MARK SCHUMANN
With a number of proclamations, certificates and awards to be given, along with several presentations, all to be followed by what will surely be spirited public comment on the short-term and vocational rental issue, it could be late into the evening before the lights go out in City Hall tomorrow.
Prior to its regularly scheduled 6 p.m. meeting, the City Council will convene at 5:10 p.m. to adopt a millage rate and a budget for the 2013/2014 fiscal year.
The 6 p.m. meeting will open with a retirement proclamation for Captain Keith Touchberry. Touchberry is leaving the Police Department after 24 years to become the Police Chief in Fellsmere.
John Igoe, the City’s transactional attorney, will report on the status of negotiations on the proposed sale of Vero Electric. Igoe may well need authorization for additional funding to continue his work. To date, the Council has approved $1.4 million for the work of Igoe’s firm. That money is now all but spent.
The Council will also receive presentations from Dr. Edith Widder of the Ocean Research and Conservation Association, and Paul Drittenbas, who will report on the Rotary Initiative for Submerged Seagrass Awareness project.
Public comment is schedule to open with input from David Hunter, the beachside resident who brought a complaint against Vice Mayor Tracy Carroll and her husband, John, for renting their Camelia Lane home for periods of less than 30 days.
Hunter’s complaint led to the Carrolls receiving a citation for violating City code. In a controversial 3-2 ruling, the Code Enforcement Board dismissed the citation on the grounds that the applicable City code is vague, a move that many fear will lead to unlimited and virtually unregulated vacation rentals.
Hunter likely will by followed by other citizens wanting to weigh in on the controversial issue. Either following public comment, or later in the meeting, the Council will consider appealing the CEB’s ruling to the circuit court. Members of the Indian River Neighborhood Association may turn out in forcer tomorrow evening to urge the Council to appeal the CEB’s split decision.
Upon first reading, the Council will also consider ordinances rezoning approximately 6.5 acres of land between 17th Street and 18th Street to allow for Florida Power & Light’s new electrical substation and staging area.
The land is currently zoned for up to 10 residential unites per acre. In order to accommodate for FPL’s substation, the land will need to be rezoned to Government/Institutional/Public Use.
The move to rezone the property north of 17th Street is part of a proposed land swap that will make possible the development of the southwest corner of 17th Street and Indian River Boulevard as something other than an electrical substation. Without the land swap, the City will be obligated by contract to give FPL the former postal annex site for a new transmission and distribution substation.
Indian River Guardian 