City of Sebastian to discuss purchase near Fisherman’s Landing and hiring incentives

The Sebastian City Council will meet Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. inside City Hall to discuss the property next to Fisherman’s Landing and employee hiring incentives for new city workers.

The two topics have been the subject of recent debate but are on the agenda for tonight’s meeting.

Property Purchase

The city council will discuss how to move forward on an offer to purchase the waterfront property next to Fisherman’s Landing, located at 1528 Indian River Drive in Sebastian. 

There’s an asking price of $2.9 million. However, the city council discussed the property last month and agreed not to offer anything higher than the appraised value. 

“I’m not willing to put an offer of $2.9 million,” Councilman Ed Dodd said last month. The rest of the council agreed. 

The city council is trying to preserve as much of the waterfront as possible to prevent it from being bought up by private investors to build homes or condos. The city has said repeatedly that it has no interest in turning any of its waterfront properties into commercial or residential.

Since the property is next to Fisherman’s Landing, where Crab E Bills is a tenant, the city hopes to merge it with its existing working waterfront. Fisherman’s Landing is to preserve Sebastian’s heritage and promote local fishing.

Hiring Incentives and Sign-On Bonuses

Also on tonight’s agenda is a discussion about hiring incentives and sign-on bonuses for new city workers. There’s been some debate on whether or not the city is paying its workers a fair wage to prevent them from going elsewhere. The city has been conducting a wage study and review due to rising inflation. 

Earlier this year, the city council voted to give employee incentives from the American Rescue Plan. Out of the $3.32 million, about 15 percent went towards employees, and the remaining went to projects, including the city’s infrastructure.

The City of Sebastian was one of the few municipalities that used some of its funding from the American Rescue Plan to pay employee incentives.