The City of Stuart Commission voted on May 20 to support the Friends of the Everglades’ “Rescue the River of Grass” petition and to select an environmental attorney to represent the city on Everglades and river protection matters.

The resolution signals local government support for a campaign to secure land and stormwater treatment south of Lake Okeechobee so that polluted discharges can be reduced and clean water restored to the southern Everglades and coastal estuaries. The commission then voted to select an environmental attorney and directed staff to negotiate a contract.

Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades, asked the commission to back a proposal developed by the group’s science and policy team to add substantial storage and treatment south of Lake Okeechobee. Samples said the additional infrastructure is intended to stop damaging discharges to the St. Lucie River and to send cleaned water south to Florida Bay and the Everglades. “We have about 20,000 signatures and dozens of organizations and businesses that have signed on,” Samples said, urging the commission to join the petition and help press the legislature to allocate land‑acquisition funds from Amendment 1 toward the project.

The resolution, introduced by Commissioner Clark and seconded by Commissioner Gioby, passed unanimously. The text calls on state decision‑makers to prioritize the acquisition and protection of land south of Lake Okeechobee for water storage and treatment and notes the economic and public‑health harms caused by repeated discharges.

Directly following the resolution, the commission considered hiring outside environmental counsel to advise the city on litigation and policy responses to discharges and water‑management decisions. The commission selected Ruth Holmes (motion by Vice Mayor Collins; second by Commissioner Reid) and directed staff to negotiate a contract for return to the commission. Public speakers and local advocates urged an attorney with experience in federal Clean Water Act and Everglades litigation and coalition building; speakers praised several candidates and urged the city to act quickly.

No litigation was authorized at the meeting; the vote authorized negotiating an engagement letter with the selected attorney and returning a contract for formal approval.