Vero Beach City Council must change course on major issues
Having attended several Fourth of July celebrations with a variety of people, I came away with some prevalent opinions:
The Vero Beach City Council wasted a great deal of money doing studies on the Twin Pairs, more than $300,000 over the years. Funds could have been used to:
- Rebuild the popular Humiston boardwalk.
- Add a 100-slip floating dock marina, collecting $60,000 per month.
- Give grants to downtown businesses to spruce up the area.
- Create a weekend trolley/tram program to shuttle people from the empty courthouse garage to restaurants.
Do not increase density downtown. It is packed even in the off season. Density is the death knell of quality of life.
Why is it said there is no affordable housing? Realtor.com lists more than 700 homes, condominiums and townhouses of less than $350,000.
More people would rather see something else done on the Three Corners. Did council members notice how full Riverside Park was over the holiday and most weekends? Did they see the horror show at the Riverside and MacWilliam boat ramps? About seven of 10 boats launched there travel under the bridge.
A ramp and marina at Three Corners would eliminate much congestion. Or, sell the corners to the Indian River Land Trust or Audubon Society.
Expansion of the city marina will not eliminate monthslong waits or add enough large slips to fill the demand. Shame on the council for sitting on the Three Corners for so long.
Send Andres Duany packing. Vero Beach is desirable because we have not taken the advice of planners. Show me one community to our south better off for listening to them.
Stop allowing cookie-cutter developments in our county. They will overwhelm our infrastructure. Half-acre minimum is needed.
Charles Resta, Vero Beach
Beware: Danger lurks near railroad tracks
Laurence Reisman's column regarding two women trapped between the gates while a Brightline train sped through was so compelling to my husband and I as we have a similar story I want to share.
Two weeks ago, we were on Fourth Street south of Vero Beach and approached the tracks. There were the two flashing lights, and the gates went down one at a time. A Brightline train sped through going north. The gates both went up, but the lights were still flashing red.
Someone behind us beeped a car horn as the cars were lined up. Suddenly, the gates came down again, first on the west side and then the east side. This happened in a minute or two. Suddenly, a southbound train sped through.
We are so thankful we did not move, because there might have been more than one car trapped on the tracks. We have never seen that happen before.
Thank you for making people aware of this happening. I doubt many of us would have even thought to stay on the tracks and move our car tightly against the gate on the other side. It is good to know that the gates will break apart, if necessary.
I can see where the trapped motorists would have been caught easily, because we have traveled that same route (Aviation Boulevard) from our doctor's office. The flashing red light is on the U.S. 1 side.
One time, there was a long freight train going through headed south, which seemed to take forever. Cars were lined up on the inside lane of U.S. 1 because of the freight train. Suddenly, the train left and the lights stayed on. The gates were closed when suddenly a Brightline train went through, headed north.
We are in our 80s and would not have figured out what to do like the women did. Let us hope others will use your information to be careful and to respect the flashing red light if it is still on.
Clare N. Jay, Vero Beach
Indian River County must restore wetlands at wastewater facility
I recently read an article in Vero Beach Magazine, “Journey Through the Wetlands of Vero Beach.”
Had it been published 15 years ago, the article would have been an accurate representation of the wetlands. Unfortunately, the West Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility Wetlands no longer represents a “win-win.”
When I began visiting in 2012, it was managed both for water treatment and visitors. It was a favorite birding hot spot on the Great Florida Birding Trail. Every day, I met people from around the country using the area for birding, hiking the levees, photography and angling. Many locals said they visited the wetlands frequently to use the green space for recreation, especially given the absence of Indian River County parks west of 43rd Avenue. Out-of-state visitors made special trips there after learning of its wildlife from the internet or by word of mouth.
Since 2017, conditions at the wetlands have deteriorated, both for wildlife and visitors. Good luck finding the birds mentioned in the magazine article. Few locals now visit because of un-mowed levees with fire-ant mounds and dry or vegetation-choked ponds with no birds. Out-of-state visitors are almost non-existent.
Other water-treatment facilities also prioritize cleansing water before releasing it. However, they also recognize the potential of attracting visitors for recreation and enjoyment of nature. Palm Beach County’s Wakodahatchee wetlands, Brevard’s Viera wetlands and Alachua’s Sweetwater wetlands are now some of Florida’s best birding places. Each attracts thousands of visitors a year who spend money in restaurants and hotels.
Indian River County should have the vision to join that group of farsighted counties by restoring added value to our local facility. Encouraging visits by residents and tourists alike to this gem in the rough will add to our local economy. Water treatment and recreation need not be mutually exclusive.
William Loftus, Vero Beach
Become Republican in Martin County to vote in commission race
If you are frustrated because you have never had a vote on who should be your county commissioner in District 1 for Martin County, because every election cycle there has been a write-in candidate closing the primary to only Republicans, take action now.
You have until the end of the day Monday, July 22 to temporarily change your party affiliation to Republican. If you are registered as independent or a Democrat, go to the Martin County supervisor of elections and review your party's ballot. If you compare it to the Republican ballot and are comfortable with all the choices on the Republican ballot, change your affiliation for just the primary and let your voice for District 1 commissioner finally be heard.
Maybe you just feel like sending a message that rules governing voting are obsolete and we need to eliminate closed ballots and give citizens the right to vote for the candidates that best represent them. Every voter should have the freedom to vote for whomever they want.
