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Northeast Business Briefs - Nov. 2007
GAINESVILLE — Commissioners began ordering homeless people out of “tent city,” a wooded encampment near downtown that had become home to as many as 200, and approved a new service center where homeless residents can receive meals, counseling and other assistance. Many nearby business owners in the city’s North Main Street area opposed the center.
JACKSONVILLE — Shands Jacksonville announced plans for a Northside campus that could eventually house a 300-bed hospital and create 1,000
jobs. The first phase, to be completed over the next two years, will include various medical offices.
» Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, the state’s largest health plan, reported it increased enrollment last year by 308,000 members, marking its
18th consecutive year of growth.
Blue Cross now insures more than
8.7 million people in Florida.
» Carnival Cruise Lines announced it will replace Jacksonville’s 1,486-passenger Celebration with the 2,052-passenger Fascination. Jacksonville will be without a ship between April and September during the transition.
» Jaxport is considering a permanent, $60-million cruise terminal in Mayport adjacent to the docks of the St. Johns River Ferry that it took over this fall.
LEVY COUNTY — County commissioners gave cement powerhouse Tarmac of America a special zoning exemption that will allow the company to rebuild an enormous dragline as it applies for permits to open a 10,000-acre rock mine in the southwest corner of the county.
MARION COUNTY — Commissioners are leading a growing contingent of local organizations in north Florida opposed to plans by the St. Johns River Water Management District to pipe water from the Ocklawaha and St. Johns rivers to the Orlando area.
PUTNAM COUNTY — Commissioners approved the latest plans for an 850,000-sq.-ft. Wal-Mart distribution center between Crescent City and
the Volusia County line. Initial approval last year sparked fierce opposition and lawsuits. Many, including the Volusia County government, still oppose the
$40-million center, which will rely
on a variety of grants, including
$2 million from the state to pay
for an access road. Wal-Mart said
it worked to address concerns, including adding significant buffers and paying for utility improvements. The plans now go to the state Department of Community Affairs.
UNION COUNTY — The city of Lake Butler broke ground on Union
Depot Pavilion, based on the original Union train depot that once stood
at the town’s lakefront. With the help
of a $200,000 state grant, the project will bring restrooms, parking and covered picnic areas to users of the Palatka to Lake Butler State Trail along the former Norfolk-Southern right of way.
