JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – While it’s not a done deal, work continues and it seems a new Medical Examiner’s office and morge that is going to be built in a Brentwood neighborhood. That despite the fight by community leaders.
The group is not only upset with the morgue but what’s happening to the property a liquor store sits on right next to it; the city is considering paying $1.8 million to buy that property.
Here is the latest issue.
Jacksonville City Council is getting ready to approve the purchase of the property where a newly built liquor store is located. The legislation said the purchase is for a Brentwood community center. Well, that’s partially true because the legislation said it could become a public building and could also be part of the office complex for the morgue. The neighborhood association said it is just using the name “Brentwood” to make this look like the city is doing the right thing.
Lydia Bell represents the Metro Garden Neighborhood Association and has been fighting this issue since it first became known a morgue and liquor store were moving in. She said it’s the public building that’s worrisome because part of it could be used for office space for the morgue.
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“Why are you calling it the Brentwood community center? Don’t pee on me and tell me it’s rain. We are tired of that,” Bell said.
Bell said they are tired of many things about this entire project. She said a neighborhood bill of rights which the city passed 28 years ago was not followed. That bill of rights says neighborhoods should be notified of zoning and public projects, but Bell said that never happened under Mayor Lenny Curry’s watch. But we later learned that the neighborhood bill of rights never actually made it into city law.
Now Mayor Donna Deegan’s staff says it is trying to work with the group.
“I believe that we’ve done our due diligence in terms of, you know, going through and meeting with the community members offering up opportunities to engage with them. I feel like we’ve followed, you know, what we need to follow through the ordinance code, and we’re going for,” said Kelli O’Leary, who works in the mayor’s office.
But until the project gets final approval by the council, Bell and her group are not giving up.
“I wish the word was cheated,” she said. “But it’s more bamboozled, hoodwinked, robbed, disrespected, and every other violation that you can think of.”
News4JAX also checked with the Urban League and it said it may be too late for the ME office, but to change or codify the neighborhood bill of rights needs to happen, so citizens have the chance to speak out.
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