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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Jacksonville Transportation, Energy & Utilities Committee Meeting - August 4, 2026

City Council — Tuesday, August 4, 2026

BodyJacksonville, Florida

SessionCity Council

DateTuesday, August 4, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 13:05

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:02

Good morning, everyone.

0:03

Let's call to order the uh TU committee meeting for today, August the 4th.

0:09

We'll begin with introductions from my left.

0:14

Good morning, Bill Delaney, Mayor's Office.

0:17

Stephen Libby, Council Research.

0:19

Carlish, Office of General Counsel.

0:21

Edward Linsky, Council Auditor's Office.

0:24

Good morning, Tyrona Clark Murray, District 9.

0:27

Good morning, Matt Carlucci at large group four.

0:30

Jacoby Pittman, District 10.

0:32

Kennamarr, City Council District 1.

0:35

Good morning, Raw Areas, District 11.

0:37

Good morning, Reginald Gaffin and Junior, District 8.

0:40

Thank you.

1:03

Do we have any cards?

1:04

Anyone to speak on the bill.

1:10

Well, we'll close the public hearing on that.

1:15

We have some uh shriveners.

1:17

Can I get someone to explain?

1:24

Through the chair of the committee.

1:25

Uh the scrivener's items are technical in nature and correct some formatting as well as uh clearing up a couple of sentence structure issues and then striking one instance of the word not uh to clarify that uh there are no affected properties.

1:46

Can I get a motion on the bill?

1:50

Second, any discussion?

1:53

Go ahead, Miss Clark Murray.

1:56

Thank you, Chair.

1:57

Uh, once again, good morning to everyone.

1:59

I simply want to be added as a co-sponsor as um it's very obvious that looking at the uh title history of the bill that this is in District 9, and the honorable past president Matt Carlucci did hold a um a notice meeting in regards to the content and to as to why he wanted to honor Mr.

2:18

Dr.

2:19

Gopel with this particular um marker, so I am in full support of it.

2:24

Thank you, Chair.

2:25

Thank you.

2:26

Mr.

2:26

Carlucci.

2:28

Thank you, Mr.

2:29

Chair.

2:29

I uh I I don't want to just pass this by because he was such a great man, but I first I want to thank uh the district council person, uh Miss Clark Murray, Councilmember Clark Murray for um for sprinkling her holy water on this and supporting it.

2:45

Thank you.

2:46

Um Dr.

2:47

Gopel was a veterinarian and on the west side for over 30 years.

2:51

Uh he was like a legend over there and um just very one of the kindest people I ever met in my life.

2:59

Um I met him early on, actually, when I was uh running for city council back in 1987, somebody said, Boy, you need to go see Dr.

3:06

Gopel, because he knows everybody over there, and uh ask him if he'll put a sign up.

3:11

And I went over there and introduced myself and man, I he was so kind, so decent.

3:18

And um, and his fate would have it as now as as time went by.

3:23

Um his daughter uh now lives across uh the the park from where uh my family lives.

3:32

And um uh Lakshmi is her name.

3:35

She's a doctor, Lakshmi uh Gopal, and her son uh is uh Dr.

3:43

Gopel, and he is uh my doctor, one of my doctors.

3:48

And they are uh just the Gopel family is very unique in that uh they they've got a um the sweet disposition about all of them, and they're very kind, very giving, and uh so uh the uh the the way that I was uh asked about this bill is kind of funny.

4:13

I won't go into great detail, but I was uh there to see Dr.

4:19

Sr.

4:20

Gopel, uh the person that we're actually naming this after.

4:24

He he passed away about five years ago.

4:28

And uh like I said, he was uh legendary uh throughout Jackson, but most mostly on the west side.

4:35

He played uh soccer at uh University of Georgia, and uh they have a renowned veterinarian school at Georgia.

4:44

And um, and if you read about his life, it's remarkable.

4:49

Came over from I think India and found his way and and made his own way.

4:54

Now all of his children are doctors.

5:00

And so the son saw me, and and it was just before I was um fixing to go undergo a procedure, and they were just before they were about to put me out.

5:06

He said, uh, look, um, we got this street where my dad used to live in our family, and there's nobody lives on that street anymore.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Procedural█████████████████████████████████████████████65%

Animal Welfare████████████████████████35%

Summary of Proceedings

Transportation, Energy & Utilities Committee Meeting - August 4, 2026

The Transportation, Energy & Utilities (TEU) Committee of the Jacksonville City Council met on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, at 9:00 AM in the Council Chamber at City Hall, 117 W. Duval Street. Chair Ken Amaro presided, with all seven committee members present: Amaro, Vice Chair Ju'Coby Pittman, Raul Arias, Matt Carlucci, Tyrona Clark-Murray, Reggie Gaffney Jr., and Jimmy Peluso (late arrival). The meeting convened at 9:00 AM and adjourned at 9:14 AM.

Public Comments & Testimony

No public comment cards were submitted, and no members of the public spoke during the meeting.

