INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Indian River County commissioners voted 4-1 to postpone consideration of a $5.5 million Environmental Lands Acquisition Program purchase of nearly 10 acres within the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge, saying they want more information about potential reimbursement from a conservation nonprofit before deciding whether to move forward.
The proposed acquisition would preserve a 9.7-acre property between Sebastian Inlet, Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge and the Indian River Lagoon, preventing future private development on the site.
County officials said the property's existing home gives the owner the ability to rebuild, making preservation more urgent.
Assistant County Attorney Chris Hicks said the proposal is intended to permanently remove the property from potential private development rather than convert it into a public park.
"They have the right to rebuild that house and any associated infrastructure around that. They would have to go through the permitting process and all those things in order to try to build docks. However, for our purposes, it's more of pulling the land off of private development than it is for putting parking lots or turning this into a park," Hicks said.
If the county acquires the property, officials expect the existing house would be demolished because of its deteriorated condition, although the scope and cost of that work remain unknown.
"I believe that would be the plan based upon the shape of the house. There are pictures of the house in the appraisals, and the ceilings are falling down. There's ductwork," Hicks said. "It hasn't been surveyed yet. We're not sure whether there's any asbestos in the walls or in the ceilings. We don't know any of that. That would be part of the due diligence."
County staff said some of those costs could be offset through outside funding.
Assistant Parks and Recreation Director Wendy Swindell said the county could pursue a Federal Emergency Management Agency hazard mitigation grant that could reimburse up to 75% of demolition costs. She also said The Conservation Fund has expressed interest in helping finance the acquisition.
"The Conservation Fund approached us about a 50-50 match. At the time, I believe the price that they were looking at was $4.6 to $4.7 million. So it would be a 50-50 match for that," Swindell said. "We don't have a commitment on a time frame just yet, but we've been coordinating with them closely. So I would imagine within the first six to 12 months, we would be looking at moving towards reimbursement for that."
Several commissioners said they were hesitant to approve the purchase before receiving additional details about that potential reimbursement.
"As much as I love ELAP, it's a lot of money for submerged land," Commissioner Laura Moss said.
Commissioner Joseph Flescher also questioned whether the purchase represented the best use of taxpayer funds.
"They expect us to be good stewards and proper judgment being applied to ensure that their intentions are met with the intentions of others and with the county. Quite frankly, I don't see it with the amount of submerged property that is there," Flescher said.
Commissioner Joseph Earman supported the acquisition, arguing the property's location makes it a worthwhile long-term investment.
"It's in such a unique location. It's part of the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge, and it does go into the lagoon. It might tend to look a little pricey, but I think it's a really good buy in the long term for us and what we can do with it," Earman said.
Before taking up the purchase again, commissioners directed staff to seek additional documentation from The Conservation Fund outlining its level of commitment and the reimbursement process.
"I would assume that they would be able to at least provide us hopefully with a letter outlining the process at a minimum and giving us some precedent for how it moves forward, giving us background on why they approached the county in the first place about this parcel, their level of interest, and their commitment to the project. Hopefully a timeline, that would be what I would seek," Swindell said.