JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. – The Jacksonville Beach City Council on Monday evening voted in favor of an agreement with the American Red Cross that will donate the Jacksonville Beach Lifeguard Station to the city.
As part of the agreement, the Red Cross logo will be removed from the lifeguard station, which is located at the end of Beach Boulevard. The building will only be used for public safety-related activities — nothing commercial or residential.
Recommended Videos
The move comes after more than a year of back-and-forth negotiations between the city and the Volunteer Lifesaving Corps. They stemmed from a Department of Labor investigation that took issue with the overlap between paid guards who also served as volunteers.
Volunteers have been trying to regain access to the lifeguard station and resume their volunteer services. City Council member Dan Johnson said he hoped some form of a compromise could eventually be reached.
RELATED: Judge kills Jacksonville Beach lifeguard referendum, calling language ‘deceptive and misleading’ | Volunteer lifeguards collecting signatures to put issue of lifeguard station access on November ballot | Jacksonville Beach countersues volunteer lifeguards in ongoing spat | Jacksonville Beach responds to ongoing dispute with volunteer lifeguards | Volunteer lifeguards push to return, take fight to Jacksonville Beach City Hall | Volunteer lifeguards now suing Jacksonville Beach in ongoing spat | Changing of the guard: Jacksonville Beach does away with volunteer lifeguards after spat