Aerial view The Moorings located in the South Beach
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY’S SOUTH BEACH EXTENDS FROM THE 17th STREET (ALMA LEE LOY) BRIDGE TO THE ST. LUCIE COUNTY LINE, STRETCHING SEVEN MILES ALONG THE INDIAN RIVER LAGOON.
The South Beach Property Owners Association (SBPOA) does everything it can to protect the interests of its over 2,609 property owners. In 2016 these South Beach residential property owners paid Indian River County $ 20,384,532 in property taxes. The 2016 market value of their properties was $3,519,022.353. (Source: 2016 SBPOA Annual Report)
In March and April, 2016 Vero Communicate published three articles having to do with conflict within the Board of Directors and “The Presumed Collapse of SBPOA.”
The link to these articles are provided below:
Now with new leadership under president and director Miles Conway PhD and 13 other Board of Directors, the SBPOA is flourishing with a raison d’être to preserve, foster and promote the beauty, natural resources, security and best interests applicable to the South Beach.”
The 2016/2017 volunteer Board of Directors are drawn from current and retired businessmen, medical and dental practitioners. On its Board, among others, the SBPOA has a Radiologist, Psychologist, Economist, Gynecologist, Dentist, Journalist, Neurosurgeon, Accountant, a 50-year Wall Street Risk Management Veteran, a Tufts University Professor and a Partner in a $25 billion hedge fund.
Collectively, the 14 member Board have 474 years of professional experience and 192 years of residency in the South Beach.
We researched other IRC civic organizations to determine, as best we could, their Board membership.
The IRC United Way has 23 board members, the Indian River Community Foundation has 16, The Learning Alliance has 15, Indian River Land Trust has 14, the Cultural Council has eight, the Indian River Lagoon Council has eight and the Indian River Neighborhood Association only appears to have three.
Thus with its 14 member Board, the SBPOA is now a formidable civic group to advocate the protection of our quality of life and the environment in IRC.
Disturbed by the Vero Beach City Council’s February 7, 2017 three to two majority vote to decline any further consideration of funding a Stormwater Utility and impose City residents a $ 5.00 monthly fee for a strictly specified time, to raise money to protect the Lagoon from toxins and other harmful chemicals running off parking lots, roadways and impervious surfaces, the SBPOA is endeavoring to form a “Save the Lagoon Fund,” consisting of $ 100 per member per year from all 2,632 South Beach Property owners.
SBPOA will be leveraging their economic intellectual capital together with understandable fresh water science to hopefully raise $ 100,000 for the cleanup and education effort.
Here’s one reason why.
59%, or 1,487 South Beach properties are located in the vicinity of the Lagoon. Take The Moorings, for example.
The Moorings Complex
Look at all the properties that jut out into the Lagoon. How would you like to have a $ 3 million house at The Moorings in the Anchor on the Lagoon and start smelling washed up rotting seaweed. Or potentially sewer?
What would that do to the value of your property?
As we wrote earlier, in 2015 these South Beach property owners paid Indian River County $ 20,384,532 in property taxes. With diminished values, how would impact the economics of IRC?
With such concern we recently spoke with Duane DeFreese, the Director of the Indian River Lagoon Council, who for over three decades has been one of the key voices and champions of science-based, common-sense approaches to ocean and coastal conservation in Florida.
Mr. DeFreese estimated it would cost $ 100 million to clean the Lagoon in Indian River, St. Lucie and Martin Counties and $ 1 billion in Brevard County. In a future article we will report on our conversation with Mr. DeFreese.
Vero Communiqué 
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