6/16/1992 (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

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We should not go there and speak with a single voice. People have some rights also and he is getting a little uptight about that never being mentioned. He felt this compromise takes into account people's rights plus the need to protect the manatee. Gary Rhinehart, 2102 15th Lane, felt he knew a little something about this situation because his uncle runs charter boats out of Ft. Pierce. He objected to our county being compared to counties in southern Florida, and if it gets down to that, he is against all this regulation. If they want to establish some speeds in certain shallow areas and channels, that might work, but he didn't believe the rest of this can be enforced. Warren Winchester, 5 Tarpon Drive, stated that he loves the river and loves boating, but also wants to see the manatee protected. He believed the time has come .for regulation and education. He endorsed MANWAC's latest recommendations and urged the Board to be prepared to go to Tallahassee and present our position to the Governor and Cabinet. Mr. Winchester believed the responsibility of government, including the DNR, is for the benefit of mankind, but it seems man is being left out of the DNR proposal. Andy VanOs, resident of Indian River County for 15 years and operator of 3 boats, felt the recent MANWAC recommendations are a 180 -degree turn which represents no plan at all. He did not see any disadvantage to being regulated to a slow speed in certain areas. He operates at safe speeds in order to protect the manatee. Without any restrictions, he wondered how we would educate boaters coming down the Intracoastal Waterway from up north. Mr. VanOs stressed that there has to be some form of regulation in order to keep things under control. It is his opinion that we need idle speeds in the canals, slow speeds out of the Intracoastal Waterway and a reasonable limited speed in the Intracoastal Waterway. Ellie VanOs, resident of Vero Beach, stated that she has a captain's license issued by the Coast Guard and operates her husbands's boats. She believed the speed zones approved by the Board of County Commissioners on May 26, 1992 were based on when and where the animals are in the river. She emphasized that the DNR worked very hard to get specific time periods of when the animals are using particular corridors. MANWAC's revised recom- mendations seem to be arbitrary and based more on simplification. Mrs. VanOs didn't feel the word compromise could be used in this case because any speed over 7 mph would not allow a manatee to get away. She supported education, but not without meaningful regulations as outlined in the speed zones that the Commission endorsed on May 26. 17 JUS 16 199 I