Sharon McGinnis, Stuart
The stinky unintended consequence of passing recreational marijuana amendment
I have nothing against recreational marijuana, and until a few months ago, would have voted for it to pass this upcoming election. But events in the past few months have changed me to now vote against it in the state of Florida.
I live in a two-story, multi-unit complex, a condominium, and the unit above us was rented approximately eight months ago to a couple that continually smoked medical marijuana all hours of the day. Sometimes outside, even though against the law, but mostly inside their rental unit.
When they are smoking outside, or inside with their windows open, the smell is so strong, smelling like a skunk, we cannot open our windows to get fresh air. Or, when arriving home, have to rush to get inside trying to keep the smell out of our condo.
Being a multi-unit building, the skunk smell gradually entered our condo and there's nothing we can do as medical marijuana is legal. We have spent more than $400 buying whole-house air purifiers and sprays. I can only imagine how bad the smell across our state and homes will be if recreational marijuana is approved.
I also researched states where recreational marijuana is legal and found out the smell is so bad and causing conflicts between tenants in multi-unit buildings that some cities and many condos and apartment buildings have banned smoking marijuana in these locations.
So, I will be voting no on this amendment and hope others that live in multi-unit buildings will do the same before you have to smell it in your own home.
Thomas Clark, Vero Beach
'Free State of Florida'? Take a dose of reality
“Free State of Florida” welcome signs?
These are yet another misguided whim on the part of Gov. Ron DeSantis. They are, as he is, an insult to those of us who truly believe in the definition of “freedom.”
His interpretation of freedom, and that of the Florida Legislature, is flagrantly afoul of what my 73 years on this Earth have taught me; both in school and in life.
"Do as we say, read only those publications we allow, act in a fashion we dictate and don’t dare protest what we are doing or you will be arrested," is governance eerily associated with communism, authoritarianism and dictatorship. Our freedom is restricted by government's beliefs and dictates, as well as its effort to turn us into a “Christian” nation/state. Therefore, we are not truly “free.”
Freedom of self, freedom of choice, freedom of expression and freedom to attend to our own medical needs are all self-evident, yet ruled unlawful in much of the legislation passed by the Florida Legislature and signed into law by our illustrious governor.
So the next time you encounter the “Free State of Florida,” either visually or audibly, think about what that really means as it applies to all of us. Conjure up that old saying, “if you don’t like the radio station, turn the channel, but don’t tell me that I can’t listen to it.”
This isn’t freedom the way I know it, and I’m ashamed of the attitudes and actions associated with my home state. And please, don’t suggest that I leave if I don’t like it, as that will only reveal a level of immaturity directed at those of us who choose to struggle for our rights and freedom.
Eric Bergamyer, Port St. Lucie
Book about slave in Martin County library a must-read for DeSantis
Gov. Ron DeSantis said many slaves benefited by learning a skill.
John P. Parker was a slave who became a skilled ironworker, even building a large foundry in Ohio, and being awarded several patents for agricultural implements. His autobiography is in the Martin County library, and is less than 200 pages, so maybe the governor could recommend it for Florida schools.
Helen Frigo, Jensen Beach
Think about children when voting for school board members
Can someone please help me understand why we are removing books from schools around the country, including here in Indian River County, but somehow, it's OK to install ammunition vending machines in at least three states?
Yes, you read that right. Alabama, Oklahoma and Colorado have already approved and installed them in places like neighborhood grocery stores. Surely, Florida won’t be far behind once Gov. Ron DeSantis gets wind of this.
What's more dangerous? Knowledge or guns? Curiosity or automatic weapons? It all just doesn't make sense to me.
I am more scared we are losing our national capacity for compassion, inclusiveness and fairness than I am about someone reading a book that may inform, comfort or inspire them. Scary stuff, huh?
Not all parents are accessible. Not all adults are approachable. Not all children have a caring adult to guide them — but ah ... the library and the librarian should be there, available, welcoming and encouraging. Please help me make sense of all of this.
Let our children read, discover and grow, or we are doomed to have a country of ill-informed, closed-minded, suspicious, untrusting adults, unprepared to be leaders and tackle the challenges of the world.
Remember all of this when voting for your school board members next month. Support those candidates who truly want the best education we can provide for all students, and who don’t have personal agendas. Next month, I plan to vote with that in mind. I hope you will, too. Help restore reason and compassion to our community before it is too late.
Julie Eisdorfer, Vero Beach
Actions of president, deep state should be clear to all
Is the president really nothing more than a figurehead waving his executive action pin in defiance of the opposing party?
What is now blatantly obvious is the current president of the United States isn't capable of running the country. It's the administrative bureaucracy, the 3 million federal employees and the $6.5 trillion being spent by the federal government in 2024 that is the perpetual engine that runs our country, not the POTUS.
Keep in mind that our Legislature, over the years, is by in large responsible for funding each president's agenda. Each and every law that is passed is stacked upon the spending pile, year-after-year, adding to the national debt and giving the administrative machine the money it needs to run the country. Passing the torch every four or eight years only exacerbates the problem by creating more spending, and in effect, larger government.
Our current POTUS is a perfect example of how the deep state has taken ownership of the federal government. POTUS is too old, too senile and too out of touch to be an effective leader. The deep state is there to ensure that everyone gets paid on time and keeps our bureaucracy running at a spend rate not seen in the history of mankind.
Bart Hollobaugh, Jensen Beach
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