The Indian River Mall has fully paid its overdue electric bills and put up a deposit to keep the mall’s power on, according to City Manager Jim O’Connor.
The payment was wired to the city about an hour before the 10 a.m. deadline. The mall at 8:41 a.m. Wednesday wired $428,175.02 to the city, which covers three months of unpaid electric bills plus a $200,000 deposit, O’Connor said.
“We didn’t want to turn them off,” O’Connor said “This is great and outstanding.”
O’Connor said the city “uses the deposit to pay the bill if (the mall) doesn’t pay the bill.” Mall owner Mike Kohan was not immediately available for comment.
The city previously announced that the mall had by 5 p.m. Tuesday to make the payment. The mall owners made an agreement with city officials to extend the deadline to 10 a.m. Wednesday.
The matter came up at a Vero Beach City Council meeting Tuesday when the council learned the mall had bounced a $56,000 check.
No further information was available.