Jacksonville Special Committee on Drowning Prevention - October 7, 2026

On Wednesday, October 7, 2026, the City of Jacksonville Special Committee on Drowning Prevention, chaired by Council Member Reggie Gaffney, Jr., met in the Council Chamber at City Hall. The agenda listed a 3:30 PM start. Members present included Vice Chair Council Member Tyrona Clark-Murray, Council Member Mike Gay, and Council Member Ju'Coby Pittman, with staff from the Council Auditor's Office, Office of General Counsel, and Mayor's Office. The committee reviewed a working group update, drowning data, a GIS retention-pond analysis, drowning-prevention research, and public testimony. No written minutes for this meeting were available; this summary is based on the agenda and raw transcript.

Consent Calendar

• The committee approved the September 23, 2026 minutes by motion.
• No other routine items were on the consent calendar.

Working Group Update: Drowning Data and Retention Pond GIS Analysis

• Chief Andrew Ayoub of the Duval County Emergency Preparedness Division reported that the interagency working group has grown from 20 to 22 community organizations, with more than 50 people attending the most recent working group meeting.
• Phase I (understand the problem) is complete; the committee is now in Phase II (identify gaps) and is preparing Phase III (build solutions). The working group has six focus areas; emergency response and interagency partnership work are complete, with the remaining four areas in progress.
• Five-year drowning data (2021-2026): 291 drowning incidents in Duval County. By location, 83 were at private residence pools, 77 at beaches, and 26 at retention ponds.
• Children under 10 accounted for 46% (133 incidents); toddlers age 0-4 accounted for 36% (103 incidents). Residential pools were the leading call location at 31%; seasonal peak was April-July at 59% (171 incidents).
• Cardiac arrest occurred in 22% of incidents (65 cases), reinforcing the need for immediate CPR and AED access.
• Chief Ayoub stated 144 incidents were pool-related, citing 43 percent; this percentage appears inconsistent with the 291 total and may be a transcript error.
• Gender and geography: males accounted for 195 incidents (67%) and females 94 (34%, as stated). 133 incidents occurred in the top five zip codes: 32250 (49 incidents, 39 beach), 32226 (28 incidents, 19 beach), 32256 (20 incidents, 5 ponds, 13 pools), 32223 (18 incidents, 14 beach), and 32218 (18 incidents, 14 pools, 2 ponds).
• Drowning deaths by age from 2020-2026: the highest count was ages 30-39 (32 incidents), followed by 20-29 (28 incidents); with population adjustment, the highest rate was ages 0-4, then 40-49, then 30-39.
• City of Jacksonville (COJ) GIS pond analysis: 18,549 water features were reviewed; 9,577 ponds were identified. Of these, 9,340 (97.3%) are tied to parcels, 264 are not tied, 2,711 are publicly owned, and 6,602 are privately owned.
• Chief Ayoub noted that JFRD's Captain Bernard found zero correlation between pond incidents and locations such as schools or parks; the number one risk factor was apartment complexes and residential areas around ponds.

Personal Testimony: Anna Machiz-Dillion

• Anna Machiz-Dillion, Director of Advocacy and Community Affairs at The Arc of St. Johns and a working group member, testified about her family's water-safety journey.
• Her son, later diagnosed with cerebral palsy and severe autism, completed infant swim resource (ISR) survival swimming at 16 months old. A video showed him fully clothed and in a cloth diaper floating on his back.
• At the time, he was nonverbal, unable to walk, and had significant motor delays. She said survival swimming not only gave him a safety layer but also helped regulate his sensory system and build muscle; he learned the eight-week course in six weeks.
• She described a recent incident where her son was pulled into a rip current on the Outer Banks but stayed calm and floated until his father rescued him.
• She emphasized that no single solution prevents drowning; layers of protection are needed, including survival-focused swim instruction, education, interagency coordination, and accessible family resources. She also mentioned that Hope Florida has funding intended for this purpose, and that Brightfeeds Northeast Florida is a printed disability-resource directory distributed through Duval County schools.

