I will insist on access by the public and commission to all grant applications and consultant reports. Grant applications should not be submitted to any granting agencies prior to pubic review and approval by the commission at regularly scheduled town meetings. Our tax dollars are committed to projects; we have a right to know the cost and benefit prior to any action being taken. Under the current commission, this is not happening.
For instance, at the March 12, 2024 meeting, the town manager suggested that the Commission “In the instances that the time frame is short, the approval vote can be held when the Town is informed that we were awarded the grant in question.”. The commission adopted this suggestion.
In another example, when the Agenda packet for the 16 July meeting was released, a report by the grant writer, Amy Adams, stated that four grants were filed with the state DEP, yet no copies were provided to the public or the commission. Nor was commission approval sought despite the deadline for filing being 31 July.
In the past, grant applications were reviewed by the commission prior to submission and as part of the meeting agenda. Citizens had an opportunity to review the grant applications. As shown in the examples above, that is no longer the case. Grant applications need to be brought before the commission for approval prior to submission to insure that the application contains factual information and reflects the will of the citizenry.
Where has this lack of transparency brought us? The current commission is committing our town to a projects without providing full information to the residents.
For example, no cost information on the individual home owner's cost to connect to sewers has been provided. Residents have requested this information during the survey process, but to date, those requests have been ignored.
More concerning is the lack of honesty about the issue of an eventual mandate to connect. Our current commission has stated on numerous occasions that no one will be forced to connect to the sewer system; however, the commission also approved, in November of 2023, an Interlocal Agreement with Martin County Utilities (MCU) which cedes ownership of the sewer system to MCU. MCU may, at any time notify residents of Sewall's Point, both North and South, of the availability of the system. Florida Statute 381.00655 (1)(a) states: "The owner of a properly functioning onsite sewage treatment and disposal system, excluding an approved onsite graywater system, must connect the system or the building’s plumbing to an available publicly owned or investor-owned sewerage system within 365 days after written notification by the owner of the publicly owned or investor-owned sewerage system that the system is available for connection."
When MCU notifies the property owners of a mandatory connection, do not be surprised if the commissioners plead "plausible deniability" and state that they were not aware of the law. However, this has been brought to their attention and they are aware of the law, as is town management. It is their duty to share this information with the home owners who will ultimately bear the cost.
