IN YOUR CORNER

 

By this time, dear reader, you are probably aware that the Board of

County Commissioners has kept the millage(property tax rate) at the same

rate as last year.  They achieved this by making reductions, totaling

$570,000, in the following budgets: Stormwater Management, the Sheriff's

Dept., Health Dept., Communications Program, Weapons of Mass

Destruction, Travel & Publications, and their own MSTU's.  It's good to

see that the Commissioners participate in the cost reductions they

request from others. This makes 2 years in a row that the millage has

been held in place or reduced even while building an array of park,

library, road and stormwater projects. We commend this group of

Commissioners for being more fiscally responsible than the previous one

and expect them to give us even better results next year.

 

**

 

How many boats are required to patrol Martin County's waterways?  That's

the question our taxpayer Watchdogs asked themselves when, during a

budget discussion with the Sheriff, he revealed his plans to add another

boat to his fleet, plus two full-time deputies to crew the vessel.  Each

deputy carried an annual cost of $85,000, which includes salary,

benefits and equipment.  The cost of a fully-equipped patrol boat, plus

operating costs for the first year was not itemized, but surely

approaches another $75,000.

 

When asked which areas in the county were not currently covered

requiring the new boat, mention was made of the northern upper reaches

of the Loxahatchee River, north of the Palm Beach County line.

Considering this to be a bit of a stretch, we set about investigating

just who is patrolling our waters, where, and when.  We accomplished

this through a series of phone calls to surrounding jurisdictions,

mainly to our south, asking such questions as "How many boats?", "When

are they deployed?", and "Are marine patrol activities or schedules

coordinated with those of other jurisdictions?"

 

Currently, the Martin County Sheriff has four boats, not including the

one requested.  The City of Stuart Police Department has one boat "on

standby to back up the County".

 

The City of Tequesta has one boat, which sees action on weekends only.

 

The City of Jupiter has two boats that patrol a staggered schedule from

SR 707 Bridge up to the north fork of the Loxahatchee to Tequesta

Drive.  They are one of the few departments who coordinate their

activities with others.  In this case, Tequesta and Jupiter Island.

Jupiter Island's single patrol boat runs 40 hours per week on a

staggered schedule.

 

Adding to the coverage to the southern part of our county is the Palm

Beach County Sheriff, who allocates one of his fleet of thirteen boats

to the Jupiter Branch.

 

The Florida Marine Patrol, at any given time, may have one to two boats

in Martin County waters, and they also are not coordinated with the

others except in an emergency where, in theory, all units on the water

could be mobilized.

 

The US Coast Guard has not been included in these numbers as its role of

search, rescue, and interdiction typically does not include a regular

patrol of county waters.  Likewise, Sea Tow and Tow Boat US are

private-sector businesses who retrieve vessels, which are grounded or

have mechanical failure utilizing their five boats.

 

Our summary of this data concludes that at any given time, our waters

may have as many as eight (8) county, city or state patrol boats on

active duty.  This number may be needed in the event of an emergency,

but even when a boatload of immigrants washed up on a Jupiter Island

Beach helicopters and pedestrian officers played the major role.  If

marine patrols from various jurisdictions were coordinated, an effective

patrol effort might be accomplished with fewer personnel and equipment.

There are many approaches to improving the level of service, not all of

which involve adding personnel and equipment.  Could this be an

opportunity to coordinate with the City of Jupiter to accomplish our

marine mission in south county?