Commissioners contemplate focus, priorities of Water Quality Summit

As staffers provided updates this week regarding the County Commission's top 2019 priority — water quality — commissioners again pivoted their attention to their overarching goals for the county's Water Quality Summit, planned for June 5.

Commissioners first explored the idea of the summit following a similar event held by Charlotte County earlier this year. A devastating outbreak of red tide last summer and fall provided the impetus for commissioners to propose a similar event, and they recently settled on June 5 at Riverview High.

The Water Quality Summit — which the county says will focus on science, action and government involvement — will be free and open to the public.

But, now that planning for the event is underway, commissioners themselves are exploring different ideas of what they’d like to prioritize.

“Everybody has had one of these meetings about water quality,” Commission Chair Charles Hines said. “My personal goal is, when we come out or get to this date, I want us … to say, ‘This is what we’ve done since last summer. These are the projects that we’ve funded.’ ”