Drowning Prevention Research Overview

• Tyler Nolan of the Northeast Florida Regional Council reviewed drowning-prevention programs across Florida, including Broward County's Water Smart Broward, Orange County, Miami-Dade, Tampa, Orlando, and St. Petersburg.
• Nolan described a layered prevention model: preventing children from leaving homes, finding them faster when they elope, and teaching survival floating to buy time before rescue.
• He highlighted the value of a centralized one-stop shop drowning-prevention resource hub, which the working group may recommend in its final report.
• Councilwoman Clark-Murray suggested reaching out to school PTSAs to connect with parents; Councilman Gaffney supported a single city website link and PSA for parents, including those with disabled or autistic children.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Tarina Ackberry, address on file, testified that she lost her young son Raquel in a retention pond at a Disney resort in Orlando, Florida, in 2024.
• She said retention ponds have no security or fencing and that children are attracted to water, including children with and without autism. She called for fencing, floodlights, elementary school swim curricula, and parent education.
• She created a nonprofit, Life After the Storm and Swim for Rockham, to teach children to swim and educate parents. The chair thanked her and said the committee is working for children like her son.

Committee Discussion and Identifying the Gaps

• Councilwoman Clark-Murray requested a breakdown of drowning data by ethnicity and circumstances such as swim ability, boating accidents, or intoxication. Chief Ayoub said the working group will create sub-working groups to do a deeper dive.
• Councilman Gay asked how often public and private ponds are inspected, and whether the city looks for hazards or only mows. Steve Long (Public Works) said City of Jacksonville ponds are mowed more than 20 times per year, giving routine visual checks; the city leaves a roughly five-foot unmaintained buffer around ponds to make water access unattractive. Private ponds go through a self-certification process with the St. Johns River Water Management District, though the exact inspection frequency was not confirmed.
• Councilwoman Clark-Murray requested a representative from the St. Johns River Water Management District at a future meeting, calling the district the key to understanding retention/detention pond design and safety. Councilman Gay agreed the district is the authority having jurisdiction over retention pond design and could be key to future safety changes.
• OGC Attorney Shannon MacGillis clarified that requiring changes on city-owned ponds would be a city policy decision, not legislation, while mandates on private land currently raise Senate Bill 180 implications; recommendations and incentives are permissible.
• Councilwoman Pittman shared prior city efforts and funding (initially $20,000, later $300,000) for drowning prevention and education with a former council member, public works, the fire department, and the school board. She recommended reviewing mayor's office marketing materials, involving schools, churches, and autism organizations, and considering local/state legislation with a developer-funded HOA endowment.
• Councilman Gay said he is a 100 percent advocate for survival swimming and noted his own daughter went through the same type of lessons.
• The committee identified gaps in data, jurisdiction, and public awareness, including limited ethnicity/cause data, uncertainty about private pond inspection, SB 180 constraints on private mandates, and lack of a single resource hub for families.

Chair's Recap and Phase III Next Steps

• Councilman Gaffney thanked the working group and said the committee has gathered enough data; the next step is to develop solutions and legislation.
• He requested future presentations from the St. Johns River Water Management District, the Duval County School Board, and the city's planning/permitting department to explain how builders and developers obtain permits for ponds.
• He asked staff to check with Phil in the mayor's office for prior drowning-prevention videos and resources.
• He indicated an interest in a possible funding initiative, which he said he would discuss with OGC before proposing.
• The agenda scheduled Phase III next steps for October 21 through November 2, 2026, and the meeting was adjourned after the chair's recap.

Key Outcomes

• The September 23, 2026 minutes were approved.
• The working group was directed to examine ethnicity/circumstance data and apartment/residential pond risk factors.
• The committee requested future speakers from the St. Johns River Water Management District, Duval County School Board, and city planning/permitting.
• Staff were asked to review existing mayor's office videos and resources for possible reuse.
• The committee will consider a one-stop resource hub, fencing/retention-pond safety options, and a possible funding initiative after OGC review.
• Phase III next steps are scheduled for October 21 through November 2, 2026.

Notes and Discrepancies

• The agenda listed a Fencing Presentation by Sean Shapiro, but the raw transcript does not include that presentation; it may have been omitted or not captured.
• Several statistics in the transcript are internally inconsistent (for example, pool-related incidents cited as 144 and 43 percent, and gender percentages of 67 and 34 percent). They are reported here as stated in the transcript.
• No official minutes for the October 7, 2026 meeting were provided; the approval of the September 23, 2026 minutes is noted from the transcript.