INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Among the contentious issues on the Board of County Commissioners’ plate Tuesday was a discussion about whether they were willing to re-visit a vote not to join the Indian River Lagoon Council tasked with obtaining and funneling funding related to lagoon projects.
After the Board voted not to join the newly-formed Indian River Lagoon Council, several other local communities including Sebastian, Fellsmere and Vero took up the issue and are either considering or committed to joining.
Commissioner Tim Zorc asked if the Lagoon Council personnel could come to a Board of County Commission meeting to try to find some consensus by which Indian River County would agree to join.
Commissioner Bob Solari, who initially raised concerns when the Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program began to morph into the Indian River Lagoon Council, said he would not participate because he felt the process by which the Council was formed was rife with corruption.
Commissioner Peter O’Bryan said he was proud of the Board of County Commission’s record on the lagoon, for its proactive action, its fertilizer ordinance and its investment in the Kilroy water-quality monitors.
O’Bryan said he also felt the other communities in the county have done a good job and said the county as a whole would “continue to do so without the blessing of this (Indian River Lagoon) Council.”
It was decided that, because the Board had given the Lagoon Council two conditions that would facilitate Indian River County joining and the council rejected both of those suggestions, it would not be fruitful to take up meeting time to re-hash the issues.
Board members told Zorc that he is free to attend the Council’s meetings and he said he would meet with them and see if any common ground could be found.
The two conditions were that the Council have a definite sunset clause, after which the group would not exist unless it was voted that there was still a reason to exist and a mission to carry out.
The second condition was that the St. Johns River Water Management District, the South Florida Water Management District and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection could serve in an advisory capacity but not be voting members, that only the five lagoon counties could vote.
Neither of those suggestions was deemed workable and the Council formed without Indian River County.
In other commission actions, the Board disappointed a crowd of environmental activists who wanted them to cease all efforts to obtain a permit to expand the boat ramp facilities near the Oslo Riverfront Conservation Area.
The Board, after spending years and significant staff resources to keep the project alive despite opposition and permitting obstacles, agreed to shelve the project for three to five years.
After a VeroNews.com report revealed that county staff was still pursuing the permit, lagoon activists showed up at Tuesday’s meeting to voice their disappointment. Their chief complaint was that they didn’t understand that the Board’s action to “table” the project meant that the project was not in fact dead.
County Administrator Joe Baird took the blame for telling staff members to keep the permit process active, though on the back burner, because the county had already paid the $5,000 permit fee.