report on the CRA workshop. The man delivers when asked.

I have witnessed this before in the past and have been directly involved and again I have to give super props to Mr. Lindstrom in a very informative power point presentation that needs to be seen by the entire city council as well.

Hats off again to Love and Boyer for attending the meeting. Councilwoman Boyer we need to go kayaking and not just in Dist. 5.

As for Public Comments. I'm bringing my own timer next time.

Old Buildings
New Buildings
We don't care
We are the DIA
And you will do what we say.

I attended the 3/25/15 DIA Board meeting and arrived late because of another parking story that averted another $15 parking ticket. Just luck. So during Public comment I opened with my Downtown parking story and was hoping that Jack Shad the parking guy would have been there to not only address this issue but the two recent letters to the editor in the Times Union about people wanting to visit the new Soutbank Riverwalk and not being able to FIND parking. The point is that there is and I believe it to be true some Public Parking spots between the Penninsula and the Charthouse for Public parking and still waiting to hear back from Jack about this. If true. This would be a positive benefit.

Also shared with the DIA Board that I continue to tell people that say that we are getting more Public Access and economic opportunity to our St. Johns River an American Heritage River a FEDERAL Initiative especially in our new CRA/DIA zone that we are getting crushed. Does anyone else still feel sorry for the Baltimore guys 2014-412? LOSERS! So anyway, I shared a positive response back from an email from Dr. Vitti and the potential for a handicapped kayak, SUP, Wind surfing launch next to the JEA property. This potential location was recently highlighted from a presentation given at the 3/11/15 Jacksonville Waterways Commission meeting by Alice Krauss, with Brooks Rehabilitation after evaluating existing kayak launches throughout Duval County. JWC Board member Ray Pringle was instrumental in getting this issue in front of the Administration and JWC. The DIA along with Don Redman District 4 and this is still his district until July 1 are the ultimate decision makers in this issue right now. Was also lucky enough to share this with David DeCamp, the Public Information spokesperson with the administration. We were laughing because this simple issue sounded like an Abbott and Costello bit. Who's on First. I like Dr. VItti.


Also during Public comment I mentioned that next door the full Jacksonville city council is meeting and voting on 2015-38 which is our FIND projects and that this DIA Board should be outraged that none of this was brought to your attention since some of the projects are under your control. What a joke. This is our property tax money.

We all want to say
Visit Jacksonville!

A New Authority
Embrace It
Or
It will Embrace Us

[Noone]

Is there a DIA meeting today open to the Public and anyone from One Spark should go and attend this Open Public meeting. Will there be any media there? Is this the open meeting about the Shipyards or Jacksonville Landing property? What a Spark of news that could break on MJ.