The Transportation, Energy and Utilities Committee on Jan. 6 approved a cost‑disbursement agreement with JEA for construction of a rail spur and later approved an emergency authorization tied to the same project to meet grant timing.

Philip Peterson briefed the committee on bill 20250875, saying the city previously received a roughly $5.5 million state grant for the rail spur and supplemented it with about $2.5 million in general‑fund dollars; the appropriation for construction has already been made and the current action establishes a cost‑disbursement agreement with JEA as the executing entity. The committee recorded a 6–0 vote to pass the bill.

When the committee later considered bill 20250899, Edward Linsky explained the emergency: "the nature of the emergency is that they are ready to move forward with construction on this project, and they are trying to meet the requirements of the grant funding that ends later on this year," he said, and the committee approved the emergency and passed the item 6–0.

Why it matters: the action authorizes JEA to carry out work tied to a state grant that already has an approaching timeline; the emergency authorization aims to preserve grant eligibility by accelerating procurement and construction scheduling.

Next steps: staff will coordinate project scheduling and disbursement with JEA and report back through regular departmental channels.