The Brevard County Tourist Development Council voted Oct. 8 to approve funding of $7,500 to support the Waterway Warriors' barrel program along Pineda Causeway while Keep Brevard Beautiful (KBB) and the volunteer group debated the program's merits and operational safety.

The council's unanimous vote followed detailed testimony from both parties about the barrel program's environmental effects, staffing needs and public-use tradeoffs.

Keep Brevard Beautiful, which holds the county's causeway cleaning contract, told the council the organization has moved to remove 35-plus open-top soap barrels from scattered shoreline locations because the barrels attract wildlife, generate biohazard material and require unusually frequent staff handling.

"We have found that this is not a program that aligns with our mission," said John Nico of Keep Brevard Beautiful. "These barrels ... are indicators for people to give more trash in those areas, which is bringing more garbage to the area." KBB's board chair, Deb Harmon, said KBB continues to perform daily park and beach trash service and would prefer to limit its role to picking up piles left after organized volunteer cleanups rather than maintaining a countywide barrel program.

Waterway Warriors leaders, who run volunteer shoreline cleanups and a monofilament recycling program, defended barrels as a practical litter-capture tool and said their data show the receptacles keep material off the shoreline and out of the Indian River Lagoon. "Eighty percent of all the trash that was on the shorelines is now in these barrels," Sharon Knoll, a Waterway Warriors representative, told the council and showed photographs and a short video demonstrating collections.

Funding motion and conditions

TDC member Alex Litttritt moved to "award the Waterway Warriors $7,500 to immediately assist with their barrel program," noting the money would offset pickup and liner costs; the motion specified the payment would proceed if the county attorney's office deemed it legally permissible and if the Board of County Commissioners agreed to accept the expenditure. The motion did not specify a second in the meeting transcript. The council called the roll; all members present voted in favor.

Peter, TDC staff, said the requested $7,500 would come from existing beach/Indian River Lagoon program funds and that the county already maintains related contracts for derelict boat removal and shoreline maintenance. Waterway Warriors representatives said their contractor is providing $7,500 in in-kind junk-removal services, which the nonprofit said reduces the total program cost. KBB said its annual county contract for causeway cleaning and related work runs about $15,000 for the year, with weekends and peak-season pickups requiring additional staff or twice-daily service at some beach sites.

How the groups propose to operate going forward

Keep Brevard Beautiful proposed fewer, larger, covered receptacles placed in centralized locations and a Waste Management pickup plan to reduce wildlife access and biohazard exposure; KBB said it would coordinate with Waste Management and the county's risk managers. Waterway Warriors said the open-top barrels have been approved by the Florida Department of Transportation for some locations and that they are a low-cost option that allows volunteers and anglers to dispose of fishing line and other litter quickly.

Council reaction and next steps

Council members praised both organizations' work and asked staff and the county attorney to confirm the legal avenue for a $7,500 payment to Waterway Warriors. Peter said staff would seek a legal opinion and, if approved, the Board of County Commissioners could consider the funding at its next meeting on the Tuesday following the TDC meeting.

Ending

The council requested a follow-up report from staff and both nonprofits on operations and costs. Keep Brevard Beautiful and Waterway Warriors said they will continue coordination while county staff determines how the $7,500 award can be processed legally.