Laserfiche WebLink
compromise as far as those islands are concerned - possibly from <br />the outside portion of the islands out to the Intracoastal. <br />Mr. Rose stated that they would have to look at that, but <br />stressed that they made significant sacrifices in opening up the <br />islands to the south. They tried to make choices and give the <br />boaters some flexibility, and he felt they have gone a long way <br />toward trying to do what Commissioner Bird wants done. <br />Chairman Eggert asked if anyone present wished to speak at <br />this time regarding the area from the north county line down to <br />Wabasso Bridge. <br />Jens Tripson, 1740 21st Street, Vero Beach, appeared on <br />behalf of Pelican Island Audubon Society. He commented that he <br />is hearing a lot of talk about the width, and while width will be <br />critical in some of the narrow areas, he thought something that <br />needs to be addressed in the ordinance is depth of the water. -In <br />the channel, manatees generally can sink out of the way, but in <br />some of the areas where there is boat traffic and grass flats, <br />the water may be only 3' deep and the manatees can't get out of <br />the way; so, he did feel something about the depth should be <br />included to give the manatee some leeway. Of course, boats <br />shouldn't be in the grass flats anyway. <br />Claude "Bud" Kleckner informed the Board that he has a copy <br />of a letter he wrote in 1986 to then Chairman Doug Scurlock on <br />this same subject, and 4 or 5 of the items in the letter are as <br />applicable today as they were in 1986. At that time we had a <br />panel discussion that included boaters, U.S. Fish 8 Wildlife, the <br />Marine Patrol, and fishermen, and they could reach a consensus on <br />a few items. Mr. Kleckner noted that in his letter he likened <br />the water system to a highway system with collector streets, <br />residential streets, school zones, etc. He felt the Intracoastal <br />Waterway is a bit like 1-95, and the manatee area could be <br />considered a school zone; there are a lot of similarities; and he <br />felt strongly there should be a comprehensive water use plan not <br />only for manatee protection, but also for the protection of human <br />37 BOOK 80 F, "4 0 <br />AY 8 1990 <br />J <br />