This has been an interesting, and busy, year in IRC. The Indian River Neighborhood Association made progress on a range of issues and will continue to do so in 2022.
Below is a brief recap of some of the work the IRNA has done on your behalf this year.
At the urging of the IRNA and other environmental groups, the City of Vero Beach adopted a Stormwater Utility to better address flooding and reduce lagoon pollution. Vero Beach joined the hundreds of municipalities which have Stormwater Utilities across the state.
We continued to advocate at both City and County for septic to sewer conversions. Septic to sewer in Sebastian and West Wabasso continue, and we are following their progress.
We urged the City of Vero Beach to speed up conversions to the STEP system on the barrier island by setting a date-certain for conversion. This is still a work in progress, which we will continue to advocate for in 2022.
We kept a focus on Vero Beach’s Three Corners Project as the process proceeds. We want to have input that the development respects the environment and represents the City of Vero Beach well.
We attended workshops and visioning meetings about the future of the county, advocating for smarter growth and low impact development. This is going to be a major focus of our Land Use committee in the coming year.
The Vero Beach Marina expansion has been in full swing. We have been monitoring and following these changes carefully.
The City of Vero Beach is working on a pipeline using canal water as an alternative water supply to provide irrigation to the barrier island. We have met with staff multiple times to work out some kinks and ensure that the pipeline is as environmentally safe as possible.
We monitored and offered comment to the Stormwater and Onsite Sewage Treatment & Disposal System (OSTDS) Technical Advisory Committees (TAC) meetings that are devising new FDEP regulations as per SB712, the Clean Waterways Act
We outlined IRNA’s priorities to our local legislators. Click here to read what we advocated for.
We studied and met with City, County, and State FDEP staff over required Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL) for FDEP’s Basin Management Action Plan (BMAP) program. (Learning all the acronyms is a full-time job!)
We sent letters to editor and other outreach reminding residents of the summer fertilizer ban and other issues as they arose
We created a video to raise awareness of how pollution in the IRL is affecting its marine life. Click here to watch it. (It’s very good and only runs a few minutes!)
We financially supported Pelican Island Audubon’s initiative to install a Native Plant Garden at the County Administration Complex. It will serve as an example of how attractive native landscaping can be and encourage more adoption. Over 60% of residential water use in Florida goes to watering grass. We need to do better here!
With the 2004 Land Acquisition bond maturing in 2021, we began the process of renewing the bond. We are working towards a ballot initiative in November 2022 authorizing the purchase of environmentally sensitive areas. To save the water we need to save the land. More information to come on this throughout 2022.
We published and distributed thousands of copies of our Spring and Fall Indian River Neighborhood Magazines featuring articles from over a dozen different experts in their fields. Check out our magazine archive on our website by clicking here. A direct link to the current issue can be found by scrolling down this email.
We will continue to keep you informed of these issues and others that surface in 2022. But we need your help! We ask that you stay abreast of what is going on locally and lend your voice to our causes of restoring the lagoon, protecting our natural resources, managing growth, and more. There is not much more dangerous than an uninformed citizen! We couldn’t do what we do without you, so it is with profound thanks for your past support that we wish you a Merry Christmas and a joyous new year!
Click the image above to find out how to make a year-end tax-deductible donation to the IRNA.
For the over 9 out of 10 people who no longer itemize their charitable giving. Just like last year, individuals who take the standard deduction can claim a deduction of up to $300 on their 2021 federal income tax for their charitable cash contributions made to the IRNA. For married individuals filing a joint return, the maximum deduction is increased to $600. (Source).
Or consider making a tax free Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) from your IRA. If you make a contribution as part of your Required Minimum Distribution, the amount you contribute comes right off the top and is not part of the taxable amount.
Our tax ID number is: 20-2631557. Thank you for your support!
Comments