As the design and permitting phase of the Humiston Beach boardwalk project continues, Vero Beach officials received some potentially good news late last month from Tallahassee.

State lawmakers have allocated $350,000 to help cover the costs of construction.

That state funding, however, could be rendered almost meaningless if the County Commission subtracts that sum from the amount it pledged to the boardwalk project last May.

According to an interlocal agreement, the county committed to contributing $400,000 to the project, which, based on the city’s most recent estimates, carries a price tag of $2.5 million.

The agreement, though, includes a problemsome stipulation: If the city receives any federal or state grants to offset the cost of the project, the county’s contribution will be reduced by that amount.

“That would take our contribution down to $50,000,” Commission Vice Chairman Deryl Loar said Monday. “I don’t know if we’d amend the agreement or not. It’s something we need to address.”

Vero Beach City Manager Monte Falls said he planned to write a letter to County Administrator John Titkanich requesting that the county commissioners not reduce their promised contribution.

The commissioners were made aware of the $350,000 allocation when state Rep. Robbie Brackett appeared at their meeting last month to provide an update on the recently concluded legislative session.

Brackett, a former Vero Beach mayor, urged the commissioners to stay with their original $400,000 offer, telling them, “I know there’s a provision to offset that, but I hope you will still be a major contributor to the project.”

Titkanich said last week he would take the matter to the commission, adding, “The intent behind the agreement was that the county not pay any amount more than the city will pay. That’s the spirit of the agreement.”

The agreement does indeed state that  the county’s contribution will not be “more than the city’s portion of funding the project.”

But the Vero City Council has budgeted $1 million to rebuild the 427-foot-long concrete boardwalk at Humiston Beach, where the previous structure was severely damaged by Hurricane Nicole in 2022 and later demolished for public-safety reasons.

The city and county funds have been supplemented by more than $135,000 in donations received from the private sector as part of a grass-roots effort sparked by Vero Beach 32963 that convinced the council to abandon its earlier plan to replace the boardwalk with an elevated sidewalk.

According to the website for the Indian River Community Foundation, which the city retained to manage private contributions to the boardwalk fund, 60 donors have gifted $137,100.

As of Monday afternoon, the donor list did not include a pledge of $100,000 from longtime John’s Island resident and philanthropist Tom Corr.

Also missing from the foundation’s total is a massive commitment from Clayton Sembler’s CDS Manufacturing to donate materials worth more than $300,000 to help build the boardwalk.

Sembler grew up in Vero Beach with his brother, Charlie, a former state representative and county tax collector. His company, based in Quincy with a plant here, makes pre-stressed and pre-cast concrete beams, pilings and other structures for construction projects.

Vero Public Works Director Matt Mitts said Monday that CDS Manufacturing has been consulting with city during the design phase and providing input on the project.

“We don’t know what the exact value of CDS’ donation will be, and we won’t know until we get the final design,” Falls said. “But we’re really close to having the funds we need, if the county doesn’t reduce its contribution.”

Another name not on the foundation’s list was local philanthropist Charlene Friedman, a Grand Harbor resident and Vero Beach-based developer who earlier this year wrote a letter stating she would give $50,000 to the boardwalk fund.

The list did include island residents Dick and Sally Brickman, who donated $50,000, and Jane Janicki, who contributed $30,000.

“We’re still getting inquiries, and we received a few more donations in June,” said Jeff Pickering, the foundation’s president and CEO. “This is truly a community project.”

Once the design phase has been completed – and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection grants the necessary permits – the project will go out for bids, Falls said.

That isn’t likely to happen until next summer, however, which means construction on the boardwalk probably won’t begin until the fall of 2026.