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\n Fernandina Beach secures $2 million in state funding for seawall project
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Jacksonville City Councilmember Ju’Coby Pittman said getting the project off the ground required years of persistence and collaboration at the local, state and federal levels.<\/p>\n
“It’s been delayed many, many times,” Pittman said. “City, state and federal government really realized how important this project was.”<\/p>\n
She said securing approximately $6.8 million in funding helped move the project from planning to construction.<\/p>\n
“What I love most about this project is that the residents didn’t give up,” Pittman said. “There were many broken promises over the years, and now we’re at a point where you see them working.”<\/p>\n
Pittman said many neighbors doubted they would ever see the project happen in their lifetimes.<\/p>\n
“I feel excited about what has taken place in this community,” she said. “There are a lot of disparities here, and we want to make sure the quality of life and the water that we have in this area are sustainable long term.”<\/p>\n
For Pastor Anthony Webster of Peace Missionary Baptist Church, the project represents relief after nearly four decades of maintaining a septic system at the church.<\/p>\n
“We had the system put in 38 years ago,” Webster said. “In those 38 years, we’ve probably spent about $8,000 pumping it out and replacing pumps.”<\/p>\n
Webster said the community has heard promises before. He remembers discussions dating back to Jacksonville’s consolidation when they were told infrastructure improvements would follow.<\/p>\n
“After consolidation they were supposed to spend a whole lot more money in this area,” Webster said. “From what I witnessed, they were moving money other places.”<\/p>\n
Asked what that felt like, Webster said, “It makes you feel like an orphan, but you have to survive. We just did what we needed to do.”<\/p>\n
Now, as heavy equipment works behind his church, Webster said seeing construction firsthand gives him hope.<\/p>\n
“Health-wise, it makes it a better community,” he said. “There are a lot of illnesses that people don’t know why they’re there, and I believe the environment has to contribute something to it.”<\/p>\n
He added that while the work isn’t finished, the community is optimistic.<\/p>\n
“I’m happy about it,” Webster said. “We’re still praying they’re able to complete the project, and we’re encouraged more now.”<\/p>\n
Pittman said construction will take time as crews install the necessary sewer infrastructure throughout the neighborhood, but she believes the project will deliver improvements residents have fought for over generations.<\/p>\n
“I just want to say congratulations and thank you for continuing to fight the fight,” Pittman said. “What matters to you matters to me.”<\/p>\n
Community members who have not signed up yet can call JEA’s Project Outreach Team at 904-665-7500.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For more updates on the project\u00a0click this link.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Decades of perseverance pay off as construction begins on the Christobel sewer project in Jacksonville, promising relief to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":342855,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-342854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=342854"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342854\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/342855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=342854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=342854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=342854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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