VERO BEACH — In a rare showing of solidarity, the five-member City of Vero Beach Utility Commission unanimously voted Tuesday that the city council should sign the memorandum of understanding that gets Vero Beach out of its $2 billion obligations and legal entanglements with the Orlando Utility Commission as well as its obligations with the Florida Municipal Power Agency.
The City Council will be asked to sign off on the eight-page document when it meets Sept. 18. If it does, a full contract will be drawn up, one that will be similar to the memorandum of Understanding which will then be given to the Orlando group for its OK.
The city will then be asked to sign off on the contract when it meets Oct. 16.
The Orlando Utility Commission has already tentatively signed off on the memorandum – one that gives the Orlando commission $54 million, $20 million of which gets the city out of its contract with them and another $34 for Orlando to take over Vero’s share of the membership with the Florida Municipal Power Agency should the city sell its utility to Florida Power & Light.
If the sale doesn’t go through, none of the figures outlined in the memorandum or even final contract will matter.
John Igoe, the $500-an-hour attorney hired by the city to hammer out the deal to sell the city’s electrical utility, said that while the Florida Municipal Power Agency did not participate in drawing up the memorandum, it supported it.
“The FMPA is fully behind it,” Igoe said.
Tensions rose at times during the 90-minute meeting with some members of the public questioning the rationale behind portions of the documents. One city resident, Joseph Guffanti, who is opposes the sale of the utility, peppered the group with questions and vowed there would be a legal suit on the matter.
The memorandum does not address the sale of the city’s utility but rather establishes the framework.
