ATLANTIC BEACH, Fla. – The Beaches community received updates Wednesday night on the Jaguars stadium deal, the future of Penman Road and the potential of school closures.
Jacksonville Councilman Rory Diamond shared a presentation at the Town Hall meeting.
School closures are a huge concern for many community members. Groups like Save Atlantic Beach Elementary have been vocal over the last few months about Atlantic Beach Elementary School potentially being shut down under the Master Facility Plan.
Diamond talked about continuing to advocate for the schools in his district and also shared his thoughts on the potential closures.
“We love our neighborhood schools. And so the question has been, are they going to close? The answer’s no. The neighborhood schools out here are not going to close. They’re too good. They’re high-quality schools that are well-supported. So it makes no sense for them to close,” Diamond said.
Mike Stang, who attended the meeting, asked the councilman about an issue with the Beaches paying more to the city of Jacksonville than what is returned. Diamond responded saying it’s unfair but 18 other councilmembers want money for their districts. He also stressed that he has to pick his battles wisely.
Stang said he understood Diamond’s dilemma.
“He’s only one person in a big group. And you kind of get shouted out because there’s nothing in it for the rest of the group,” Stang said.
Diamond also provided an update on the future of Penman Road.
“It’s the newest version of it, which has got a lot of different -- it has medians, it has roundabouts, but it’s essentially called a road diet. So we narrow it so traffic moves more smoothly. We’ve got a five-way at Florida and Penman. That’s awful. So when we get a nice roundabout there, traffic will move better,” Diamond said.
Stang described the Penman Road update as a “work in progress.”
“I liked that he brought up that they’re going to do something about the drainage. I would love to see the medians go away. I understand that we need a roundabout at Florida Avenue. The bigger sidewalk is a big plus,” Stang said.
The Jaguars’ $1.4 billion stadium deal was also on the agenda. Diamond broke down the split between the city and the football team.
He also explained how the city will pay an extra $150 million for maintenance and upkeep. He said the Jaguars were willing to pay $100 million toward the community benefits agreement, but the city offered to match their contribution if they upped it by $50 million.
Diamond feels the city will approve the deal without the community benefits agreement.
“I think the biggest issue out here was how does this affect other parts of the city?” Diamond said. “How does spending all this money on a stadium affect the pension funds? How does it affect the money that we get to spend out here at the beaches, all good questions. "