Indian River County battles over who should pay for S.R. 60

By HENRY A. STEPHENS henry.stephens@scripps.com

November 24, 2006

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Local real estate agents broke ranks this week with developers as county officials wrestled with a way to loan the state $67 million to widen State Road 60 — without losing $12 million in interest the state won't reimburse.

Karen Hall, president of the county Association of Realtors, opposed County Administrator Joe Baird's proposal for developers who depend on the widening project to pay a fee covering the interest.

"One thing we're concerned about is affordable homes," Hall said Wednesday. "We're concerned this (fee) would make homes so much more expensive."

But Pointe West developer Chuck Mechling supported paying shares of the county's interest to get the road widened.

"There's a fairness factor here," he said Wednesday. "Those who would impact S.R. 60 there would pay for this situation."

County officials have sought to widen S.R. 60 from four to six lanes for years, especially since Hurricane Floyd evacuees packed the road on the way to Interstate 95 in 1999.

The state Department of Transportation had planned for construction on the first phase, between 66th and 82nd avenues, to start in late 2009 or 2010. But the DOT hadn't planned on construction of the second phase, between 82nd Avenue and Interstate 95, to start until 2016 or later.

County officials say they want the road widened in one project, instead of two phases, and started by 2008. Commissioners are considering loaning the $67 million to the DOT to move the project ahead of the state schedule.

But that will require the county taking out a loan first, and the state wouldn't be reimbursing the county's interest, County Administrator Joe Baird says.

The issue now is whether the county can get the interest paid so it can afford to advance the project ahead of the state schedule — or whether developers can afford to wait for the state.
In a 5-0 vote Tuesday, the County Commission agreed to pay Tallahassee attorney Bob Nabors up to $10,000 to develop a way to recover the interest from developers whose projects depend on S.R. 60 being widened.

"We're calling this an 'interest-reimbursement fee,'" Baird said.

Baird said he expects to return in January with Nabors' recommendation.
In a prepared statement Tuesday, Hall told the commission the fees would force builders to "either pass them along to make up the difference in profits or reduce the quality and/or quantity of the new units because their not gong to make a living building the homes."
Hall urged commissioners to find a "viable solution" that didn't require having the development community pay the county's interest.

Mechling said he doesn't relish paying an extra fee, but said people need to "step up to the plate" to work on a solution. Hall didn't have an alternate proposal, he noted.

"If the Association of Realtors had a better solution in mind, I would have been interested to hear it," he said.

For Vero Beach resident Renee Renzi, meanwhile, the solution is not to widen S.R. 60 to appease developers.

"It seems to me you have a perfect opportunity to say, 'Sorry developers, that section (of S.R. 60) is closed down because we can't meet (required road capacity),'" she told commissioners.

"We've all wanted you to say 'no' before I ever started coming to these meetings."

ROAD WOES

State Road 60 segment from 66th Avenue west to 82nd Avenue:

• County takes out loan to advance $37 million to state in October 2007.
• State starts the project by 2008 and reimburses county $37 million in October 2009.
• State doesn't reimburse county's estimated $3.8 million in interest.
• County takes out loan to advance $30 million to state in 2008.
• State continues job started in 2008 and reimburses county $5 million a year from 2012 to 2017.
• State doesn't reimburse county's estimated $7.5 million in interest.

County Office of Management and Budget

Source: TCPalm