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Vero Beach Council pauses RFP and pursues Envision lease while keeping city design work
Summary
After months of negotiations and a Letter of Intent, the City Council directed staff to pause an RFP and continue lease talks with Envision under Resolution 2015-30 while also advancing a city-designed parking project by Hanson; lease terms will return to Council for approval.
The Vero Beach City Council on Jan. 27 authorized staff to pause a public request-for-proposal process and continue negotiating a lease with Envision for paid airport parking, while keeping a parallel city-led parking design with Hanson.
Why it matters: Council members said they want to move quickly to address airport parking demand as passenger service expands, but several members pressed staff for clarity on what areas would be leased, how many spaces would be built and how the arrangement would affect a separate City-designed lot.
Airport Director Todd Scher said staff has been negotiating with Envision since spring 2025, received a Letter of Intent and advanced rent and commissioned an appraisal to set potential land rent. "We received a Letter of Intent and advanced rent around September, 2025," Scher said, describing the parties' progress toward a lease. Operations Manager Brandon Dambeck added that the leased parcel was intended to include phases beyond the city's immediate construction footprint.
Councilmember John Carroll expressed concern that staff and an outside developer had moved ahead of a City design and asked for more details before any final commitment. "I don't have any idea on what their commitment is, what the leased areas were going to be… We need all of that information before we can vote on anything," Carroll said.
City Manager Monte Falls said the ultimate limits of any lease would be set when staff returns to the Council with the negotiated agreement, and noted that if the Council approves a lease it will retain final authority. City Attorney John Turner recommended the Council rescind prior RFP direction by consensus and allow the process under Resolution 2015-30 to proceed.
The Council recorded a consensus to table the RFP and proceed with the Envision process, while also moving forward with the Hanson design work in parallel. Mayor John Cotugno said staff should bring the lease back for Council approval and that proceeding with the Resolution's process was the quickest path to a potential agreement.
What happens next: Staff will continue lease negotiations with Envision under the terms of Resolution 2015-30, finalize design work with Hanson for a city-built lot and return to the Council with a proposed lease and project details for formal approval.
