Mary Maguire
NC FL Independent.com
November 15, 2014 8:38 a.m.
Editor’s Note: Nassau County has another news blog available to interested readers. Mary McGuire, a reporter who covers the Nassau County beat, launched her own website on October 13. Please visit NC FL Independent website and subscribe. We thank Mary for allowing us to post articles related to the Port of Fernandina.
Word that the city’s Planning Advisory Board (PAB) rejected the Port of Fernandina’s master plan reached commissioners for the Ocean Highway & Port Authority during their meeting Wednesday night. Port attorney Clyde Davis received the message on his cell phone and then spread the word, according to the Port’s administrator Joanna Cason.
The Port board met at the county’s office building in Yulee with three people in the audience, said Cason. The PAB met at Fernandina Beach city hall, Wednesday night with a crowd of more than 50 people filling the room.
The Port’s master plan is attracting watchful eyes after Kinder Morgan, the Port’s management company, quietly filed a request earlier this year with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to transport coal. Word got out and crowds have attended various public meetings over the last several months to voice opposition. There’s a belief that the plan is not safe or sensitive to the environment. Kinder Morgan has pulled its request with the EPA.
State statute requires the Port Authority to develop a 10-year strategic plan that complies with the local comprehensive plan to the extent “feasible,” according to 339.155. The port hired a consultant to draft the plan. It cost $100,000 and it is being paid for with a grant from the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT).
Davis was asked if he or the Port Authority have held any conversations with city officials about whether the master plan complies, or does not comply, with the comprehensive plan. Here’s how he responded in an email:
“Not exactly. We’ve been advised that it is not in conflict. There is a difference,” said Davis.
What happens next?
More discussion. But here is why FDOT offers the grant:
While Florida’s ports are independently operated and governed, the state set-up a collaborative program in 1990 between FDOT and seaports. Once the Port’s master plan is approved it would be submitted to the Florida Seaport Transportation and Economic Development Council. It’s part of the Statewide Seaport and Waterways System Plan.
The NC Independent’s conclusion is at somewhat at odds with the quote from Port Attorney Davis in their article, …”Davis was asked if he or the Port Authority have held any conversations with city officials about whether the master plan complies, or does not comply, with the comprehensive plan. Here’s how he responded in an email:
“Not exactly. We’ve been advised that it is not in conflict. There is a difference,” said Davis.