INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — County Commissioner Gary Wheeler today expressed reservations about spending $5.5 million on an intergenerational recreation facility at South County Regional Park but eventually supported the plan.
“I am a little concerned with spending all this money because I don’t really see the necessity for it,” Wheeler said. “I am concerned we are spending the money just because we have it.”
A proposal for the center was included in the Capital Improvement Plan approved unanimously by commissioners at last week’s meeting. However, when staff requested authorization to issue a request for design/build services to construct the facility, Wheeler said existing recreational facilities might be able to fulfill the need.
Former Vero Beach City Councilman Charlie Wilson was critical of the proposed expenditure for another reason.
“You all know what this about,” he told commissioners. “You are burning off the money so that you don’t have to return it. Last year, this wasn’t important to you, but now suddenly it is. It all has to do with impact fees.”
Impact fees are paid by developers and property owners to offset the cost of upgrading infrastructure to meet needs created by them. According to state law, the fees have to be spent for specific purposes within the area where they are collected within a certain period of time or be refunded.
Wilson is head of Asset Research and Recovery, a company that specializes in helping people get back unused impact fees.
He said funding a recreation center built in part with an eye to future need would be an improper use of impact fees.
County Attorney Alan Polackwich disagreed.
“I really believe this is a proper use of impact fees,” he said.
County Administrator Joe Baird disputed the idea that the county came up with the recreation center project suddenly as a way of spending impact fee money that might otherwise have to be refunded.
“This has been in our comprehensive plan since the late 1990s,” Baird said, adding that construction had been postponed and plans changed for various reasons including a lack of available funds in recent years.
“One thing that has not changed is the need of our youth,” said Commission Fletcher. “There is a direct correlation between recreation and incarceration. If we do not expand recreational opportunities for our youth, we will have to expand our jail.”
The recreation center would include four outdoor playing fields and a 40,000-square-foot building serving youth and senior citizens with indoor volleyball and basketball courts and rooms for arts, crafts and educational programs.
There would also be a stage for presentations and performances.
It would be funded by $2.15 million in impact fees with the balance coming from optional sales tax money.
Baird said no additional staff will be hired to run the center and that annual operational costs of more than $100,000 will be offset by partnerships with non-profit users of the facility such as Senior Resource Association.
A south county resident who spoke in favor of the center said he and his family had been waiting for it since his daughter was in elementary school. He said his daughter is now in college.
In the end, Commissioner Wheeler was persuaded and joined the other four commissioners in approving staffs’ request for authorization to solicit bids.
As a condition of that support, he got Baird to agree to prioritize the public safety function of the new building. He asked that it be hardened so that it can serve as an effective hurricane shelter.
“We can do that,” Baird said.
