Residents spoke out at the March 5 Key Colony Beach Special Commission Meeting:
To: Mayor Foster, Vice Mayor Raspe, Commissioners Colonell, Difransico, and Harding, City Administrator Bartus, and City Clerk Roussin
This email will address some issues that arose in the special meeting the City Commission held on Wednesday to approve the architect's contract for KCB's city hall project.
Kudos to the commission for moving forward on a plan to rebuild city hall.
Commissioner Doug Colonell asked "Where's the tower?"
Architect Brendan DeCaro admitted that the original design had three towers. He said they kept "the more prominent one in the corner as the [new] main entrance" and that the floor level of that new tower entrance will be "a few steps" above the existing city hall floor level.
Making people climb UP to the tower entrance and then go DOWN to the dungeon to see city staff is very concerning.
The commission discussed a new 3D, color-coded drawing but it still doesn't appear anywhere on the city website.
The contract was approved unanimously.
To Tower or Not to Tower
People are very concerned about the plan to elevate the first floor of the city hall tower entrance "a couple of steps" above the existing city hall floor. Why do we want people to climb UP to the entrance and then go back DOWN to see city staff?
People are also concerned that having a tower at all is not harmonious in character and appearance with existing buildings in the neighborhood.
KCB city hall is in flood zone AE-Elevation 7 on FEMA's current Flood Insurance Rate Map (the "FIRM"). That means hurricane waters can be expected to reach 7 feet above sea level.
A certified city drawing of city hall shows the main floor elevation to be 5.76 feet. We have to do some arithmetic to determine how much higher the floor of the addition to city hall needs to be.
Florida and KCB add a foot to the FIRM elevation. In order to meet code, the main floor of new structures in flood zone AE-7 must be at least 8.0 feet above sea level or about 27 inches above the current city hall floor level. That's four stair steps or an ADA ramp 27 feet long with landings at the top and bottom. (It could be more than that. Some authorities hold that the minimum elevation must be measured to the bottom of the floor framing, not to the top of the finished floor. That would mean constructing the finished floor at least 9.0 feet or more above sea level.)
The rules will change soon. Here's some technical explanation of those changes:
The "datum" on the Flood Insurance Rate Map is what we have always called sea level. A datum is simply a fixed point so we can all start measuring from the same place.
The Flood Insurance Rate Maps that FEMA has proposed incorporate two important changes over the maps we use now. A "datum shift" is one of the two. That's the difference in "sea level" between the estimates on the 1929 map that we use now and the satellite surveys done for the 1988 map that is the basis for the new flood zones.
Sea level hasn't changed much but where we measure it from will! The "new" sea level is almost 1½ feet higher than our current value. That means the lowest elevation we can build the new floor is that much higher, too.KCBers know that we ignore the lessons of Irma and the proposed flood map at our peril.
City Hall will be in flood zone AE-Elevation 8 on the proposed flood map. Based on the new datum, the main floor is only about 4.27 feet above sea level. In order to meet the new requirements, the main floor of the tower must be at least at elevation 9 feet or about 57 inches above the current floor level. That's eight stair steps or a ramp 57 feet long with landings in the middle as well as at the top and bottom. (If we measure to the bottom of the lowest horizontal structural member, we have to build the finished floor 10 feet or more above sea level!)
But, you believe we are a long way from approval of the new maps so we don't need to worry about that. FEMA approved the updated maps for Broward County on July 31, 2024. Monroe County is still waiting for a Letter of Final Determination; that could happen within the life of the city hall project.
Even if FEMA never approves the new maps, planning for this worst case makes a lot more sense than not.
There is another way forward.
F.R.E.D.
FEMA wants non-residential buildings in flood zones to be Floodproofed, Relocated, Elevated, or Demolished or any combination of these mitigation techniques to mitigate or lessen future damage.
KCB can dump the ill-fated tower plan and build on ground level. The commission already plans to "harden" or floodproof the entire existing ground floor structure, including Marble Hall and the post office wing. That smart planning puts us ahead of the curve!
City hall is certainly a non-residential building. City hall is certainly in a flood zone. City hall certainly can't be relocated or elevated. But it can be floodproofed. And the entrance can be on ground level.
