Thursday, October 2, 2008

As I was saying earlier.. ;-)

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/100208/geo_339180855.shtml

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I thought for sure since the Airport Authority hired Jim Stein they would win the ruling in this case. I guess Smith and Crew had more pull with Judge Scarlett.

Now that it is evident that the Airport will relocate (which it should). Sea Island and Crew will solicit donations from their inner circle to facilitate the move.

My question now is: WHICH MUNICIPALITY WILL SPONSOR the airport? Camden Partnership facilitated this move believing they could be the sponsor. But it has been revealed that the SPONSOR has to be a taxing authority. What is the next move?

Jay Moreno said...

Lest there be any confusion, the writer is referring to attorney Charley Smith, not Bill Smith.

I tend to agree with you that there will be a new airport, whether we need it or not. That said, it would seem logical to me that the required taxing authority would be the county and that it be called the Camden County Airport
(and definitely not Bill Smith International! ;-))

Anonymous said...

I have heard whispers that the Grand Jury is recommending consolidating the municipalities. So I agree with Jay, the airport should be called the Camden County Airport.

Whoever serves on the Grand Jury deserves a standing ovation for this gutsy move. I hope they read your blog and start with consolidating the police departments first.

Anonymous said...

By the way...has anyone heard anything from Savannah about the hearing going on there? I haven't heard anything lately.

Anonymous said...

I heard that one of the witnesses that testified in front of the Grand Jury was told that it would likely be early next year. It seems that the Cisco connection has evolved into a separate investigation and that this is taking more time.

Anonymous said...

So what would a Grand Jury be doing recommending consolidation of the counties municipalities? It would be a waste of the paper its written on. Kind of like that piece of ground that the St. Marys Airport sits on. Once the airport moves to Billyville, that old site will look just like the old mill property looks now. Two pieces of vacant dirt not producing one tax dollar for the city or county!

Jay Moreno said...

As you probably know, the Grand Jury does way more than play footsie with Bill Smith - or at least it is supposed to. That can of recommendation would be well within their legitimate purview.

As to the airport property. The amounts of demolition and envorionmental remediation required would be way, way less than was the case at the mill, in both relative and absolute terms. When real estate financing starts flowing again, I think there willl be a ready market for that property, even though actual developement may be years off.

In fact, don't be surprised if there is already a known eager buyer waiting in the wings (so to speak.)

Jay Moreno said...

I odf course meant to say "that KIND of recommendation."