The first part of the initial phase of the oft-delayed expansion of Vero’s municipal marina – building a new South dock – was finally expected to be completed this week.
Except for one key component: Electricity.
City Marina Director Sean Collins told City Council members last week he’s still waiting for Florida Power & Light to connect the dock to power lines on the adjacent street, calling the issue the “biggest hold-up, by far.”
Collins said the new dock is already at 80-percent occupancy with vessels that were relocated when the old dock was taken out of service. He said the marina has commitments from “everybody else,” ensuring that the dock will be filled to capacity when the city receives a Certificate of Occupancy from the county.
Collins is hoping to have the dock fully operational by March 1, which would be roughly the same time as the city begins tearing down the marina’s existing-but-dilapidated 7,850-square-foot boat-storage facility.
The final 20 boats that were being stored there were removed last week. Proctor Construction, which was awarded the contract in September, plans to start fencing off the site by mid-February to prepare for demolition.
Once the site is cleared, Proctor will start construction of a new 21,355-square-foot structure.
“Their rough-draft schedule is for completion by early November,” Collins said. “Hopefully, we have a nice, quiet storm season with no other hiccups.”
Collins said the process of getting electricity connected to the new South dock was slowed by two late-season hurricanes – Helene in late September, Milton in early October – that prompted FPL to re-allocate manpower to respond to the weather emergencies. Also, FPL engineers assigned to the city’s project left the company.
Last week, though, Collins said FPL, with a new engineer taking over the case, issued a work order that requires the work to be completed by Feb. 24.
“The real tell-tale is: Once that pole and transformer are set on the ground there, then we’re looking at 24 to 48 hours for that work to be completed,” Collins said, adding, “But they’re prepared to run generators to test everything they need to test. So everything is moving along.”
More than five years in the making, the marina-expansion project has endured repeated and lengthy delays, including a neighborhood-opposition campaign that produced a failed referendum and court challenges.
Some residents argued the planned dry-storage facility was too large, and they weren’t satisfied with the city’s willingness to compromise and build a significantly smaller boat barn.
The marina project was projected to cost $7.6 million, funded by $750,000 in grant money, a $2 million capital-improvements contribution from the city’s general fund and a low-interest $4.8 million loan.
The delays have increased the cost to more than $9 million – $5.9 million for the dry-storage facility, nearly $2.8 million for the docks and dredging, and $500,000 for equipment.
