VERO BEACH — On the final public hearing of the City of Vero Beach 2011-12 budget a solution was found to keep $10,000 in the recreation budget for lifeguards at city beaches.
Faced with the option of having two city beaches unguarded one day per week for 17 off-season weeks, the city pulled $10,000 from an unused dune restoration fund from the current year’s budget to keep the beaches guarded.
The dune restoration fund, which holds $21,000 that the city had budgeted to shore up beaches on an emergency basis in the case of a hurricane or other storm, was not used this year and, with only 10 days remaining in the budget period, the City Council voted to roll it over into next year to fund the lifeguards.
At the previous public hearing of the budget, the City Council had already put $9,000 back into the recreation budget to increase the number of weeks that lifeguards would be on duty seven days a week.
The decision came after numerous members of the public and lifeguards themselves spoke from the podium about the value of safe beaches to the city and the dangers to the public of having lifeguard protection available every day.
Speakers from the public repeatedly stated that the beaches would be “closed” on the days that lifeguards would not be on duty from May through the beginning of January.
City Manager Jim O’Connor corrected one speaker by noting that the beaches “would still be open,” just as they are open at 8 a.m. prior to the start of the work day for lifeguards.
Prior to O’Connor suggesting the money be taken out of the dune restoration fund, Councilman Brian Heady had asked whether the money could be taken out of the $19,000 the city pays to lease the large, lighted Christmas decorations which are installed on city light polls. Or, Heady said, the city could reduce the $25,000 of funding allocated to the downtown business district events.
Vice Mayor Pilar Turner and Councilwoman Tracy Carroll spoke in defense of the city’s downtown and the businesses that rely on that city funding to help draw shoppers and diners to the business district.
“It’s important that we support the downtown or it will continue to create a bigger divide between the beachside and the mainland,” Turner said.