JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Wednesday morning city council members met downtown to discuss the damage to the Jacksonville Beach pier following Hurricane Matthew along with what it would take to not only repair the pier but enhance it.
Right now the council members are in the beginning stages including an engineering plan and designing the pier.
Bill Gulliford City council president is onboard with not only repairing the pier but making it first class.
"If everybody comes to an agreement, I don’t have a problem with that it would be a draw," Gulliford said. "I think it should be utilized more than it is kids certainly should be more engaged using the pier along with amenities if you’ve ever been out on the pier in the summer there’s no real shade and it can be pretty brutal in the summer so there are a lot of things we can do to improve it."
City council members discussing Jacksonville Beach Pier repairs and damage from storm surge post Hurricane Matthew @FCN2go pic.twitter.com/6fHWJxDdrC
— Monica Garcia (@mgarcianews) October 18, 2017
Officials are expecting FEMA to fund these repairs and have set a target open date for 18-24 months from now. They hope parts of the pier will be back open by next spring.
Some members proposed the opportunity to rebuild the pier, mostly used for fishing into a tourist attraction with a restaurant.