STUART, Fla. — Dozens of Brightline supporters, clad in yellow, rallied outside Stuart City Hall Monday afternoon as the commission prepared to discuss the next steps in whether a station will one day be built in the city.
“We felt blindsided and we felt like we had an opportunity taken away from us,” said Brightline supporter Sherry Lee.
Earlier this month, the city commission, with two new commissioners, voted 3-2 to rescind agreements the city had made with Brightline and Martin County to put a station off Flagler Avenue behind the county courthouse.
Stuart
Stuart rescinds agreements with Martin Co. and Brightline
Critics have contended that Brightline should be bearing more of the associated costs.
“Brightline’s a private company. A privately held, foreign-owned company. So I think they ought to be paying their own way or at least paying their fair share,” said Deana Peterson.
Even if the city of Stuart says no, Martin County can come to an agreement with Brightline, and say yes.
“The county owns the land so Brightline could make a request to use the land for a potential future station,” said Assistant County Administrator George Stokus.
Stokus says the county has had some discussions with Brightline since the Stuart commission action, and that there is still an agreement in place from 2018 requiring a Treasure Coast station by the end of 2028.
“I’m optimistic that our board of county commissioners is looking to prosper the best deal that it is the best intent of our citizens,” said Stokus.
Stokus added that Brightline has invested $250 million in the rail network in the county so far and that the $15 million the county had agreed to invest up to this point was not going to come from property taxes.
At some point in the future, Stokus says he’ll go back before county commissioners with an item for their consideration regarding the station site.
