Comment

Comment by Charles D White on June 11, 2011 at 7:53am

I've asked the radio show listeners to go to www.coj.net/City-Council-Council-Members.aspx posted at facebook.com/justspeakup to email all Coouncilmen urging them not to agree with the Mayor's fast track and to put this into the sunshine of new council at least until July. I have spoken with two councilmen that think it will be pushed back. I think that has to be the first try. As to El-Ad, I've always been told that they were an Israeli Natural Gas firm that came to America to invest in Real Estate.

Comment by Patricia M. McBride on June 11, 2011 at 7:50am

I have posted the finance committee meeting for Monday as an event and am putting this information there and any other info I get and think perhaps a blog might be in order?

Comment by Patricia M. McBride on June 11, 2011 at 7:49am

I just checked, and apparently these automated pick up garbage bills have been in the works since last April towards the end of the month.  There is also another bill 2011-349 which is also ready for the council.  I have included the fact sheet info which indicates the time frame for this bill is 2016 to 2021.  During the 6 years apparently the waste colleciton company will recover the costs in installing the automated waste recovery system.  There is mention of

LEGISLATIVE FACT SHEET

 

DATE: ___May 6, 2011______________                             BT OR RC NUMBER:  __2011-349                                                                              (Administration Bills)

 

SPONSOR    (Department/Division/Agency/Council Member): Public Works/Solid Waste Divison

 

PURPOSE/SUMMARY: Request approval of Legislation to Extend the Southland Contract for Residential Waste and Recycling Collection for five years from 9/30/2016 to 9/30/2021, attach an Amended and Restated Agreement for Residential Waste and Recycling Collection and Transportation Services (provides for Automated Waste and Recycling Collection) and extends the contract for the Processing and Sale of Recycling Materials (Contract #9167-01 awarded pursuant to Bid SC-0496-10) for six (6) years from 9/30/2015 to 9/30/2021 in order to allow Southland to recover the cost to Automate Garbage and Recycling collection and to maximize the City’s revenue from the Sale of Recycling Materials.  This legislation would waive the conflicting provisions of Section 382.308 (Procurement of Waste Services) and waive Ordinance Code Chapter 126 (see below...it is about putting this out for bids) in order to extend the contract for the Processing and Sale of Recycling Materials for six (6) years.

 

APPROPRIATION :   Total Amount Appropriated:  $ no impact on Current year’s Budget and no impact on the 2011/12 Budget as follows:

 

Note the waiver is for this:

The Purchasing Code (Ordinance Code Chapter 126) requires that all orders for goods and services exceeding $50,000 are procured using the formal bid process. Orders for goods and services under $50,000 are procured using the informal process. Individual buyers are responsible for purchasing all commodities or services assigned to them.

http://library.municode.com/HTML/12174/level2/TITVADPE_CH126PRCO.html

 

 

 

Comment by Patricia M. McBride on June 11, 2011 at 6:45am

JL, I certainly believe it is.  I think that stand may be the only one we have available if the current folks on the city council entertain the thought of passing all these bills without doing their job first.  Certainly, there is no way at all they can do a good job nor will the public be adequately warned about what is being considered.  There were no bids apparently on the garbage pickup Peyton wants contracted, and he has been down that road once already I believe?  The problem is right now, they have worked on the ethics commission for a couple of years attempting to water it down and make it ineffective, and right now, the ethics commission should be advising the city council members with all of this (which is/was one of their jobs.........to aid the city council and elected officials, so they do not violate ethics laws or any other laws and further deminish the public trust).

Comment by JL Gawlik on June 10, 2011 at 9:45pm

Patricia, isn't all of this in direct violation of ethics and our Sunshine laws?

Comment by Patricia M. McBride on June 10, 2011 at 9:35pm

JR and CJ, you have done a great job digging up info.  What comes into play is the amount of information someone would have to go through and make sense of in such a short time, because they have been doing all this in the dark of night behind closed doors with only them knowing even though taxpayers will have to foot all the bills for it.  The more I see, the more I realize what a formidable job there is ahead in such a very short time and Peyton is pushing for instant passage.  Not fair to us and certainly will not allow the city council to do thier jobs the way they should.

