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Artificial reef push, shoaling concerns: task force pursues federal queries and FWC grant for Harm's Ledge
Summary
Commissioners heard a report on shoaling, dredge‑spoil disposal questions for the Army Corps and a push to apply for a $120,000 FWC artificial reef grant to rehabilitate Harm's Ledge; organizers requested letters of support and proposed a city match.
Commissioner Mark Hardesty updated the Jacksonville Waterways Commission March 13 on two related marine initiatives: a shoaling and river‑sediment inquiry and a renewed push to fund and place artificial reefs off Jacksonville, beginning with work at Harm's Ledge.
Hardesty said the St. Johns shoaling task force had met and that congressional staff from U.S. Rep. Aaron Bean's office asked the group to clarify where the Army Corps currently disposes dredge spoil. Hardesty said the Army Corps represented to the congressman's office that spoil previously going to the Palms Fish Camp site is now being dumped offshore; the task force plans to ask NOAA and the Army Corps for explicit answers and documentation because the disposal location affects whether prior spoil‑disposal practices contributed to shoaling between Clapboard Creek and eastern reaches of the river.
On artificial reefs, Hardesty said the task force has engaged contractor Joe Kissel (reef design/grant expert) and that the city was encouraged to apply for a larger FWC grant than initially planned. Hardesty said the application window required a timely submission (deadline noted in the meeting as March 21) and that FWC staff suggested applying for $120,000 rather than an initial $60,000 request. The first project targeted Harm's Ledge: rehabilitation of existing reef material and placement of new reef modules. Hardesty described economic benefits from reefs and said other counties have far more reefs than the Jacksonville region.
Hardesty said the Jacksonville Offshore Sport Fishing Club committed $2,500 to support grant work and that local bait shops and businesses had pledged support. He urged commissioners to submit short letters of support and recommended the city budget an initial local contribution (he suggested about $250,000 in conversation) to leverage matching funds and strengthen grant scoring. Melissa Long (city environmental division) and others were coordinating the application.
Hardesty also asked for more aggressive inquiry into the Army Corps' disposal practice and said the task force would send a set of questions to NOAA and the Corps to seek clarification and prevent agencies from "wiggling out" of prior responsibilities. He asked commissioners to provide letters of support and to consider tourism development funding partnerships.
