January 18, 2012

The Beaches Leader/Ponte Vedra Leader

Page 3

Port asking if ferry is highest and best use of scarce resources

FERRY, from page 1
for JaxPort, said in interview Monday that she also expects to be at Thursday's town meeting and said JaxPort is looking to concentrate its resources on the cargo business. "We're not saying we don't love the ferry and we are aware people rely on the service," Rubin said, explaining that when JaxPort agreed to take over ferry operations it was with the understanding that it did not want ferry operations to interfere with the port's core business. The ferry was operated by the state since 1948, but the city of Jacksonville took over responsibility after state funding was axed. Jacksonville balked at the costs involved in running the ferry and JaxPort took over ferry operations on Oct. 1, 2007. Since then, however, port officials said ridership has fallen and costs have risen, so that the Port Authority is spending $600,000 or more annually to cover costs. "The Port has learned a lot about what it takes to run a ferry," Rubin said, explaining that engineers "conservatively" estimate the ferry will require $12 million be spent over the next 10 years on capital costs. The most immediate project, a redo of pilings, will cost $2.3 million, while the Port has only $800,000 budgeted for the work, Rubin said. "We were a community partner and in 2007 times were good. Things were significantly different then," Rubin said. "This has always been a question Is this [the ferry] the highest and best use of our scarce public resources?." Ridership during the 2011 fiscal year was reported as 230,331 riders. Pedestrians are charged $1 per ride, while two-axle cars are charged $5. The ferry runs from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, with the ferry departing Mayport village on the hour and half hour.
Photo by VICKI LAKE

Beaches Watch plans community meeting Jax Beach mayor lauds progress on what citizens can Mission House has made in do to save the ferry assisting its clients get help
by ANJALEE KHEMLANI
Beaches Watch will host a St. Johns River Ferry panel at a meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. at the Beaches Branch Library Community Room, 600 3rd St., Neptune Beach. The meeting is open to the public. The St. Johns River Ferry panel members will be Jacksonville City Councilman Bill Gulliford, Friends of the St. Johns River Ferry President Val Bostwick, Mayport Waterfront Partnership Chairman Sam Floyd and Jacksonville Port Authority representative Nancy Rubin. The panel will be discussing the status of the St. Johns River Ferry. There will also be an opportunity for the audience to ask questions. "We hope this meeting will educate citizens about status of the St. Johns River Ferry and what citizens can do to save the ferry, said Beaches Watch President Sandy Golding. Beaches Watch is a non-profit, non-partisan civic organization. For more information contact 513-9242, email info@beacheswatch.com or visit the Beaches Watch website at www.beacheswatch.com.
STAFF WRITER

Beaches Watch moderator Sandy Golding, right, addresses the audience that is listening to Beaches mayors detail issues each city faces and progress that has been made. From left are Atlantic Beach Mayor Mike Borno, Neptune Beach Mayor Harriet Pruette, Jacksonville Beach Mayor Fland Sharp and Golding. The meeting, hosted by Beaches Watch, was held at the Beaches Branch Library.

ROCK AND ROLL

ACROSS 1. *"We Are the _____" 6. *Madonna's coneshaped garment 9. Clarified butter 13. Farewell in France 14. *"Barbara ___," sung by The Beach Boys 15. Private university in Des Moines, IA 16. Times New _____ 17. *Papa's got a brand new one 18. Oil tanker 19. *A rockabilly original 21. Ran away to marry 23. Open box attached to long pole handle 24. Scratch or scrape 25. Programmer's bane 28. Pocket bread 30. Chew the fat or chat 35. It will 37. Literary "through" 39. Peter in Russian 40. "In ____ of" 41. *Behind Wilson sisters, this group rose to prominence in 1970s 43. Japanese soup 44. Treeless plain 46. Affirm 47. A bunch, often followed by "of" 48. Inhabitant of republic on southwestern shores of Arabian Peninsula 50. *"Heat of the Moment" band 52. ___ Luis Obispo 53. Similar in quality

Crossword Puzzle

55. Some pop-up online 57. *Founding member of legendary British band 60. *"___ ____ Rock and Roll" 64. *Rock and Roll, e.g. 65. Not divisible by two 67. *New _____, formerly Joy Division 68. Sometimes precedes "nonsense" 69. Motion of assent 70. Period from Dec. 24 to Jan. 6, pl. 71. Cook slowly 72. *"Owner of a Lonely Heart" band 73. Farley's side-kick in "Tommy Boy"

1950s and 1960s 20. Archie Bunker's wife 22. French lake 24. Single-file procession 25. *"It's still Rock and Roll" to him 26. Being of service 27. Flash of light 29. Titaness who was mother of Helios, Selene, and Eos in Greek mythology 31. Jodie Foster's "____ Island" 32. Laertes and Fortinbras to Hamlet, e.g. 33. Like ship away from harbor 34. *Mr. Dynamite 36. Anything half-moon DOWN shaped 1. *"Let's do the time ____ 38. Mine deposits again" 42. *Chuck Berry went to 2. Detected by olfactory prison after one organ 45. Medieval siege 3. Ice crystals or frost weapon 4. Some keep others on a 49. *___ & Tina Turner short one of these 51. Software plug-ins 5. Tire brand 54. Literary technique 6. *The Beach Boys' 56. Razor sharpener "Don't Worry ____" 57. *"I Love Rock 'n' Roll" 7. DNA transmitter singer 8. *Aerosmith song with 58. Initial stake one-word title 59. What Jack's beanstalk 9. "Get a ____!" did 10. Exhibiting vigorous 60. Made in Vegas good health 61. It turns on a light bulb? 11. Added to, commonly 62. Mix together followed by "out" 63. Gaelic 12. Poetic "ever" 64. *"Hop on the bus, ___" 15. *Popular R&B style of 66. John or Jane___

Jacksonville Beach Mayor Fland Sharp praised the Mission House for encouraging transients to get off the streets and start working or resolving their issues at a Beaches Watch meeting last Wednesday. "Mission House has really cut back on promoting people's lifestyles of living on the streets," Sharp said. He also applauded efforts in "helping people who want to be helped and not helping people who just want handouts." Director of Mission House for the past one year, Laurie Anderson, said in an interview this week that getting people off the streets is the organization's number one goal. To attain this goal, it has become compulsory to see the case manager or visit the clinic on site if at the House for at least a week, Anderson said in a phone interview. "We can't help you if we don't know why you are here," Anderson said. The case managers help in many ways,

and begin first by ensuring that each person has an I.D. "About 30 percent of our clients have mental issues like schizophrenia or depression," Anderson said, adding there are two on-site psychiatrists to help those clients. The organization has worked with the help of low-income housing to allow clients to stay who have some sort of income. "Some landlords understand that little income is better than no income at all," Anderson said. In the past year the organization has taken 32 people off the street, she said. This includes either finding a home for them or finding family out of the Jacksonville area who are willing to house the client for some time. Anderson the help of the police department aided her in figuring out what the issues were so the organization could successfully address them.