VERO BEACH — Voters in the city of Vero Beach will be heading to the polls in mid March to cast a ballot on a lone issue: should the city sell its electrical utility to Florida Power & Light.
The city for years has been working on a plan to get out of the utility business saying it’s too costly to maintain and that it cannot get rates low enough to compete with the power giant Florida Power & Light.
On the negative side, doing away with the utility will lead to multi-million shortfalls in the city’s operating budget each year.
Several months ago Councilman Dick Winger first floated the idea to have voters decide what is best for the city. At the time only Councilman Jay Kramer sided with him and the issue appeared dead.
And then the tables turned.
The typical 3 to 2 vote on most Vero Beach electric utility matters — the three being the pro-sale group — reversed when newly minted Mayor Craig Fletcher, a member of the pro-sale group — brought the idea of a referendum to the table. He, as expected, was joined by pro-sale council members Tracy Carroll and Pillar Turner.
But Tuesday, Winger decided to join the three when the time came for the final vote to bring a referendum to the voters. Unlike in every other city council meetings, no one from the public took to the microphone to air views prior to the vote.
The referendum is scheduled slated for March 12. It will be binding. By the time of the referendum, the city should have signed the sales agreement with Florida Power & Light. The sales agreement, which was just delivered to City Council members on Monday, is now some $2 million less than previously discussed.
