MILT THOMAS

As reported, about 100 members and supporters of the Pelican Island Audubon Society and the Coastal Conservation Association held a protest rally in front of the county administration building at 8:30 this morning in advance of the county commission meeting. In the meeting itself, public discussion was short and heated until commissioners decided to schedule a public discussion at the next meeting on October 7.

Bob Bruce, vice president of the Pelican Island Audubon Society says, “This is an essential fish habitat and cannot be mitigated. The scientific arguments against the project are definitive and the public does not seem to want it to go forward. Underlying this issue is the question: what is best for our Indian River Lagoon? Commissioners say they are in favor of doing everything they can to save it, but opponents insist this project will have the opposite effect.