The Ave Maria Herald - Jackson Lab Project in Spotlight Tuesday

Jackson Lab Project in Spotlight Tuesday

Details: Published on Monday, 13 December 2010 16:44

Various aspects of the proposed Jackson Lab research project will be considered and discussed in various venues this week.

A forum on the project for Ave Maria residents will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 14, at The Bean. Described as a "town hall meeting" by the residents who organized the session, the meeting will feature speakers who will address ethical, business and scientific matters. Scheduled participants include Dr. Michael Waldstein, the Max Seckler Professor of Theology at Ave Maria University, Blake Gable, the president of the real estate and minerals division of the Barron Collier Cos., and Mike Hyde, the VP for advancement at the Jackson Laboratory. Organizers say they are planning the session to last an hour and a-half, which will include time for questions. Click here for a PDF copy of a flyer with additional information.

Earlier Tuesday, the Jackson Lab project is on the agenda at the Collier County Board of County Commissioners, which begins at 9 a.m. at the Collier County government center. Commission Chair Fred Coyle is to deliver a report on the project to the board, and Commissioner Tom Henning has said he will call for an immediate halt to the project. "The Jackson Labs local funding has divided the community and it's time to put this issue behind us and move forward by continuing doing what local government does best, provide service to its residents," Mr. Henning says in his statemen hillera t published in the meeting agenda.

The dynamics of the commissioners' meeting will be somewhat different Tuesday as Commissioner Georgia Hiller (right) will be attending her first meeting since her recent election to the board. Mrs. Hiller has said that she opposes any county funding of the Jackson Lab project unless county residents approve the expenditure in a referendum. The full agenda is available here. The meeting is open to the public and can also be seen on Collier TV, cable channel 97, or streamed on the internet here.

In other recent Jackson Lab developments:

An arbitrator is concluding a hearing that began Saturday on whether approval of a proposed zoning map change to move 50 commercially zoned acres from an undeveloped location near Camp Keias Rd. to the Oil Well Rd. site proposed for the lab requires a 4-1 or 3-2 vote by commissioners. The arbitrator has said he will have his non-binding decision by the end of the year. The commissioners had been scheduled to consider the matter Dec. 14, but an error in the legal notice forced postponement until Jan. 11.
Several legal actions are still pending including the commissioner's request for a court to rule that issuing revenue bonds to fund the county's $130-million share of the project would serve a "valid public purpose" and various suits by Naples medical device manufacturer Arthrex against the project.