Discussion Items

Public Hearing - Ordinance 2026-0540 (Honorary Street Designation for Dr. Devegowda Gopal): Chair Amaro opened and closed the public hearing after confirming no speaker cards were filed. Council Auditor Ed Linsky explained scrivener's changes: formatting corrections on page 3, replacing the phrase "so close by on Normandy Boulevard" with "within walking distance of his home" (page 3, lines 4-5), and striking "not" on page 5, line 13 to clarify that no affected properties exist. The ordinance establishes an honorary street designation and renames a portion of Kingsbury Street between Fountain Road and Ellis Road South to "Gopal Way" in Council District 9, waives the requirement that street name changes apply to the entire street, and directs implementation and coordination with city agencies, 911, JFRD, USPS, and others.
CM Tyrona Clark-Murray requested to be added as a co-sponsor, noting the street is in her district and that she fully supported the bill after CM Carlucci hosted a noticed meeting. CM Matt Carlucci thanked her and recounted Dr. Gopal's legacy as a veterinarian on the west side for over 30 years, his pro bono work, and his family's contributions. The Gopal family requested the designation to honor their late father, and the affected street segment has no residents, minimizing inconvenience.
Second Readings (Rereferral): The following ordinances were read a second time and rereferred to the next committee meeting, with public hearings scheduled for August 11, 2026:
- 2026-0569: Ordinance rescheduling Finance, TEU, and LUZ Committee meetings from Tuesday, May 18, 2027, to Wednesday, May 19, 2027, and acknowledging the March 2027 Council meeting date.
- 2026-0570: Ordinance regarding electric bicycles, amending definitions and regulations in the Jacksonville Traffic Code. CM Boylan will hold a noticed meeting on August 17 at 11:30 AM in the Henry Cook room.
- 2026-0573: Ordinance approving a Memorandum of Understanding with Atlantic Beach for disaster debris management assistance.
- 2026-0574: "Stand for Service Act" – amending the Public Investment Policy to require companies receiving Recapture Enhanced Value Grants to make a good faith effort to hire military spouses/veterans for at least 10% of new jobs and to give additional consideration to projects benefiting Cecil Airport.
- 2026-0587: Ordinance declaring public necessity and authorizing eminent domain for the Chaffee Road widening project from Normandy Blvd to I-10, including acquisition of fee simple title, temporary construction easements, and permanent drainage easements.

Key Outcomes

Vote on 2026-0540: The committee voted 7-0 (Amaro, Pittman, Arias, Carlucci, Clark-Murray, Gaffney Jr., Peluso) to approve the ordinance with scrivener's changes. This action requires a two-thirds vote by the full Council due to the street name change waiver.
CM Clark-Murray added as co-sponsor to Ordinance 2026-0540.
All second-reading items (2026-0569, 2026-0570, 2026-0573, 2026-0574, 2026-0587) were read 2nd and rereferred, advancing them to the next TEU meeting.
CM Carlucci noted that the Sunshine 811 bill was introduced at the August 3 Rules Committee meeting and suggested it be assigned to TEU; Legislative Services will handle the referral.
CM Peluso apologized for his late arrival and invited members to his 40th birthday celebration at Riverside Liquors on Friday from 5-7 PM.
Chair Amaro announced the next TEU Committee meeting on Wednesday, August 19, 2026 (due to Election Day on August 18), with a presentation by JEA on the budget and significant projects.

Meeting Transcript

Good morning, everyone. Let's call to order the uh TU committee meeting for today, August the 4th. We'll begin with introductions from my left. Good morning, Bill Delaney, Mayor's Office. Stephen Libby, Council Research. Carlish, Office of General Counsel. Edward Linsky, Council Auditor's Office. Good morning, Tyrona Clark Murray, District 9. Good morning, Matt Carlucci at large group four. Jacoby Pittman, District 10. Kennamarr, City Council District 1. Good morning, Raw Areas, District 11. Good morning, Reginald Gaffin and Junior, District 8. Thank you. Do we have any cards? Anyone to speak on the bill. Well, we'll close the public hearing on that. We have some uh shriveners. Can I get someone to explain? Through the chair of the committee. Uh the scrivener's items are technical in nature and correct some formatting as well as uh clearing up a couple of sentence structure issues and then striking one instance of the word not uh to clarify that uh there are no affected properties. Can I get a motion on the bill? Second, any discussion? Go ahead, Miss Clark Murray. Thank you, Chair. Uh, once again, good morning to everyone. I simply want to be added as a co-sponsor as um it's very obvious that looking at the uh title history of the bill that this is in District 9, and the honorable past president Matt Carlucci did hold a um a notice meeting in regards to the content and to as to why he wanted to honor Mr. Dr. Gopel with this particular um marker, so I am in full support of it. Thank you, Chair. Thank you. Mr. Carlucci. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I uh I I don't want to just pass this by because he was such a great man, but I first I want to thank uh the district council person, uh Miss Clark Murray, Councilmember Clark Murray for um for sprinkling her holy water on this and supporting it. Thank you. Um Dr. Gopel was a veterinarian and on the west side for over 30 years. Uh he was like a legend over there and um just very one of the kindest people I ever met in my life. Um I met him early on, actually, when I was uh running for city council back in 1987, somebody said, Boy, you need to go see Dr. Gopel, because he knows everybody over there, and uh ask him if he'll put a sign up. And I went over there and introduced myself and man, I he was so kind, so decent. And um, and his fate would have it as now as as time went by. Um his daughter uh now lives across uh the the park from where uh my family lives. And um uh Lakshmi is her name. She's a doctor, Lakshmi uh Gopal, and her son uh is uh Dr. Gopel, and he is uh my doctor, one of my doctors. And they are uh just the Gopel family is very unique in that uh they they've got a um the sweet disposition about all of them, and they're very kind, very giving, and uh so uh the uh the the way that I was uh asked about this bill is kind of funny. I won't go into great detail, but I was uh there to see Dr.

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