VERO BEACH- The blue tarps that have covered the Vero Beach Sports Village signs for the better part of this week are off – but that doesn’t mean the protest is over.
Vero Beach Planning Director Tim McGarry said Friday the city had talked Minor League Baseball officials into taking off the tarps, despite the dispute the continuing between the organization and Indian River County.
McGarry said officials at the Vero Beach Sports Village agreed to take down the tarps because they have lacrosse teams coming for the Nike Boys Lacrosse Camp, which runs from July 17-20.
McGarry said that since the tarps had been placed over the Vero Beach Sports Village signs, city officials looked into whether they posed a violation to MiLB’s license agreement for the signs.
He said it was his opinion that the tarps could be a violation because the purpose of the signs are to promote the location for the sports complex – no visible signs, they “lose the rationale” for the license agreement.
Had the tarps stayed up longer, McGarry said the city could have issued MiLB a warning for the violation, starting the process for code enforcement action. “We didn’t have to go that far,” he said. “They made their point.”
Earlier this week, MiLB President Pat O’Conner decided to have the signs at the complex covered over as a symbol of protest over Indian River County officials’ refusal to reimburse $50,000 the organization says it is owed for the signs.
County officials contend the $50,000 should be classified as re-branding, under which the county has already paid MiLB $100,000 and is not required to pay more.
MiLB counters, noting the signs could also be considered an improvement or a replacement at the complex and the reimbursement could come from the $2 million capital reserve account.
As it is, Indian River County officials are negotiating a third-party lease assignment that would relieve MiLB of its lease obligations, at MiLB’s request.
O’Conner said he put the county in touch with an interested party who would like to take over Vero Beach Sports Village.
Even so, MiLB would still be involved at the complex, he said, offering similar training camps and tournaments it has offered since it signed with the county in spring 2009.
