Council members outline Jacksonville Veterans and Military Families Community Center; trust fund bill introduced

Councilman Will Landon and Councilman Chris Miller met with Harrison Conyers of the Military Affairs and Veterans Department to outline plans for a Jacksonville Veterans and Military Families Community Center and to report on related legislation and funding steps.

Conyers said the project'identified for a site in the Cathedral District near Hogan's Creek and the Emerald Trail'would include veteran benefits assistance, a gym and rehabilitation space, meeting rooms, a counseling and clinical-support hub, a cafe, and outdoor recreation access such as kayak launches and bike rentals. "One is access to veteran service benefits, which is what my department does, but it will create a second location where we'll be able to reach out and and do those those benefits," Conyers said, summarizing results from a 2021 UNF/Endeavors survey of local veterans.

Council members said the center aims to attract younger veterans with wellness and outdoor activities while continuing to provide meeting space used by older veteran organizations. Councilman Chris Miller emphasized a design process that includes representatives from veteran service organizations: "We need a heavy focus, as you said on the younger veterans... bring in a rep from every 1 of those organizations with a heavy focus on the younger veteran representatives working with you on what do you want it to be?"

Legislation to create a dedicated trust fund for the project was introduced by Councilman Landon and cosponsored by council members including Joe Carlucci, Terrence Freeman, Rory Diamond, and Rockman Johnson. The bill number cited in the meeting materials is 20250463. The trust fund would allow citizens, companies and nonprofits to donate toward veteran projects; the introducers said smaller expenditures could be handled administratively by the department director but that, per the draft language, any single expenditure over $100,000 would require prior council approval. Dylan Rangel of the Office of General Counsel told the meeting: "If any single expenditure from the fund is in excess of a $100,000, then, yes, it would need prior council approval."

Councilman Landon also told the meeting he will introduce an item to reallocate roughly $600,000 from a completed District 3 project to pay for initial design and preliminary engineering for the center; he described that shift as largely cost neutral because it would move remaining funds from a finished project to the new design work. Conyers said federal grant applications are planned but design and construction documents will be required before grants can be written; he said the project is "probably a year behind" the shade-structure project but described it as a potential keystone initiative for veterans services.

Conyers and council members called for corporate and nonprofit partners to back the center financially and programmatically. Conyers noted support from the commander of Navy Region Southeast for federal grant applications and cited community economic data: "The military is the number 1 economic engine in Duval County. $12,100,000,000 a year is the economic impact for our community," he said, and added that benefits work his department helps veterans obtain brings "over 3 quarters of a billion dollars a year" to local households.

Public commenters included John Nooney, who pledged to donate to related projects, and Dr. Troy Mack, CEO of the Garden Club of Jacksonville and a former Army chaplain, who offered partnership from the Garden Club for green-space and trail elements.

Next steps outlined in the meeting: introduction and committee review of the trust fund legislation; potential reallocation of $600,000 for design and engineering; continued outreach for corporate and nonprofit partners; and preparation of design documents required to pursue federal grants. No final council vote on the trust fund or the design reallocation was recorded at the notice meeting.