SEBASTIAN — After nearly two hours of debate and discussion Wednesday night, the Sebastian City Council decided it needed one more meeting before finalizing a new lease with the non-profit group tasked with managing the working waterfront project on Indian River Drive.
The council gave City Manager Al Minner, Fisherman’s Landing Sebastian, and the commercial fishermen using the old Dabrowski property until the April 10 regular council meeting to hash out the details of the new lease and ensure that the commercial fishermen are involved.
“I am not confident” that the city should continue on with Fisherman’s Landing Sebastian, Councilwoman Andrea Coy said. “Good faith has gone out the window.”
During the discussion, a couple commercial fishermen who make use of the docks and fish house addressed the council, telling the elected officials that they have not been approached by the non-profit about any of the things the non-profit wants for the working waterfront project.
“I’ve never been asked what I want,” one fisherman said. “This is my life…I want a place to tie my boat up, unload my fish and go home.”
He said anything more than that was “smoke and mirrors.”
At issue is the lease between the city and Fisherman’s Landing Sebastian – not the use of the property by commercial fishermen. Regardless of how the lease is decided, the fishermen are expected to be able to continue using the property directly to the south of the former Hurricane Harbor where Crab-E Bill’s Indian River Seafood is located.
Fisherman’s Landing Sebastian is supposed to be the managing arm of working waterfront project, raising funds to fix up the Dabrowski site and building ancillary structures to support commercial fishing – such as an ice house.
Under the proposed new lease, the city would take back management of the Hurricane Harbor property, being Crab-E Bill’s landlord, and organizing a fishing museum and attracting a small eatery to the building.
The fishermen, for their part, did not oppose the lease between Fisherman’s Landing Sebastian and the city, but asked that their voices be heard.
One fisherman said he had talked to someone from the non-profit but didn’t believe his comments had been taken into consideration.
“I have lost faith in the process,” Coy said of the lease negotiations. She said she wanted to make sure the commercial fishermen’s comments and concerns were heard by the non-profit charged with representing them so “I’m not getting snowed one more time.”
Councilman Jim Hill said he still had confidence in the process and in the non-profit, pointing out that Fisherman’s Landing Sebastian is responsible for more than just the commercial fishing aspect.
He was ready to approve the proposed lease – but he was the only one. Approval of the lease failed 4-1. Instead the Sebastian City Council sent it back to the stakeholders and are expected to vote on the final lease next month.
The proposed lease currently calls for a 10-year term with Fisherman’s Landing Sebastian with a 10-year renewal contingent on the non-profit being in full compliance with the lease. The lease also will allow two 3-day special events on-site annually from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Under the lease, the city would be given two years to build a new fish house for the commercial fishermen, subject to the city applying for and receiving grant funding to help cover the cost.
