VERO BEACH – Fourteenth Avenue in Downtown Vero Beach will have another name – Main Street – after the Vero Beach City Council voted to approve the addition.
Instead of renaming the street, the council chose to add the name to the 14th Avenue address.
This half-measure is designed to achieve the goal of designating the street without the expense of changing postal addresses and reprogramming emergency response and other systems powered by satellite navigation, city leaders said. Main Street Vero Beach Executive Director Maria Kovachev and local businessman Daniel Fourmont pitched the idea to the Vero Beach City Council at Tuesday’s meeting.
Kovachev said she felt that the downtown thoroughfare having the name Main Street would enhance its exposure for tourism and that it would recognize the role the 14th Avenue area plays as a focal point for city events and activities.
“Almost every town in America has a Main Street,” she said. “And it’s metaphorically the center of commerce. To re-wrap and re-package the downtown area, I think that would give a new vantage point to people who are trying to get things moving along.”
The council members also discussed ways to streamline their meetings and tweaked their rules pertaining to time constraints.
When Councilmen Charlie Wilson and Brian Heady were elected in November and Kevin Sawnick was voted Mayor, the Vero Beach City Council stopped enforcing its three-minute rule for public comments during council meetings.
However, after Tuesday’s meeting, council members will be limited in their own matters to a total of 10 minutes of floor time.
The measure passed by a 3-2 vote, with Heady and Councilman Ken Daige dissenting.
“I’m not interested in restricting anyone on this council,” Daige said.
The measure was spearheaded by Sawnick — who has tried to control the length and direction of meetings by wielding the gavel — and Vice Mayor Sabin Abell, supported by Councilman Tom White.
“We’ve kind of gotten out of hand here,” White said. Addressing Heady, White added, “You cannot put on the same things over and over. It’s been brought up; it’s been discussed. Put it to bed and move on. We need to be discussing the problems at hand, not the problems of the past.”
Sawnick stated that many other cities around the state and the country limit the time for members’ items and, when pressed by Heady to name a few, Sawnick responded that Hill Springs, Montana, has a similar restriction — an answer that evoked laughter from the audience.
“Mr. Heady, sometimes your items are long,” Sawnick said.
