Key West City commissioners have a full agenda for their meeting tonight, including hiring Patti McLaughlin as interim city manager and firing Duval redevelopment consultant KCI Technologies, Inc.
McLaughlin, currently assistant city manager, has been tapped to temporarily take over for outgoing City Manager Greg Veliz, who is leaving April 16 for a new position with the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority.
If McLaughlin is approved as expected, she will oversee city operations while a candidate search, also on Tuesdayâs agenda, is carried out. Commissioners have set aside $20,000 for the search.
In a related agenda item, commissioners will vote to appoint members to an advisory screening committee to assess and rank new city manager candidates. Each of the seven city commissioners as well as the cityâs three unions will appoint one person to the committee. A last committee member will be appointed by city hall staff management.
Waste Management, Inc., the residential and commercial trash hauling company servicing Key West, has asked city officials for multiple substantial rate increases in the middle of its current contract that, if approved, would result in millions of dollars in unexpected and unbudgeted expenses.
Waste Management met with City Manager Greg Veliz and other city officials recently to ask for four rate increases, including one that would immediately raise the residential trash collection rate from $14.62 to $16.32 per month even though the current contract with the city does not expire until Dec. 31, 2021. That price hike totals $264,784 in unanticipated costs to the cityâs solid waste enterprise fund.
“It would be very helpful to publish that there is a gasoline-fueled leaf blower ban in Old Town and that you can report to code enforcement violations 305-809-3740 or code enforcement@cityofkeywest-fl.gov”
âAnd then there is the ever-popular âIf you donât like dog-eared books, go back where you came from.ââ
âOver decades the Florida Department of Environmental Protection allows a chemical company to create, then abandon, a toxic waste storage reservoir. Now when the inevitable leak occurs, the state looks to the federal government rather than the stockholders to finance the cleanup. Algae blooms are headed our way!â
Two freshman legislators are currently serving Monroe County in the Florida House of Representatives and Senate. The 2021 legislative session began in March and is roughly halfway done as of this week.
State Rep. Jim Mooney, R-Islamorada, has introduced a number of bills and appropriations to the House that he believes would be beneficial to District 120, which includes all of Monroe County and a small part of Miami-Dade.
One appropriation that Mooney is keeping a particular eye on would assist in stopping saltwater intrusion into the Biscayne Aquifer, which is the regionâs main source of drinking water.
As Mooney explained, on the east side of Card Sound Road, several ditches were dug years ago for a planned land development. That development never took place and the ditches have allowed saltwater intrusion. The bill is currently asking for $175,000 in funding and Mooney hopes to pick up more funding on the Senate side. It is currently in the appropriations committee.
Key West City Commissioners made up for lost time at their rescheduled meeting Wednesday, taking action on several controversial issues including voting not to add two members to the Key West Housing Authority.
Commissioners also accepted a 50% settlement with outgoing City Manager Greg Veliz for unused vacation and sick leave above a capped limit and set Friday, April 16, as his last day. And City Attorney Shawn Smith said a resolution to fire Reimagine Duval project consultant KCI Technologies would be on the commissionâs Tuesday, April 13, meeting agenda.
The attempt to add two members to the long-time, five-member Key West Housing Authority board of commissioners was defeated by a 5-2 vote, with Mayor Johnston and Commissioner Sam Kaufman voting to expand the board. The majority of the 20 speakers at the meeting also wanted to add two new members. In addition to poor conditions at some of the KWHA-managed low-income housing complexes in Key West, a new KWHA senior citizen