By Lisa ZahnerINDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Among the items on the Board of County Commission agenda on Tuesday is choosing a contractor to complete a multi-million dollar beach renourishment project on the 6.5-mile stretch from Treasure Shores Park to John’s Island.On Sept. 3, the County Beaches and Shores Preservation Advisory Committee sent commissioners a clear signal that getting the project done as soon as possible is a higher priority for them than bolstering the local economy by experimenting with an upland, trucked-in sand process that might delay work up to a year. The top two bidders on the project are Great Lakes Dredging, a pumped-in sand company from the Midwest which completed the Sector 1, 2 and 7 projects for the county in 2007 and a Sebastian-based sand mine that has no proven track record of being able to achieve permitting for and complete large-scale beach sand projects.In May, commissioners opened up the bidding to providers of trucked-in sand, but having the job open to both off-shore and upland sand providers has complicated the permitting process as it’s virtually unheard of in Florida.In addition to 37 Consent Agenda items and public and discussion items related to sidewalks, drainage and right-of-way acquisition, the commission will also hear from Chairman Wesley Davis about efforts to consolidate the City of Vero Beach water and sewer utilities all or in part into the County system. The City and County have been holding meetings on this topic since February. Commissioner Solari, Utilities Director Erik Olson and County Administrator Joe Baird have all had meetings with city officials regarding several proposals on the table to allow the county to use excess capacity to serve the residents of the city, plus nearly 30,000 County and Indian River Shores residents currently on the city’s system.The Board of County Commissioners meets at 9 a.m. in the Commission Chambers in Building A of the County Administration Complex in Vero Beach.
