What Fort Pierce's recent moves tell us about Brightline's Treasure Coast station plans

Here's a thing I learned a long time ago about government meetings: The items that generate the most discussion aren't necessarily the ones that are most important. Some of the most impactful decisions get made with very little public debate.

Case in point: The Fort Pierce City Commission's action earlier this month regarding a possible Brightline passenger train stop in the city.

On its June 5 agenda, the commission had scheduled a couple of items related to development of design plans for a stop somewhere in downtown Fort Pierce.

One of those items got pulled before the meeting started, but commissioners approved the other one after a brief discussion. Commissioners signed off on an interlocal agreement with the St. Lucie County Transportation Planning Organization to use federal funding for the design work.

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The interlocal agreement was part of the commission's consent agenda, which is routinely approved without discussion. Commissioners did take a few minutes to talk about it ― not to debate the merits, but just to clarify what was being done and why.

In and of itself, that doesn't sound like a big deal. But the city's actions told me a lot more about Brightline's site selection process than I knew before.

Brightline hasn't said where the company plans to put a Treasure Coast stop or even when it might make a decision.

However, there is a legally binding agreement that says there will be a stop in our region. The relevant passage of that agreement says: "Within 5 years of commencement of Brightline's passenger revenue train service from West Palm Beach to Orlando, Brightline agrees to build at least one train station (“Station”) in the Treasure Coast, subject to receipt of all applicable governmental permits and approvals with respect thereto. The Station will be located either in Martin or St. Lucie County."

But when within that five-year window will the stop be built? Brightline hasn't publicly announced a timeline, but Fort Pierce Mayor Linda Hudson provided some insight on that when I asked her about the items on the June 5 agenda.

"Brightline has indicated there will be a decision about a stop about two years after the Miami to Orlando run begins," she emailed me.

Brightline has never mentioned that two-year timetable to me or, as far as I know, other members of the media, but it's not surprising city leaders along the route would get better information than my journalistic colleagues and I would.

Assuming Hudson got good information from Brightline, that narrows the timeline for stop selection down considerably.

Here's something else we can infer from the city's actions: If the county's Transportation Planning Organization has agreed to commit its funding to a Fort Pierce station, that means its representatives from Port St. Lucie, St. Lucie Village and the unincorporated parts of the county are OK with that arrangement.

That's significant because if those communities were fighting amongst themselves for TPO funding, it could put them at a competitive disadvantage with Martin County. Assuming Martin County is going to make a play for a stop, too, which doesn't seem like a foregone conclusion.

In a recent unscientific poll of TCPalm readers, Port St. Lucie finished second behind Fort Pierce as the preferred stop location for Brightline.

Brightline's route through Port St. Lucie skirts along the eastern edge of the city, far from major population centers, so it would be impractical to put a station there. However, Port St. Lucie's leaders could have dug in their heels and insisted some of the TPO's resources be diverted to their community anyway, which would have weakened Fort Pierce's chances of getting the stop.

Peter Buchwald, the TPO's executive director, also made an interesting statement to me regarding Brightline's potential involvement in the planning for a stop in Fort Pierce.

"Brightline will be involved in the design," Buchwald said. "We would be remiss if we didn't do that."

He must have a reason for thinking Brightline would be willing to participate in the planning process. That's information that hadn't been communicated to the public, either.

Even if Brightline is willing to provide input on Fort Pierce's design plans, which the company has neither confirmed nor denied, I don't think that necessarily means the company has made a decision to put the stop in the Sunrise City. It's possible company officials would offer the same level of cooperation if, for example, the Stuart City Commission decided to conduct station design studies of its own.

But it does suggest that, despite the company's lack of interest in discussing a Treasure Coast stop in the media, Brightline might be willing to work with community leaders who want to get the stop.

Now, having said all that, there is at least one other piece of news happening that could complicate Brightline putting a stop anywhere on the Treasure Coast.

The Coast Guard recently came out with a proposed schedule for how the railroad bridge in Stuart could accommodate freight train traffic, Brightline's passenger service traffic and the needs of boaters who pass under the bridge at the St. Lucie River.

The proposed schedule would keep the drawbridge open, allowing boaters to pass through, 30 minutes out of every hour during the day, in alternating 15-minute intervals. Officials from Brightline and Florida East Coast Railway, which owns the tracks, consider that schedule unacceptable and could take legal action to ensure it isn't enforced.

If the bridge-raising schedule is enforced as proposed, Brightline might dramatically scale back its plans, which could mean no stops anywhere along the Treasure Coast. I don't know what the legal ramifications of reneging on the Treasure Coast stop would be, but that could be an option under those circumstances.

So recent news developments have alternately made the plans for a station more, and then less clear. Stay tuned.

This column reflects the opinion of Blake Fontenay. Contact him via email at bfontenay@gannett.com or at 772-232-5424.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Fort Pierce's efforts provide clues about what Brightline may do here