Five months open, and questions remain.
While Turner Construction says they cleared all the problems that existed when the new Duval County Courthouse first opened its doors, a list of about ten things that have surfaced since remain to be resolved. Jacksonville’s Public Works Director disagrees with that number, however, saying it’s likely at least twice that.
Today was really the first major check-in for the Courthouse Oversight Special Committee since the building opened- and they seemed to be more laying groundwork for future meetings than getting answers today. Two members of the three person committee- Greg Anderson and John Crescimbeni- were present for the meeting in addition to many other councilmen, representatives from different city branches, and Turner Construction, the courthouse contractor.
For Crescimbeni, one of the issues with this project from the outset has been a lack of communication between all the branches that should have a say in this project.
“If today’s any indication I would say there’s probably still a communication breakdown,” he says.
And the breakdown with Turner is causing the most concern at this stage. Public Works Director Jim Robinson says they are continuing to try to sort out responsibility and code compliance for some things, like door pressure, but the city and Turner are disputing a lot of the details.
“If they all at least agree these are the last items were worrying about, now you’ve gotta focus on what’s left to get done,” says City Council President Bill Bishop.
There is also an issue distinguishing what’s appropriate by law against what’s right for the facility. This came to a head during discussion on ADA compliance. Because there is no designated city parking lot for the courthouse, the city is only mandated to provide on handicap designated space on the street.
“Being in compliance with ADA with one parking space in an 800,000 square foot building I thought was pretty ridiculous,” Crescimbeni says.
They are also struggling to line up the best way to transport jurors past the end of this year. Right now, JTA provides a shuttle from where jurors park by the stadium. That is a problem early in the week when the pool is large and a lot of people have to be moved in a small time frame. It also can be problematic when there are other events going on in the area, like the County Fair. Additionally, because of specific payment guidelines, JTA will only be providing that service through the end of this year.
Some from the city are looking to hire out a private bus company to take over that service, while the Clerk of Court’s office is asking nearby city land be converted into a parking lot. At one point a city rep pointed out that they were not obligated to provide free parking to jurors, but all councilmen shook that idea off- saying they had the parking, they would figure out the transportation.
The utility bill also drew a lot of criticism. Per square foot, the bill stacks up much higher than that of the old courthouse, and Bishop was among a chorus of councilmen expressing confusion how an “old, energy inefficient” building could possibly be cheaper than the “new, state-of-the-art” one. Robinson says the capitol savings on the system supported using the system initially, but they are closely watching the bills to see how these next few months track.
One of the central tie-ups is the pending State Attorney’s Office. Public Works is expecting bids for the office to come in next week, but there is a tight budget and a timeline that has already been moved back on a few occasions. Right now, the office believes 3-4 companies will submit bids for the project. Bishop says that’s not as many as he would like to see, but is not necessarily surprised.
“This project, let’s face it, has a lot of history behind it and the construction market gets a little skittish,” Bishop says.
Crescimbeni was also not happy with the low number, but says because this is already the second time they have formally sought bids, he’s not sure repeating the process would to any good. Bishop says keeping things on track from here on out would go a long way in getting a strong proposal.
“If a project goes out, comes back, goes out, comes back, people get nervous about it and they simply say, at this point, it’s not worth messing around with,” he says.
Crescimbeni is more focused now on whether those bids will actually meet the city’s budget. With just over $26 million remaining, he says they will be in trouble if none meet that mark.
