INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — If the County Commission needed more evidence of how the public feels about the proposed Oslo Road Boat Ramp Expansion they got it this morning when a large crowd with signs, bullhorns and a boat gathered at the entrance to the Commission Chambers to protest the $1.5-million project.
Lagoon scientists have been adamant for years that the dredge and fill project would harm the lagoon environment by destroying mangroves, sea grass and critical game fish nurseries and by endangering manatees, a protected species.
The public has been loud in its objections, too, writing numerous letters to the editor, participating in earlier protest rallies and speaking to Commissioners at prior meetings, explaining why the project is harmful to the environment and asking that it be stopped.
A laundry list of state and federal agencies long opposed the project as well, saying it was illegal and would damage the environment. More recently, after alleged political pressure on agency officials, St. John’s River Water Management District announced its decision to issue a permit for the project.
An Army Corps of Engineers permit is still pending.
This summer, the Florida Inland Navigation District refused to provide matching funds for the project on the grounds it did not meet public benefit and other criteria.
It is a measure of the project’s flaws that the County’s proposal was the only one out of 60 submitted by 12 counties in the District that was turned down.
The County has already spent more than half a million dollars on the effort, which would impact 1.41 acres of wetlands, expand and pave the parking area near the ramp and the section of Oslo Road leading to the ramp, add dock space and dredge the channel connecting the ramp to the Intracoastal Waterway.
With FIND’s refusal to provide matching funds, the remaining $1 million cost would be borne by county taxpayers.
Recent 8th District congressional candidate Corry Westbrook told the crowd the million dollars could fund elimination of 200 leaking septic tanks that are polluting the lagoon with sewage instead of paying to damage the ecology.
“Our elected officials should be listening to us,” Westbrook said.
Lange Sykes, president of the Treasure Coast chapter of the Coastal Conservation Association of Florida, a 20,000-member organization of environmentally-minded fishermen, told the crowd, “We are hoping the County Commission comes to its senses and understands the vast majority of the public does not want the ramp expanded, certainly not at the expense of the taxpayers of Indian River County. Hopefully we can stop this project before it is too late.”
“This is more than an environmental issue. It a cultural, economic and moral issue. Instead of pushing a project that will harm wildlife and the environment, the commissioners should be working really hard to save and improve the lagoon,” said Dr. Richard Baker, University of Florida biology professor emeritus and president of Pelican Island Audubon Society. “It is clear the public opposes it.”
Once the meeting started, two members of the public spoke in opposition to the ramp expansion. The first speaker said the Commissioners were planning to “rip out the mangroves, rip up the river bottom and rip off the public.”
“We are asking one thing: Leave the lagoon alone.”
After a second speaker talked eloquently about the value of the lagoon and took Commissioner Peter O’ Bryan to task for treating project opponents disrespectfully on a prior occasion, and while many more people appeared poised to speak, Commissioner Joe Flescher interrupted the process to propose presentation of a counter argument by Assistant County Attorney Bill DeBrall.
O’Bryan took that interruption as an occasion to argue that the project would be beneficial to the lagoon environment.
His remarks eventually prompted an uproar form the crowd and the Commission pushed the matter off to a future meeting, inviting the 100 or so people who came out Tuesday morning to express their opposition to come back for a future meeting and hear the County’s pro-ramp expansion presentation.
O’Bryan then announced a break, cutting off discussion by prematurely ending the public comment period. Commissioners left the podium, beating a hasty retreat and leaving the crowd hanging.