VERO BEACH — The City of Vero Beach has received a final version of an agreement between the city, Florida Power and Light and the Orlando Utilties Commission to settle the city’s power contracts.
That Memorandum of Understanding or MOU, dated Aug. 28 (see related PDF image), will be introduced at Tuesday night’s Vero Beach City Council meeting. Then city officials will publicly discuss the eight-page document at two more public meetings before the city council is asked to vote on it on Sept. 18.
The memorandum does not tie up all aspects of the sale, but it solidifies the terms of how the city will divest itself of its rights and responsibilities under long-term power purchase agreements with OUC and with the Florida Municipal Power Agency.
The Board of OUC will vote on the agreement after the council approves it, but according to City Manager Jim O’Connor, OUC is fully on board with the provisions of the memorandum.
O’Connor said that this MOU “Takes care and addresses the power supply contract. The next step is the sales agreement.”
The sales agreement will be hammered out over the coming months, with a closing date set of no sooner than Jan. 1, 2014.
The MOU will be discussed at the following meetings, to be held in council chambers at Vero Beach City Hall:
6 p.m. Sept 4 – Vero Beach City Council meeting
10 a.m. Sept. 11 – Vero Beach Utilities Advisory Committee
6 p.m. Sept. 18 – Vero Beach City Council meeting
Meeting agendas and live-stream video of the meetings can be viewed on the city’s website www.covb.org.