There is a lot going on right now in Indian River County. This email mentions several events and and programs that we wanted you to know about. Be sure to check them all out. Thank you to everyone who reached out to the legislature after our last post. Only with our voices unified will we be able to improve our local environment. We hope this information will be helpful to you and will be back in touch as other issues arise. As always feel free to reach out to us to let us know your worries and concerns. The IRNA is here to help!
Save the date for an important presentation on aquatic vegetation – a curse or a solution? This is an issue we are very concerned about with regard to the management of drainage canals in our county. Allen Stewart published an extremely informative analysis on this topic last summer that provided some in-depth analysis and solutions for the issue of aquatic vegetation management. His presentation at The Emerson Center is sure to be interesting! The event is being hosted by the Clean Water Coalition of Indian River County. Below is the information they provided about this presentation, or click here for details.
City of Vero Beach Marina Update
As you may know, we are having a luncheon on Friday, March 4 at noon at the Vero Beach Yacht Club. (More info here.) In preparation for this meeting we, along with our friends with the Clean Water Coalition of Indian River County, met with City Manager Monte Falls, Marina Director Sean Collins, and Tem Fontaine (from Coastal Tech) to discuss the Marina. It was a very good meeting we are happy to be hosting the informational luncheon on March 4. There are still some spots left, if you’d like to attend, but an RSVP is required. If you can’t attend, here’s some info from the meeting:
The umbrella permit for marina improvement was granted in 2021. It is good for 5 years with one 5-year renewal possible.
Phase I includes the following improvements at the South Complex Only:
This area was chosen for the initial renovations due to severe lack of maintenance over the years causing liability issues for the City.
New dry storage building (3 size options were presented to council and for economic reasons, they choose the largest option)
Stormwater Retention Facility to capture run off from dry storage building and additional parking area.
Additional Parking Spaces to accommodate dry storage expansion
Sea Wall replacement
Floating Dock replacement adding 10+ additional slips
Dredging around the floating dock only using mechanical dredging. Considering the Waddell building site as a de-watering area.
Within 6 weeks (by the first week of April), the City will hold a public workshop to fully explain the plans for the South Complex Improvements.
This will include conceptual drawings that allow the public to see how the expanded dry storage building will appear in the existing location.
Drawings to allow the public to see how the stormwater run-off from the additional parking and the larger building will be captured and treated before entering the lagoon.
Drawings will show how an expanded floating dock will impact the current configuration.
We encourage everyone interested to attend this workshop. We will send out more information once it is available.
Members of the IRNA Water and Lagoon Committee attended a tour of the ORCA Center for Citizen Science Lab. We were very impressed by the science being done there and are quite lucky to have such a nonprofit here. Check out more info on ORCA’s site here and maybe you’d like to volunteer there to help out!
We are in our season of fundraising right now and if you would like to support our mission, please visit this page to see how you can do it. We rely on our members to help fund our work. We would not be able to do it without your support. Please consider making a generous contribution to your IRNA today.