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| POLITICAL BLOG: Heady a hero in Indian River Shores |
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| By Lisa Zahner - Feb. 4, 2010, 6:34pm | |
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Sometimes treated as a pariah within the walls of his own Vero Beach City Hall, Councilman Brian Heady has found a place where he can go when he needs a little validation -- Indian River Shores. To Heady, it seemed natural to attend a meeting of the Shores' Town Council last week to update them on what's going on with the utility issues. Heady didn't know he would get a standing ovation for being the only seated council member in recent memory to pay a visit to one of the Town's meetings. "They're our customers, after all," Heady said after the meeting. "It shouldn't be odd for someone from the City of Vero Beach to go check in with its customers. "I understand the anger, Vero Beach has been historically unresponsive," In recent weeks, the town and its staff have been having trouble getting documents and information out of the city. With pending records requests and unreturned correspondence from Town Manager Robert Bradshaw, confidence in the city utilities is waning in the Shores. Heady, in an effort to shore up that confidence, spoke at the podium a handful of times, both answering questions and offering information in an effort to bring the Shores into the fold. He told them about the new deal with the Orlando Utilities Commission and that the contract is "suspect" and being looked at. Heady also gave his opinion about the Mayfield House Bill 725 which would require regulation of the Vero electric utility by the Public Service Commission. Heady is against the bill, saying it's an unnecessary extra level of government and that government closest to the people governs best. But he also understands why, in the past, electric customers have felt they have no say and no one sticking up for them. "I hear that the Town of Indian River Shores and the county have no representation on the council and I take issue with that," Heady said. "As long as you have Heady up there, you have representation on the council. The health and welfare of the people I represent depends on the health and welfare of your community." Heady explained that residents would soon enjoy the fruits of the new arrangement with OUC, that rates would go down 25 to 30 percent. That message of hope didn't sit very well with one man on the dais. "We went down from 16.5 cents per kilowatt hour to 13.8 cents per kilowatt hour, that brings us back to last January, when we were at 13.8 cents per kilowatt hour," said Councilman Gerard Weick. "So we actually didn't change anything." Since Shores residents generally have more square footage of home to cool or heat, Shores residents have born the brunt of last summer and fall's rate hikes and therefore, contribute more than their fair share to the City's general fund through utility bills. Indian River Shores must decide by November 2011 who will get its utility business when its franchise agreements expire in 2016. It has made all interested parties aware that the Shores is open to being courted, but Heady is the first person to come to court. "There has been a lot of thought in Indian River Shores that we have been taken for granted and that nobody really gives a damn," said Mayor Bill Kenyon. "We have been working for recognition, not only from the City of Vero Beach, but in Tallahassee." At that same meeting, the council approved $5,000 to retain the law firm of Fox, Wackeen, Dungey, Beard, Sobel, Bush & McCluskey, LLP to offer up an opinion as to the Town's rights and responsibilities under their utilities franchise agreements and to also give them an idea of what kind of chance they would have petitioning the Florida Public Service Commission about gaining autonomy over their own territorial agreement. "Our concern is the people of Indian River Shores, to get the best possible utility service at the best possible price," Mayor Kenyon said.
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