FPL hoping to close purchase of Vero electric in 24 months
The draft offer by Florida Power and Light to buy Vero electric would give the city and its attorneys 24 months to untangle the city's contractual obligations so the sale could go through. Under the provisions of the 77-page document released Monday, closing the deal – the exchange of $100 million for the power plant, customers, assets, records and distribution systems of the utility – would need to take place within two years of the Vero Beach City Council approving the agreement. That $100 million figure would vary a bit up or down depending upon some items in the agreement – such as inventory in stock at the time of the sale, which would be bought by FPL, and banked city employee sick and vacation time, which FPL wants paid by Vero. "Paying the $100 million to us in payments with interest was a new one, something I hadn't heard before," said Mayor Pilar Turner, who read through the document Monday. "Maybe they'll offer a really good interest rate on the payments, better than we could get if we invested the money." READ FULL STORY
South Beach may vote on water-sewer
The question of who will provide water and sewer service to South Beach residents may be put to an extraordinary one-precinct referendum with an eye to bolstering Indian River County’s claim that it is entitled to take over those customers in March 2017. County Commissioner Bob Solari in a Jan. 27 memo proposed that the county consider placing a question on this November’ ballot allowing South Beach residents south of Castaway Cove ratepayers to help determine who provides their utility service. The county is preparing to fight – or preferably to ward off – a protracted battle with Vero Beach over extricating residents of the Moorings, Sandpointe, Seagrove and other South barrier island developments from the Vero water-sewer system. Vero Beach city staffers are determined to defend their interest in South Beach, insisting it is a “permanent” territory and have said they’ll only abandon water and sewer service to county residents there if a court orders them to do so. READ FULL STORY
Shores to Vero:
Water deal doesn’t wash
The City of Vero Beach nearly lost $100 million worth of water and sewer business over the next 30 years when Indian River Shores Vice Mayor Jerry Weick made a motion to choose Indian River County Utilities instead. Weick's motion failed 4-1 last week because the council members said they weren't quite ready to make such a huge decision. But the council did not offer a lot of encouragement to Vero City Manager Jim O'Connor about the city's proposal. Instead, O'Connor got a list of all the things he needs to fix over the next few weeks before Vero gets one last chance to come in with a competitive proposal to match Indian River County's pitch. "I think both parties heard us loud and clear – especially the city – and I think he'll go back and say, 'This won't work and we need to come up with something better'," said Shores Mayor Tom Cadden. Now Vero top staff and officials are in a tough spot. They need to decide whether they can afford to give the Shores all the things officials there want without stripping their water-sewer utility of much-needed revenue. READ FULL STORY
Local schools rank behind some small, very poor counties
How can the public schools of Indian River County, the ninth most affluent county in the state, rank 30th in scholastic achievement – far behind some of Florida’s smallest and poorest counties? And do members of the School Board care? Those were the questions some were asking after recent state rankings surprisingly showed Indian River schools to be the lowest rated of the 30 Florida counties where the schools received “A” grades. The ranking is based on each district’s total points derived from the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test scores. This is the first time the state mapped out its scores and gave a numerical ranking to all 67 Florida school districts. State officials say the numerical rankings are important because they allow parents of school-age children, educators and taxpayers to evaluate their school districts. While barrier island residents have been good to the public school system, pumping more than $34.3 million in a year’s time into Indian River schools in taxes, a comparison between the various districts around the state shows affluence does not appear to be a key to student achievement. READ FULL STORY
The troubled lagoon:
Half of dolphins sick and dying
Everybody loves bottlenose dolphins. They are an emblem of the beauty and grace of the natural world and seeing one in the Indian River Lagoon adds a bit of magic to the day. When a pod passes under the Barber Bridge, the sight stops walkers in their tracks and pulls casual strangers into a friendly group as they watch the animals – which one writer calls the most playful in the universe – breach and dive. They seem the happiest of creatures living marvelous lives, but the view from the bridge and the boat and the waterfront restaurant is deceiving, because the dolphins in the Indian River Lagoon are sick and dying. The most recent scientific studies found more than 50 percent of them are ill and that they live, on average, only half as long as their free-ranging kin out in the relatively clean Atlantic. “We were shocked,” says Stephen McCulloch, head of the Marine Mammal Research and Conservation Program at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, referring to results of a dolphin health study. READ FULL STORY
County administrator frustrated by vote on impact fees