Comment by J.R. on June 10, 2011 at 8:37pm

The below link is to search results, in which you will find PDFs of:

1) Florida's Brownfields Redevelopment Program

2) Description of Brownfields Redevelopment Process

If the link doesn't activate when I post this comment, highlight it, copy it into your browser, and paste it into the url address line at the top of your screen. It doesn't matter that it's very long. It will work, you just won't be able to see all of it on the address line area that is exposed to view.

I saved those files into Adobe Acrobat Reader 9 to have them as a research resource. If you haven't updated to the latest version, it's a good idea to do so.

http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0oG7hYvwvJNdUgAel5XNyoA;_ylc=X...

Comment by CJ on June 10, 2011 at 7:06pm

 

Some Municipal Code about JEDC and Enterprise Zone. Im pretty sure the newspaper publication wasnt done. There is much in the Code this is just a little bit

Sec. 500.104. - Exercise of powers by Jacksonville Economic Develop...

The powers of the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission, as the sole community redevelopment agency under the Charter of the City, include all the powers necessary or convenient to carry out and effectuate the purposes and provisions of this Part, except the following, which continue to vest in the Council:

(1)

The power to determine an area to be a slum or blighted area, or combination thereof, to designate such area as appropriate for community redevelopment, and to hold public hearings required with respect thereto.

(2)

The power to grant final approval to community redevelopment plans and modifications thereof.

(3)

The power to authorize the incurrence of indebtedness under financing agreements and the issuance of revenue bonds with respect to projects.

(4)

The power to approve the acquisition, improvement and sale or other disposition of property by the City or the JEDC and the incurring of project costs by the City or the JEDC, and the power to assume the responsibility to bear loss.

(5)

The power to approve the development of community policing innovations.

 

(Ord. 2000-1078-E, § 1.03)

Sec. 500.105. - Community redevelopment plans.

(a)

New community redevelopment shall not be planned or initiated under this Part unless and until the Council has, by resolution, found and determined that a specified area is appropriate for community redevelopment, has designated such area as a community redevelopment area and has adopted a community redevelopment plan for such area.

(b)

The community redevelopment plan shall:

(1)

Conform to the comprehensive plan for the City as prepared by the Department of Planning and Development under the Local Government Comprehensive Planning and Land Development Regulation Act.

(2)

Be sufficiently complete to indicate such land acquisition, demolition and removal of structures, redevelopment, rehabilitation and improvements, including residential development and related office, commercial and light industrial development, as may be proposed to be carried out in the community redevelopment area; zoning and planning changes, if any; land uses; maximum densities; and building requirements.

(3)

Provide for residential development in the area, or state the reasons for not addressing residential development in the area. The City and the JEDC shall coordinate with the housing authority and the Duval County Housing Finance Authority, concerning residential development in the area.

(c)

The community redevelopment plan may also provide for the development and implementation of community policing innovations.

(d)

The Council shall hold a public hearing on a community redevelopment plan after public notice thereof by publication in a newspaper having a general circulation in the City. The notice shall describe the time, date, place, and purpose of the hearing, identify generally the community redevelopment area covered by the plan, and outline the general scope of the community redevelopment plan under consideration.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Part of Municipal Code for Brownfield I dont believe these requirements were done for Brownfield qualification.

Sec. 651.107. - Permit and inspection expedited.

Upon submission of complete plans and drawings meeting minimum City standards for review, the plans shall be expeditiously reviewed by each agency of the City. The expedited review process shall not modify, qualify or otherwise alter agency nonprocedural standards for permit approval unless expressly authorized by law. In addition, the expedited permit review process shall not assure or guarantee approval of any permit. Required inspections by the agency shall also be expeditiously conducted during the development and construction phase of the project so as not to detrimentally affect the development and construction of the same.

