INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — State legislators including House Representative Debbie Mayfield sat down at the Vero Beach City Council dais Wednesday morning to hear suggestions and concerns from Indian River County leaders. Among the issues raised were support for a proposed bill to ban texting while driving, concerns between cities and the county, and funding for various agencies and mandates.
“That’s what this is, a listening session,” Rep. Mayfield said at the outset of the annual Legislative Delegation meeting with State Senators Joe Negron and Thad Altman.
The legislators heard comments from various county officials, those from the local municipalities, the School Board, and constitutional officers. And while they said they would take those concerns and comments back with them to Tallahassee, they voted on one issue – to bring forward a requested bill to convert the Fellsmere Water Control District to the Fellsmere Water Improvement District. The bill received unanimous support.
Sheriff Deryl Loar and Fellsmere Vice Mayor Joel Tyson, representing the Treasure Coast Council of Local Governments, both voiced strong support of proposed legislation banning texting while driving. Sebastian Mayor Bob McPartlan, too, threw his council’s support behind the legislation.
“Driving distracted is a cause for many crashes,” Sheriff Loar said. He added that he knew the debate now centers on whether to make it a primary or secondary offense.
Not wearing a seatbelt used to be a secondary offense – now it’s a primary offense.
Tyson shared with the legislators that he had seen an email containing several crash site photos involving a young man who had been texting while driving. The man crossed the center line and struck the front of a semitrailer truck. He died in the crash and was dismembered, according to Tyson.
Tyson asked the legislators to give the bill “some teeth” and make texting while driving a primary offense.
“I would like to think people would have sense enough not to do something as stupid as that,” he said, adding that drivers, though, do drive distracted. “I’m concerned for my safety. I don’t want to meet one of these idiots out there.”
Legislators also heard a plea from County Attorney Alan Polackwich to make changes to existing laws that would require municipalities to get permission from their county commission boards in order to provide municipal service outside their city limits.
“Those statutes led to some situation in Indian River County,” Polackwich said, pointing to a recent attempt by the City of Fellsmere to create a natural gas service area that would have targeted a large area of unincorporated Indian River County, and the City of Vero Beach’s franchise agreement to provide water and sewer service to parts of the county.
“We don’t want to litigate this,” Polackwich said of dealing with the City of Vero Beach’s attempt to hold onto water and sewer service after the 30-year franchise agreement expires in 2017.
Fellsmere City Manager Jason Nunemaker addressed Polackwich’s comments, requesting that the State Legislature leave the statutes alone – or, if changes were to be made, work in reciprocal approval within the county’s urban service area.
The urban service area is an area targeted for municipal-type services, such as water and sewer, and other such utilities. The areas are where the county would like to locate development so as to avoid urban sprawl.
Legislators also heard the following requests:
- Fix a “glitch” within its statutes requiring counties to pay 1.5 percent more each year in court services than they paid the previous years.
- Add information on TRIM notices highlighting how much in ad valorem taxes go to constitutional officers.
- Ensure openness on the Communication Services Tax group.
- Re-write statutes regarding Community Redevelopment Agencies requiring that the county and municipality evenly split the increased revenue within the areas. As it is, the city keeps 95 percent and passes 5 percent on to the county.
- Maintain funding for beach renourishment projects.
- Expand the types of locations where early voting can be held to include the County Administrative building, college campuses, houses of worship, and civic groups’ buildings.
- Consider the length of ballots.
- Provide flexibility to School Districts to determine what is best for their own schools.
- Provide adequate funding and reconsider unfunded or underfunded mandates.
- Support funding for research on the quality of the Indian River Lagoon.
- Bolster funding to youth tobacco prevention programs.
- Increase and support funding for early education programs.
The Florida Legislative session begins March 5, 2013.