City Funds Should Not Be Used for County Work

The most often cited purpose for this project is to reduce traffic on Minton Road. For example, the most vigorous defense of the road during City Council meetings in recent years was made by Council Member Barbara Smith.  She stated that traffic on Minton Road is "horrendous" and will get much worse because of ongoing developments. She said: "My job is to help Minton Road by getting some of the traffic off of Minton Road". These are admirable sentiments, for sure.  Likewise, the chief design engineer for the road, Mr. David Wilkison, stated in the engineering design proposal that the purpose is to "…offer the traveling public an alternative to the busy Minton Road/US 192 intersection."

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But Minton Road is the responsibility of Brevard County, not West Melbourne. 

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Furthermore, according to a traffic study done in support of a new development, 88% of the traffic on Minton Road is from Palm Bay. (WMCCMTG 4 May 2021). So "traveling public" cited above means Palm Bay residents. 

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There is a section of I95 that connects South Carolina to Virginia. People from every state use it. Was it paid for by North Carolina? No, it was paid for by the people of the United States. 

 

Problems with a road belonging to Brevard County, that is used primarily by Palm Bay residents, should not be paid for with West Melbourne city funds.

The city should advocate for other improvements in the county-level road system to take pressure off of Minton Road, rather than volunteering our tax money to bail out the county. The city should do its job and insist that the county do likewise!

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People will say there is nothing illegal about this. Right, but this is not a legal argument; it is a common-sense argument that represents how many citizens feel about how our leaders should spend our tax dollars.