Timetables for Vero’s major projects – including the planned Three Corners development and relocation of the municipal wastewater-treatment plant – will not be affected by the tornadoes that wreaked havoc on the community earlier this month, according to city officials.
“Obviously, there’s an additional workload for the staff, particularly for the departments involved in different aspects of the cleanup,” Mayor John Cotugno said. “But I don’t see anything that creates an unmanageable burden for the city.
“And as far as the timetables for these projects are concerned,” he added, “there really shouldn’t be any meaningful impact, because the City Council has already established the processes.”
In addition to developing the Three Corners site on the west end of the 17th Street bridge and moving the sewage plant from the shores of the Indian River Lagoon to the Vero Beach Regional Airport, the city already is engaged in expanding its municipal marina facilities and has approved a master plan to revitalize the downtown area.
None of the projects – just one has entered the actual construction phase, and only partially – was directly impacted by the two tornadoes that damaged parts of downtown and the monstrous twister that devastated a section of Central Beach.
But the city’s response to the tornado damage, especially to the Central Beach, has become an unplanned fifth major project.
“It’s an ambitious undertaking, moving forward with four significant projects that will impact the city’s future, and doing them all at the same time,” City Manager Monte Falls said. “Now throw in the impact of a very destructive tornado. That’s a lot to put on your plate.
“Last week, I worked about 25 hours more than I normally do,” he added, “and I spent only about 10 of those 65 hours doing my usual job.”
Falls called the tornado-caused wreckage on the Central Beach the “worst storm damage I’ve seen here,” saying Category 2 Hurricane Frances and Category 3 Hurricane Jeanne were not as destructive when they pummeled the Vero Beach area 20 years ago.
“We had those two hurricanes in ’04, and they did some damage,” he said, “but we didn’t have roofs ripped off houses like we had with the tornado.”
The tornado that swept through Central Beach was the same one that first touched down south of Midway Road in St. Lucie County and later killed seven people in Spanish Lakes Country Club Village, north of Fort Pierce.
The powerful twister, which produced peak gusts of 155 mph and cut a path as wide as 500 feet, continued its northward trek into Indian River County, hitting Florida Ridge and Vero Highlands.
It eventually crossed the lagoon and came ashore on River Drive in Riomar, moving north past Quail Valley and continuing to spin through the Central Beach community, west of State Road A1A, ultimately delivering a catastrophic blow to the Bethel Creek and Cache Cay neighborhoods before heading out to sea just south of Indian River Shores.
The seemingly relentless tornado traveled more than 20 miles in just over 30 minutes.
The carnage left behind in the Central Beach area included: torn-off roofs, segments of which landed in roadways and neighbors’ yards; shattered windows; damaged vehicles; uprooted trees, signs and light poles; downed power lines; and blocked streets.
“It’s going to take some time to get all the debris picked up,” Falls said. “Go to Central Beach and look down the side streets, and you’ll see what I mean.”
City work crews began the clean-up work immediately after the tornado passed, Falls said, adding that the city’s debris contractor arrived the next day to further the effort.
The contractor returned last Thursday to haul away more of the debris, then brought in additional trucks the next day. Falls said he didn’t know how long it will take to remove all of the debris, but he hoped to be able to provide a better projection this week.
Both Falls and Cotugno said dealing with the tornado emergency is the city’s top priority.
“We need to get people back on their feet and get our community back up and running,” Falls said, “and we need to do it as quickly as we can.”
Cotugno said he knows the city’s tornado-impacted residents – especially in the Central Beach area – are waiting anxiously for work crews to “get rid of that pile of rubble” in front of their houses.
But he urged patience.
“I know it’s difficult in these times, but you haven’t been forgotten,” the mayor said. “There’s still a lot of work to do, as far the cleanup goes, and we are expediting the process. It’s as good as it can be right now.”
Cotugno said the city can conduct the cleanup and address residents’ needs without pausing its plans for the Three Corners and the other major projects – none of which requires action in the immediate future.
City officials are currently are waiting for developers to submit their proposals for the 34-acre Three Corners site, where they hope to create a dining, retail, social and recreational hub on the Vero Beach mainland.
The deadline for submissions is Dec. 17.
“We’re waiting to see what comes back,” Cotugno said. “Once we get the responses, we’ll start evaluating them, probably right after the first of the year. But we won’t be meeting as a council until late in the first quarter of next year, or early second quarter.
“That’s a reasonable and manageable timetable.”
Meanwhile, the city has hired the Sanford-based Wharton-Smith Construction Group to build a new, state-of-the-art, $150 million-plus wastewater-treatment facility on airport property, adjacent to the existing municipal water plant.
Construction is expected to begin in May or June and take 36 months to complete.
“We’ve selected a contractor and we’re in negotiations now,” Cotugno said. “The contractor will manage the entire project, and the city will monitor the progress. So, from the City Council’s standpoint, all the more-difficult stuff is done.”
The first phase of the marina-expansion project is underway, with new docks having been built, but the accompanying electric and plumbing services haven’t yet been installed.
The city has hired Vero Beach-based Proctor Construction to build a new and larger boat-storage facility, but work on the planned 21,355-square-foot structure probably won’t begin until the first quarter of 2025.
“I don’t have an expected start date for the building,” Falls said. “We still need to meet with the Proctor people. At this point, they’re still getting their insurance and bonding information to our Purchasing Department.
“My fingers crossed, we’re hoping to have building permits by the late January or early February.”
The new boat barn, which will be capable of housing as many as 120 vessels up to 35 feet long, will replace the existing-but-dilapidated, 7,850-square-foot structure.
Downtown revitalization was the last of the major projects to be added to the council’s to-do list.
After approving a master plan for the area earlier this year, Vero Beach officials are now waiting for city voters to decide in the Nov. 5 election the fate of two referendums – one to increase residential density in the downtown area, the other to allow property owners to transfer development rights.
City officials say both voters must pass both ballot initiatives for the city to move forward with its plan.
“Putting the referendums on the ballot, the city has really done what it could do,” Cotugno said.
“We can provide information to the public, but we can’t promote it. We’ll wait and see what happens on Nov. 5. And even then, nothing’s going to happen right away.
“We have only two City Council meetings between Election Day and Christmas,” he added, “so we’ll have plenty of time to address any matters relating to the tornado.”