26 November, 2008

OPERATION COLD FRONT

Millard Refrigeration
Millard Refrigeration is an multiphase industrial/office complex located in the City of Streetsboro, Ohio. Encompassing a total of 27.6 acres, improvements include 10.5 acres of warehouse, 2 story office building totaling 12,800 square feet, approximately 3.81 acres of parking lot infrastructure and fully engineered site utilities.


How funny is this report out of Charleston, South Carolina? As - if our city had a hit squad out on all other cities. Perhaps Charleston would swap some of that tourist money for a warehouse or two. Frankly Jacksonville has lots of warehouses, highways and railroad tracks, just how much is enough? Anyway, we are hearing the same story about Charleston, doing the same thing, from our end. Besides talking about Cold Fronts, Charleston is way colder. Now THAT is funny.


Chilling effect
Charleston apparently was one of at least two Southeast port cities to be frozen out of a possible $25.5 million investment by a refrigerated warehouse operator.
According to recent reports out of northern Florida, Jacksonville officials have set the wheels in motion to provide $230,000 in incentives to nail down the deal with Millard Refrigerated Services of Omaha, Neb. The first phase of the 185,000-square-foot warehouse project would create 92 jobs by 2010, paying an average salary of more than $37,000.
In addition to Jacksonville and Charleston, Millard, a 45-year-old family-owned international warehouse and distribution company, had Savannah on it short list. As with most economic-development deals that involve a stop at the taxpayer trough, this one was kept hush-hush and still hasn't been officially announced. Fittingly, the assigned code name is "Project Coldfront."

Amtrak Get's A New CEO


Will this photo mean anything to Amtrak now, or, are we still the dumping ground for left over equipment and tardy trains? After all, Florida is the number one tourist destination in the USA.

Amtrak got a new CEO yesterday as Kummant ran headlong into the Bush Transportation Nightmare. Meanwhile new Amtrak CEO while at the FRA has spent the last couple of years trying to bring down the Austin "Light Rail System" because they called it "Commuter Rail" which put them in his cross-hairs. Another George Bush clone? Time will tell, who knows, he might really turn out to be good for passenger rail. However if hindsight is anything, better bar the door y'all.
Progressive Railroading Magazine had this to say in a news release:

Amtrak names Boardman interim CEO
Yesterday, Amtrak announced it appointed Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Boardman to serve a one-year term as president and chief executive officer.He succeeds Alex Kummant, who resigned earlier this month after serving in the top post for a little more than two years. William Crosbie, who had been appointed interim president and CEO following Kummant's departure, will return to his duties as senior vice president of operations. Boardman's interim appointment is unusual, says spokesperson Cliff Black, but the board believed that Crosbie needed to continue focusing on the "nuts and bolts" of the railroad, while another executive focuses on Amtrak's future direction. The one-year appointment is flexible and Boardman could be considered as a candidate for the permanent CEO position, says Black. The Amtrak board will conduct a search in the coming months. "Amtrak is at a critical juncture and needs a vigorous management vision and ability to take advantage of this unique time," said Amtrak Chairman Donna McLean in a prepared statement. Boardman has 34 years of transportation industry experience. During his tenure as FRA administrator, he served as the U.S. Department of Transportation designee on the Amtrak board. He also served stints as chairman of the Executive Committee of the Transportation Research Board, and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials' Standing Committee on Rail Transportation. Prior to joining the FRA in 2005, Boardman served as commissioner of the New State DOT for eight years.



TAKE A FREE TOUR OF THE JACKSONVILLE SKYWAY

The arguments rage to this date, "Should have never been built," "waste of taxpayer money," "Doesn't go anywhere," "Nobody rides it..." etc. Bottom line is we have it, and it is finally showing signs of life. Simple extensions to the Stadium, San Marco, and the area of Blue Cross in North Riverside would turn this little train around. Addition of Park and Ride garages and multimodal transit terminals at the end points would bring on the crowds. The video must have been shot on a Sunday Morning, as downtown is certainly as packed with life as any other major City on weekdays. Jacksonville is a city of Bikes, joggers, walkers, buses and cars, one almost wonders how the photographer managed to find this quiet moment.


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