CJ'S STREET REPORT: COMMUNITY MEETING ON EAGER BEAVER RECYCLING CENTER

On October 13, 2016, Ms. Ann Walker, president of the Wedgewood Rolling Hills Homeowners Association hosted a community meeting on the proposed Eager Beaver Recycling Facility. Featured speakers included Mr. Howard Jacques, president of the facility who lives in Gulf Breeze; Ms. Jennifer Gay Valimont, president of the Woodlawn Heights Homeowners Association which has long standing disputes with Eager Beaver; Dr. Gloria Horning, head of Justice Escambia, and one of the area's major environmentalists; and, District 3 County Commissioner Lumon May. This blog post provides the videos of the community meeting.

There are a couple of issues to note from the videotapes.

On tape #00122 at 13:50 to 14:10, Mr. Jacques seemingly admits to an uncited code violation. Apparently, his company in Gulf Breeze was turning vegetation into wood chips for six months before he stopped to apply for a variance. That is how it sounds. Perhaps the county commission would like to clarify this point.

On tape #00123 at 00:20 Mr. Jacques states that part of his business plan is to sell wood chips to the massive International Paper mill in Cantonment. While he did not specify how much wood chips he planned to sell to International Paper, it suggests that his operation at Rolling Hills on Pine Forest Road may be busier in terms of the number of trucks going in and out of the facility. In any event, that is a matter for future consideration.

On tape #00126 at 04:00 to 04:44, Ms. Valimont stated that Mr. Jacques's previous company, Eager Beaver Expert Tree Service doing business in Jacksonville in 2008 had been cited for serious environmental code violations. On tape #00128 at 00:35 to 01:20, Mr. Jacques explained that in 2006 he turned the company over to his wife during divorce proceedings and in 2008 he did not control the company. A check of Florida business records shows that while Mr. Jacques was the "Managing Member" of the company in 2006 and 2007, on April 16, 2008, he was replaced as the "Managing Member" by Diane N. Jacques. Thus, whatever violations the company incurred in 2008 were not the responsibility of Mr. Jacques.

Below are the videotapes of the community meeting without further comment.