PALM CITY — Martin County Commissioner Ed Ciampi closed his ice cream and chocolate shop at the Publix shopping center on Martin Highway in May and anticipates reopening in late July at a new location in a strip mall on Mapp Road.

It was the second setback for Ciampi’s 3-year-old chain of “Sweet Sarah’s” ice cream and chocolate shops. Last year, Ciampi closed his shop in Port St. Lucie because of a lack of traffic at a shopping center near Veteran’s Memorial Park.

“We all have to adapt to the current economic conditions and I’m doing just that,” Ciampi said. “Three or four years ago, when I started this process, the economy was different. So now I’m making smart decisions to stay in business.”
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FORT PIERCE — St. Lucie County has set its sights on landing an unnamed eyeglass lens research firm that could bring 200 high-paying jobs to the Treasure Coast and create a curriculum at Indian River State College focused on training people to work for the company.

The county is awaiting Enterprise Florida, the state’s economic development arm, to approve its share of an incentive package that would require the local government to provide about $550,500 as its part of a state and local package that includes a job growth incentive grant and property tax breaks.

“This is a serious competition for us,” said Larry Pelton, president of the Economic Development Council of St. Lucie County. “I can’t give you more until we see how this all turns out.”
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INDIANTOWN — For years, the owners of J&R Outfitters ran a hunting lodge featuring exotic game such as Asian water buffalo, Nilgai antelope and Pere David deer thinking they had all the required Martin County permits.

But several code violations were discovered at J&R Outfitters last fall after the opening of a shooting range that outraged nearby homeowners with incessant gunfire.

Now Bill Richey and Joe O’Bannon are aiming to keep their hunting lodge open by jumping through all the regulatory hoops that apply to their business at 7600 S.W. Fox Brown Road.

“We never dreamed that what we were doing was illegal and we never tried to get away with anything,” said Richey, a former state prosecutor. “We have been no secret in Martin County. We have been here for 20 years.” (more…)

INDIANTOWN — The long-stalled Quillen Development of Regional Impact is dead and the developer is missing in action.

The Martin County Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to kill the proposal for 2,250 houses and 150,000 square feet of commercial space at the intersection of Warfield Boulevard and Allapattah Road in Indiantown.

Officials with the project’s developer, Ascot Development of Delray Beach, did not attend Tuesday’s public hearing on the fate of the project, which was first proposed in December 2005. The developer paid $58.5 million for the land.
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JENSEN BEACH — More than 300 lacrosse supporters, some waving sticks and some wearing jerseys, attended Tuesday’s Martin County School Board meeting to ask the School Board to consider adding lacrosse into the school district.

Even though a rule change, which would broaden the number of sports that could become athletic clubs in the county’s high school including lacrosse, was removed from the agenda that didn’t stop hundreds of lacrosse supporters from coming out to the meeting at Jensen Beach High.

“Let these kids play. Let them play lacrosse in the county high schools,” said Chris Anderson, president of the Martin County Pioneer Lacrosse youth league.
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VERO BEACH — Indian River County Administrator Joe Baird refused to take a Breathalyzer test but failed most of the sobriety exercises he performed Saturday when he was charged with driving under the influence, according to an arrest affidavit released Monday.

While Baird faces some legal consequences for the charge, county officials said the matter wouldn’t have professional ramifications.
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VERO BEACH — Indian River County Administrator Joe Baird was charged with driving under the influence Saturday night.

“I would like to apologize to the public and (Indian River County) commissioners and I will continue to work hard for the county,” Baird said Sunday. “This is a personal matter and I plan to handle it personally.” (more…)

ST. LUCIE COUNTY — St. Lucie County officials say they’re tired of paying higher-than-Medicaid rates in hospitals for their jailed inmates.

St. Lucie County is lobbying the state to force hospitals to accept the Medicaid rate for inmate medical care. But hospitals are warning that forcing more people on the Medicaid rolls could increase costs to taxpayers.

As it is now, when a Medicaid patient goes to the hospital, the county does not get the bill. Hospitals are required to accept and treat indigent patients. If that same person needs medical care at a hospital while an inmate, the county — and ultimately taxpayers — pay the bill, St. Lucie County Commissioners say. (more…)

STUART — A constitutional challenge is prompting the Martin County commissioners to rethink a strict noise ordinance they enacted in February to crack down on loud music at bars and other businesses.

Deanna Kernan, the owner of the Martin Downs Sports Resort in Palm City, and Susan Masterson, the resort’s manager, have asked a county judge to declare the noise ordinance unconstitutional because it is “overbroad.”

Kernan, 42, of Palm City, and Masterson, 39, of Stuart, also have asked Judge Stewart Hershey to dismiss the misdemeanor charge they violated the county’s noise ordinance because music from the resort could be heard more than 150 feet away. (more…)

STUART — Martin County Commissioner Susan Valliere said Tuesday she decided to seek a third four-year term to provide a “centrist” voice on a commission often divided on the growth issue.

“A centrist philosophy has been my goal for, at least, the past five years,” Valliere said in a prepared statement. “Carrying out my work of attempting to transform the too-long-waged battle between ‘no-growth’ and ‘pro-growth’ extremists into a more centrist ideal for Martin County is at the heart of the reasons I am seeking a third term.”
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