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Home My WebLink About12 15 1988 Airport Proposal Stirs Debate6A, Thursday, December IS, 1988, Vero Beach, Fla., Press -Journal Sebastian River Area • Grant • Micco-Little Hollywood * Barefoot Bay • Sebastian • Fellsmere • Roseland • Vero Lake Estates r. Airport Proposal Stirs Debate Sebastian City Council Split Over High School Plan By PATRICIA DiLALLA Sebastian Bureau Chief A recent proposal by the Citi- zens Airport Watch to use Sebas. tian Municipal lirport land for a high school hat: the City Council split along familiar lines at Wednesday's meeting. Mayor Richard Votapka said the School Board would not be making the high school a priority if it were willing to look at using the airport land as a feasible site because of the length of time it would take to resolve the problem. Votapka was joined by Coun- cilman George Metcalf and City Manager Robb McClary, who ex- pressed concern about the propo. sal. Vice Mayor Ken Roth and Coun- cilman Bob McCarthy, who both cast the sole votes against adopting the Airport Master Plan in Octo- ber. disagreed with the mayor's opinion. At Tuesday's School Board meet ing, a representative of CAW pro- posed that the School Board put the proposed north county high school on the 600-acre airport site. The idea was that the land would become an education complex that would also include either a com- munity or four-year college. The School Board asked the su- perintendent to investigate the fea- sibility of doing that. Votapka repeated an earlier statement that he is unwilling to have the city spend millions of dol- lars to relocate the airport. "That is a waste of taxpayers' money," Votapka said. "I think it is ridiculous to do in the first place." Votapka said it would take a long time for a swap arrangement for the airport to be worked out, far longer than the School Board can wait. He agreed that if the airport did not exist the land could be better used for institutional, residential or commercial purposes. "But the fact remains the airport is there. It will be a long and lengthy and expensive process to do something different with it," he said. The city manager said he did not want to see the high school become embroiled in the city's airport issue. "I have to question the sincerity of administrative leaders of the school district," McClary said, "in how badly they really want a high school." In retort, Roth said he didn't see how the Federal Aviation Adminis- tration could turn its back on the city if it requested that the airport land be turned over to a viable edu- cation facility. "I think (the FAA) will be more than happy if presented with all the facts," Roth said, "that maybe there is a better use for the airport out there." If someone can come up with a more feasible plan to use the land, "I would say it would be to the city's best interests," McCarthy said. -I, too, feel the FAA would be wasting a lot of money putting in millions of dollars to :rnprove an airport when it is surrounded by residential use."