The Jacksonville City Council met on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, at 5:00 PM in the Council Chamber. The meeting lasted until 8:20 PM and covered a wide range of items including quasi-judicial matters, consent agenda, public hearings on land use, third-reading ordinances, and unfinished business. 16 members were present initially, with some excused. Key actions included approval of a school millage referendum for the November ballot, approval of an Emerald Trail eminent domain ordinance, and passage of a contentious bill changing appointment authority for the Kids Hope Alliance and Library Boards.
All right, I'm being told we officially have a quorum. All right, good evening, everybody. I'm calling to order the City of Jacksonville City Council meeting for Tuesday, June 9th, 2026. It is 5 p.m. on the dot. I am your president, presiding officer Kevin Carico. And we are officially starting a meeting, Mr. Floor Leader. How's that sound? Very good, Mr. President. Our first order of business is the invocation and pledge of allegiance. Please recognize our council chaplain, Councilmember Kennemar. Sounds off. Thank you, Mr. Floor Leader. Tonight our invocation is being delivered by Eddie Hatcher, a Jacksonville native, a graduate of Rebalt Senior High School, or as the principal would say, Rebote. He earned a Master of Divinity from Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary. And he's a retired U.S. Army veteran with more than 20 years of honorable service. Eddie currently serves as a community pastor at Chets Creek Church's Hodges Campus, where he's passionate about helping people grow in their faith and connect with their community. He has been married to his high school sweetheart, Jacqueline Renee Hatcher for 42 years. Together, they're the proud parents of two children, Antonio and Olycia. Please receive Pastor Eddie Hatcher. Thank you, Councilman. God's word says to us that we would acknowledge him in all his ways, and his response to us would be your direct our path. And so that's what we want to do this evening as we uh move forward with our meeting. So let us pray. Heavenly Father, we do thank you for this amazing privilege of gathering this evening for this opportunity to serve the people of Jacksonville. We ask for your wisdom, your guidance, and discernment upon every council member, city leader, and public servant represented here. Grant them clarity of decision making, integrity, and leadership, and a sincere commitment to the welfare of this fine city. Help them to work together with respect, unity, and a shared desire to promote justice, peace, and prosperity throughout our city. We pray for the families here in Jacksonville, the businesses, the schools, the first responders, our policemen, our neighborhoods, and our communities of Jacksonville. May your hand of protection rest upon our community, and may your grace guide us toward solutions that strengthen and uplift all who call to this city home. Lord bless the meeting and the work that will be accomplished here tonight. May it be conducted with wisdom and a spirit of service of others. In your holy name we pray. Amen, and amen. Amen. Pledge allegiance. Do you have any announcements? Uh one announcement. Uh I am noticing a meeting tomorrow. It's going to be at 4 o'clock, two weeks from today, prior to our last council meeting of the year to do our award ceremony. A lot of times that takes up a lot of time in the evening. So I'm just gonna bump the meeting uh ahead or bump it back in hours so we can get started, give out the awards, and celebrate some accomplishments of community leaders and community members and some of the members of this body. So we'll have that meeting at four o'clock uh right before the council meeting in two weeks. Thank you, Mr. President. Next up is approval of the minutes from the regular council meeting of May 26th.