County Administrator Joe Baird found himself at odds with four members of the county commissioners a couple of weeks ago when they voted to refund all the impact-fee money in Fund 101 to island property owners. “I think we are overreacting here,” Baird said. “You are going to end up in a situation where you need new infrastructure and you won’t have the money.” For the most part, county staff and commissioners end up with at least the appearance of agreement on issues that come before the board. Most often, action staff proposes passes unchallenged; other times staff proposals are modified in response to a counter opinion from a commissioner or member of the public. Every once in while, commissioners overrule staff and go a different direction. But even in those cases, there is usually an element of kumbaya, with staff expressing understanding and agreement with the board's actions. This time, Baird continued to object to the board’s decision to return all the money in Fund 101 even as it was poised to approve that action. READ FULL STORY
Ocean and Cardinal Drives: Updating the vision
The City of Vero Beach recently dusted off a seven-year-old vision plan for what Ocean and Cardinal drives could be, giving the community an opportunity to talk about what draws people to the beachside retail district. Some say it's the feel of old Florida, a trip down Memory Lane for an ice cream with the grandkids. For others, its good food and drink in equally savory company. Shopping with attentive merchants does the trick for those weary of malls, the mass-produced and the impersonal chain-store mentality. The smell of festival street food, the sound of a live band and ocean breezes lure others to discover the shops and galleries that make up Ocean and Cardinal drives. City planners and the volunteers will update the shelved plans in the months ahead and devise a way to implement them while accentuating the district’s positive features. Most people see the retail district as needing just a few tweaks and not a major facelift. READ FULL STORY
Marine Bank wins a victory as state regulators back off
They are places where people are a name and not a number – places where, historically, members of the community could come in, sit down, meet the president, and walk away with a small loan. But community banks in Florida and across the country are seeing their ranks rapidly dwindle. Just 200 community banks currently are left in Florida. Vero has just one, Marine Bank & Trust, headquartered on Beachland Boulevard. For five days over the course of two weeks, Marine Bank officials and their attorneys fought to defend the institution from the notion that it is failing, or could fail. Of Florida’s 200 community banks, 40 percent are on the danger list with the Federal Insurance Deposit Corporation. Marine is not on that list, and its fight in federal court is an attempt to stay off it. While the judge is not expected to render a decision for several months, Marine won an interim victory last week when the state regulatory agency that oversees state-sanctioned banks decided to drop its charges against Marine Bank. READ FULL STORY
Robert W. Bauchman, for more than a decade the face of Northern Trust in our community following its acquisition of locally owned Beach Bank in 1995, has returned to Vero from California – this time to head the next-door office of Wilmington Trust. Bauchman, 62, who spent the past three years as president of Northern Trust’s San Diego region before retiring on Oct. 31 after a 33-year-career with the company, concedes that it feels a little funny to have returned to Vero as managing director of the local office of a direct competitor. “I don’t see my role as trying to poach clients from Northern Trust,” Bauchman said. “I spent over 30 years with the organization, have a tremendous amount of respect for the organization and what they do. I like the people there and have a great relationship with them. But I think Wilmington can be a very viable and effective alternative in the market.” READ FULL STORY
Shores nearing key water-sewer vote
The city of Vero Beach and Indian River County made their final pitches to the town of Indian River Shores Monday for more than $100 million worth of water and sewer utility business over the next 30 years. At the conclusion of the meeting, no decision was made, but at least the town knows what’s clear and what’s still negotiable. Rates are somewhat of a no-brainer – the Shores would either get county rates from the county or county rates from Vero. Most residents would be better off, condos would benefit the most and only very large consumers of water would pay more than they do now. The winner of the franchise would collect a 6 percent fee that would fund either Vero’s city or Indian River County’s government functions. The two items still in play are ownership of the pipes, pumps and tanks within the town limits – both now and at the end of the 30-year agreement – and how best to ensure all the communities in the Shores get adequate quantities of reuse water at a fair price. READ FULL STORY
City moves to stabilize dunes under boardwalk at Conn Way
The City of Vero Beach is going ahead with a $93,000 project to stabilize the dunes under the boardwalk at the southernmost end of Jaycee Beach – across from the eastern end of Conn Way – despite the fact city officials don't know for sure where they will get the money. Last season's storms, especially the unnamed Columbus Day weekend storm, chewed up the beaches and dunes under the boardwalk, leaving gaping holes where there is no sand at all under the walkway. To protect the boardwalk, the road and adjacent condominiums and businesses, the dunes are periodically padded, but last year's project only required 450 tons of sand. About 1,200 linear feet of beach will be closed for two weeks while the work is being completed, according to Public Works Director Monte Falls. "We had a permit but we had to make some minor revisions to it and we've sent that off, so we should have a permit within the two weeks," Falls said. "Once we get the permit in hand, then the insurance and bonding will take another two to three weeks, so I would guess that we'd be looking at the middle of February." READ FULL STORY