(Ord. 98-633-E, § 1)

 

Comment by JL Gawlik on June 10, 2011 at 6:13pm

Here is a interesting article, City of Jacksonville sweetens deal-by $4 million-for Jaguars' stadium agreement:

http://jacksonville.com/sports/football/jaguars/2010-07-26/story/ev...

Comment by J.R. on June 10, 2011 at 5:35pm

Thanks for the info, CJ. I think we should go after possible conflicts of interest of JEDC Chairman, for JEDC also has oversight over some of the Everbank deal. That should include ethics complaints with State of FL and Duval County. With that done, perhaps seek an injunction to stop implementation?? I believe taxpayers would have standing, since they're the ones who will be financially harmed by approval and implementation of it. But, then... I'm not a lawyer.

Chuck, below is some information about El-Ad that is quite interesting. It is an enormous, multi-billion dollar international conglomerate out of Israel, operates nationally in the U.S., in four major metropolitan cities in Canada, and also in Europe. They're mainly in real estate, but also in a number of other things such as financial, information technology, fuel, communications, automotive, insurance, chemical, oil, gas, energy systems and Real to mention only a few, some in connection with the Delek Group, which is one of the largest and most dynamic investment holding groups based out of Israel. When I read that fuel, oil, gas, energy were somehow connected, a red flag popped up in my mind that had Gate Petroleum written on it. I'm not saying there's a connection, but don't believe it's outside the realm of possibility.

It's strange that they're operating so much under the radar and un-named by the COJ in this Everbank deal. We wouldn't have known of El-Ad if you and I hadn't raised the question of who owned the two properties involved. It would be interesting to know if El-Ad has a financial connection, or even an ownership interest in Everbank's online banking and mortgage operations---or if Everbank interfaces with El-Ad or Delek Group. This may end up being quite an entangled web---and none of it in need of financial help from anyone, certainly not Duval County taxpayers.

Info and links:

Real Estate Management and Development
Elad National Properties, LLC
(this corporation is for the U.S.)
Company Overview
Elad National Properties, LLC buys and sells real estate properties. ELAD National Properties, LLC was formerly known as Elad Group Florida, LLC. The company was founded in 2004 and is based in Sunrise, Florida. Elad National Properties operates as a subsidiary of El-Ad Group Ltd.
1301 International Parkway
Suite 200
Sunrise, FL 33323
United States
Founded in 2004
Phone:
954-846-7800
Fax:
954-846-7801
www.eladgroupfl.com
Elad National Properties, LLC does not have any Key Executives recorded.

http://eladcanada.com/affiliates/ El Ad Canada, Inc. (Israeli)

Elad Canada Inc. is an Ontario company that is publicly traded on the Tel-Aviv stock exchange. It owns multi-residential rental properties, seniors’ housing, office and industrial buildings. The company is also developing new condominium projects in the Greater Toronto and Montreal areas. In total, Elad Canada Inc. has holdings of more than 50 buildings in Ontario and Quebec.

ELAD National Properties
1301 International Parkway Suite: 200 Sunrise, Fl. 33323
Ph: (954) 846-7800 Fax: (954) 846-7801
info@EladNational.com

Elad National Properties is a subsidiary of the El-Ad Group, Ltd., a private company with a major international presence in the real estate and hotel industries in the United States, Canada, Europe,and Israel.
Click here to visit El-Ad Group Canada
The El-Ad Group is owned and operated by the same interests that own The Delek Group, one of the leading publicly traded conglomerates in Israel. The Delek Group has achieved a stellar reputation as one of the strongest companies in the international market, with interests in a broad range of sectors throughout the world, including Fuel, Communications, Automotive, Insurance, Chemical, Oil, Gas, Energy Systems and Real Estate

Delek Group
today investing in best of breed companies in four main sectors; energy & infrastructure; financial services & automotive.

http://www.delek-group.com/

Elad Group has been providing IT services to the Israeli market since 1982.
The Group includes 4 companies:
Elad Software Systems Ltd.
Elad Software Solutions Ltd.
Risotech Ltd.
Generize (Israel) Ltd.

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