Laurie Swanson
Key Colony Beach
The Architect's Response
We offered some comments about the "Tower" plan and information about Base Flood Elevation.
Points of interest
Here's the architect's reply:- Neither FEMA nor Florida Building Code requires elevating new construction in the same footprint.
- Making people climb UP to the tower entrance and to the elevator and then go DOWN to the dungeon to see city staff is a problem.
- In flood zone AE-7 the finished floor of a new building must be 8-9 feet above sea level or four-five stair steps up.
- That elevation will require a ramp almost the length of the building.
We want the community on our side throughout the process, which will allow us to easily progress the project without any unforeseen delays from the community.
With that in mind, I'll keep my response to a few main points/clarifications.
There is a clear misunderstanding of the terminology we are using for "tower"• The tower is simply architectural in nature regarding an element or feature of the proposed expansion, and does not have any correlation with the finish floor elevation.While there is merit to build to the future FEMA FIRM elevation, FBC and Monroe County do not require to build to this elevation. It is not enforced in Monroe County due to several factors. We are proposing to build to the current FEMA FIRM BFE +1.• With this in mind, please disregard the writer's breakdown on FEMA elevations, changing datums, etc, as it has many inherent flaws.The writer specifically says "KCBers know that we ignore the lessons of Irma and the proposed flood map at our peril."• To this my only response would be to ask why the writer wants to NOT elevate the building to be more resilient?Dry-Flood Proofing
- Typically, dry-flood proofing is only applicable to existing structures (i.e. existing City Hall)
- FEMA does NOT want dry-flood proofing.
- Monroe County does not permit this for new buildings.
- Becomes costly in terms of construction and design.
- Would impact design decisions (window heights, wall thickness/reinforcing, etc).
- CPH would need express, written approval by the City Building Official and Council before proceeding with this methodology.
Here is a clear breakdown of the two different datums. Highlighted in green is our proposed design elevation. This is the same methodology we use for all municipal buildings within the Florida Keys.
Briefly regarding the future FEMA maps, it is much more affordable to build a new building to current BFE+1, then flood proof in the future if map changes go into effect (2.43' of flood proofing), vs building a new building now below BFE, flood proofing to current, then having to beef up the flood proofing again if maps get revised.
This decision will impact more than just a few stairs and ramp for interconnectivity within the building.
Per ASCE 24-14 we would need to further beef up the components of the building to accommodate building codes.
Per FBC, we would need to "harden" the brand-new building.
Not only are these components not within our scope of work, but it will have a substantial impact on the City's budget, requiring an increase in budget to accommodate the same size of building expansion, or a reduction in square footage.
We would advise the City to make any decisions regarding what elevation to build the building to immediately, as it will severely impact our design schedule and budget if it were to be altered after we proceed with the next phases of design.
Please let us know if you would like a meeting to discuss.
Thank you,
Kyle Bechtelheimer, P.E.
MUNICIPAL MARKET DIRECTOR – SOUTH FLORIDA
CPH Corp.
The reply from Kyle Bechtelheimer overlooked a few facts.
FEMA explicitly allows floodproofing as one option to mitigate damage of commercial buildings in hazard zones.
The idea of floodproofing to current elevation, then having to floodproof again in a couple of years when the rules change is a red herring. Why would anyone ever suggest doing twice what already should be done the first time?
The pretense that hardening and floodproofing the new space is a budget buster because it requires us to harden and floodproof the existing space is also a red herring. You pledged in the meeting (and CPH concurred) that the existing space "including the post office" would be hardened and floodproofed as part of the project.
Whether we call it a "tower" or not, there is still a real concern that changing the roofline that much is not harmonious in character and appearance with existing buildings in the neighborhood.
The elephant in the room remains that making people climb UP to the entrance "lobby" and then climb BACK DOWN to the dungeon to see city staff is very troublesome. How will you handle ADA requirements? Will the elevator have a outdoor, ground level entrance requiring floodproofing of the lobby space and elevator after all? That would mean three sets of doors on two sides of the elevator with all the security maintenance concerns.
These issues are solvable. We--KCBers and commissioners and architects together--need to think critically to make this project the best it can be.