Expensive Stuart Brightline station worries some local officials
Treasure Coast primary results are presented by this week’s NI90
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STUART — Plans for a Brightline station here may be giving city and county officials cold feet. Planned as a $60 million project, the station could now cost taxpayers as much as $82 million, according to financial documents obtained by TCPalm.
When Brightline selected Stuart as the site for its Treasure Coast station in February, the original financing plan called for Brightline and Martin County to each pay $15 million of the cost and the city of Stuart to pay $30 million.
However, the loan costs that might be required to build the station have never been publicly calculated or discussed.
“The costs are going to be way too high,” said County Commissioner-elect Blake Capps. “But I want to remain unbiased.”
He said he wanted to wait and see how the deal developed.
Eileen Vargas, who ousted six-term incumbent Doug Smith in the Republican primary last week, said she too wanted to take a wait-and-see approach.
Vargas is also expected to join the Commission after the parliamentary elections in November, in which she will run against a freely chosen candidate.
She said she wanted to follow her constituents’ example regarding Brightline.
“I think many of them are against it,” Vargas said. “The unknown costs, the final costs” are their biggest concern.
Martin County commissioners were scheduled to discuss the station on Tuesday, but the item was removed from the meeting agenda.
Representatives for Brightline did not respond to a request for comment.
Newly elected city councilor Sean Reed is against the station in its current cost situation, he said on Tuesday.
After Reed and Laura Giobbi were sworn in, the City Commission voted unanimously Monday to revise the contract with Brightline that it approved earlier this month.
“The biggest issue is the financial side,” Reed said. “Taxpayers don’t feel like they should be paying for it. Brightline is in business to make a profit. It’s a private company. I think it’s hard to justify spending potentially $30 million to $60 million of taxpayer money to build a station that stops here twice a day.”
Giobbi declined to comment on Tuesday.
Financial scenarios
The project was originally estimated to cost $60 million, but a financial scenario prepared for the county in April by Orlando-based PFM Financial Advisors and shared with TCPalm estimates costs in excess of $82 million, with construction costs at $45 million.
According to the financial forecast, the interest on a $45 million loan would be approximately $37 million.
This $82 million cost is calculated over 30 years. If the debt is repaid over 25 years, the cost could drop to $74 million. If the debt is repaid over 20 years, the total cost could drop to $66 million.
Who pays?
Brightline has announced that it will cover 50 percent of the station’s costs, a share agreed in a 2018 settlement with Martin County.
That settlement required Brightline to build a station in Martin or St. Lucie County within five years of beginning service between Orlando and West Palm Beach, which began about a year ago.
More: Brightline backlash: Stuart councillors voted Monday to revisit the station lease
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According to Stuart City Manager Michael Mortell, the cost of the station could be well under $45 million. The land around the site could be enough to provide the required 200 parking spaces, eliminating the need for a garage, he said.
Keith Burbank is TCPalm’s watchdog reporter for Martin County. He can be reached at [email protected] and at 720-288-6882.
