City Council May 2—During Public Comment, Britt Festivals CEO Abby McKee announced the arts organization was holding a free concert for the community and that it had been working closely with neighbors to mitigate impacts from concertgoers for the 2023 season that kicks off in June.
Representatives of “Stop the Speeders” were on-hand to inform Council that they had attracted more supporters and that efforts to slow traffic was working. City Administrator Jeff Alvis informed Council that two new “Your Speed Is” digital signs will be installed soon.
A request for City water service at 483 Old Stage Road was denied after a presentation by the homeowner.
Carolyn Kingsnorth, leader of Historic Jacksonville, Inc. which curates and conducts tours of the Beekman House and Beekman Bank appealed to council to drop the 10% ticket tax (Facilities Use Fee). The fees being charged to the organization for conducting activities at the city-owned historic properties amount to $1200/year. The Council agreed that since 100% of the profits from ticket sales are used to care for the buildings, that dropping the fee was in the city’s best interest.
Council approved a bed tax grant for $17,000 requested by the Chamber of Commerce for the purchase of a new trolley. If the Chamber is successful in obtaining another $30,000 in grants, it plans to launch a new Jacksonville winery tour that will take guests to 10 nearby venues. The concept was also endorsed by the Transient Lodging Tax Committee which backed the Chamber’s business plan for the new trolley tours.
The city formally accepted two grants, the first for $500,000 for Forest Park woodland fuels reduction and another matching grant for $17,000 for the city’s proposed museum at Old City Hall.