2010-252A (14) - Laserfiche WebLink

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Comprehensive Plan Intergovernmental Coordination Element Although the potable water and sanitary service areas for the county and the City of Vero Beach have been set for many years, recent events have initiated interest in reconsideration of those service areas. Of particular concern are the unincorporated areas and the Town of Indian River Shores served by the City of Vero Beach. Currently, Vero Beach serves those areas outside its corporate limits based on interlocal agreements with the county and the Town of Indian River Shores. While those agreements expire in 2017, the county and/or Town must provide notice to the City by 2012 if either the county or the Town wants to terminate its agreement on the 2017 termination date. In the past, neither the county nor the Town had considered terminating its service area agreement with the City. Recently, however, the City indicated that water and sewer rates would increase significantly in the next few years. Besides the rate increases, the lack of representation in City utilities rate setting is also a concern for unincorporated county and Town residents. Unlike city residents, customers living outside the city limits cannot vote in city council elections and therefore have no representation on utility matters. For the reasons outlined above, the county's policy should be to maintain a dialogue with the City and the Town regarding utility service areas and to initiate a study to assess the financial feasibility of consolidating utility services or terminating the City of Vero Beach service area agreement in 2017. That study should address the costs and revenues associated with consolidating utility services or absorbing city utility customers in the unincorporated area and the Town into the county system. As water supply sources become an important concern, the county wants to be proactive in identifying future water supply sources and plan for future water needs. In the future, the county should participate with the SJRWMD in the development and update of the district's water supply assessment and water supply plan. The county should also coordinate with the SJRWMD to identify and obtain necessary permits for alternative water supply sources. For drainage, coordination with water control districts is important since there are overlapping responsibilities between the county and the districts. In this regard, the county's relationship with the Indian River Farms Water Control District (IRFWCD) is particularly important, since the IRFWCD encompasses most of the urbanized area of the county. While the county has responsibility for protection of the Indian River Lagoon and its water quality, the Indian River Farm Water Control District's canals outfall to the lagoon, affecting the lagoon generally and the lagoon's water quality in particular. Recently, the county coordinated with the IRFWCD on several stormwater management projects. These include the Egret Marsh Stormwater Treatment Facility and the Main Relief Canal Pollution Control System. As designed, the Egret Marsh facility consists of a set of pumps to remove and replace water from the Indian River Farms Water Control District (IRFWCD) canal system. With this system, inbound water from Community Development Department Indian River County 31