Residents spoke out about the May 5 Key Colony Beach Meeting:
To: All KCBers
KCB City Commission
KCB City Clerk
KCB City Administrator
Brandon DeCaro, CPHSubject: Re: What Happened in KCB on Cinco de Mayo?
The General 60% Discussion
The commission unanimously approved the 60% drawings for city hall; the next phase is due befiore June 27. People on a ship and at home and at least one reporter had trouble connecting to the Zoom meeting.
"Additional views" of the proposed building were on hand at the meeting but were not included in the agenda packet. City Clerk Silvia Roussin said there was no correspondence although our prior email was sent to each commissioner and to the city clerk. There were no live citizen comments.
The commission discussed raising the parking lot. Assuming the porch is at lobby elevation, the porch will be 2'3" above the admin office floor and 3'3" above the parking lot at that point. The parking lot will need an 8% grade to fit that change in elevation. Mayor Foster said "I'm trying to wrap my head around a hill in the driveway." The sketch below shows a "USPS" tractor-trailer leaning on that slope. Brandan DeCaro of CPH noted that they would need three 7" steps if the lot is not raised.
It is noteworthy that the simplest solution is to build the entrance lobby on ground level and floodproof it. That simple solution eliminates ADA issues, eliminates parking lot issues, reduces the overall height of the building, and reduces costs.The commission explored showers upstairs but CPH claims it squeezes the building department and they don't recommend it. No one acknowledged our suggestion to expand into the OPEN UNUSED space of the upstairs lobby. Continuing the "shopping mall" vibe of this design, CPH's James Tirado discussed the "storefront" of the new building. They ignored concerns about the height of the three story tower.
CPH recommends a very dark blue ceiling with exposed ductwork and other mechanicals for the open office area (and other spaces). Vice Mayor Raspe noted that "the ceiling color is too dark" and that they "absolutely have to have showers" on the second floor.
Marble Hall is KCB's "point of last refuge" but Mayor Foster "doesn't expect to have people living" in Marble Hall in an emergency.
Brandan DeCaro disclosed that the tower space "isn't a real EOC."
James Tirado noted that the front entrance needs to be accessible for entrance if the flood panels are up. It also needs to be accessible to the gym because the "ADA" entrance is locked at night.
Other discussion included downspouts and gutters for rain control, the possibility the dark blue roof will fade and whether the 24 ga steel is adequate or will lead to oil canning, whether the new ceiling in Marble Hall will be noise dampening (rainfall on the standing seam roof is tremendously noisy in addition to crowd volume), lighting prices, the maintenance free finish for fascias and soffits, tooled stucco exterior panels, and if the design needs to go to Tallahassee.
How Do We Get up to the New Tower Entrance?
The current parking lot is about elevation 4.01' at the turn in from West Ocean and about elevation 4.78' at the concrete walk entrance to the existing 2-story building department wing. The floor elevation of the city hall admin area is 5.76'. All elevations are from the official city hall survey.
The commission proposed rasing the parking lot. CPH noted that traffic would need a ramp, making a "hill" in the parking lot in front of the tower. The ramp or hill would stop at a curb or step up to the tower entry porch. There would have to be a "curb cut" for wheelchair access.
The CPH parking lot drawing shows a 6-8% "slope" at the parking lot entrance. An 8% grade (slope) means that for every 100 feet of horizontal distance, there is an 8-foot rise or fall. The maximum allowable slope for an ADA-compliant ramp is 8.33%, which is equivalent to a 1:12 ratio. As a visual comparison, most KCB duplex "boatels" have 1:12 roofs.
The parking lot ramps CPH suggested appear to have some issues because the slopes on their drawing can't reach the needed elevation. Concerned in KCB clarified the drawings to show the most feasible ramp and grades.
The parking lot "hill" to surmount varies from 2'7" to 3'5" in height plus that step up to the porch. An 8% grade means a 41-foot ramp for that height. The parking lot is not wide enough to ramp up to a "flat" landing near the building--the ramp will have to go from near the edge of the parking spaces to the curb of the porch.
That 8% grade is steep but within the law although the 8% ramp will require more than the entire 26' distance from the property line to the porch to climb the entire height.
More. A standard tractor-trailer is not designed to handle a lateral 8% grade. Tractor-trailers are designed for longitudinal grades, and a lateral grade of 8% would likely cause the trailer to slide or tip over due to the angle.
Since that porch is also within 15' of the "ADA entrance" to the admin offices, that entrance is then too close to the "hill" for an allowable direct slope back down. Further, access to the ADA entrance from the ADA parking spaces is again blocked by the "hill." Visitors will have to climb the hill and go back down (or go around the hill) to get from the ADA parking spaces to the ADA entrance.
The landscape to the south and east of the building will require grading as well.
To: All KCBers
Subject: Re: What Happened in KCB on Cinco de Mayo?
I think they should leave the driveway as is and put steps no more than a rise of 5 inches. 6-7-8 inch rises are difficult for oldsters. Don't make us walk all the way around on the ramp.
I want to take issue with the colonial blue roof that looks like no ocean around here. Maybe off New Jersey... The decorators should look around for inspiration. More than 90% of the metal roofs here are WHITE! That makes sense since white roofs reflect the sunlight and heat better than dark roofs. A white roof with a tropical ocean blue lightly saturated building would be stunning and reflect KCB's position in the Florida Keys. We do not live in New England where colonial blue is ubiquitous---our house in Connecticut was painted a pale colonial blue which looked great framed in the green forest behind it. In addition on a ride around Marathon and KCB there was not one blue roof that didn't look faded and worn. White roofs did not show their age.
Laurie Swanson
Key Colony Beach
To: All KCBers
Subject: Re: What Happened in KCB on Cinco de Mayo?
White roofs keep a building cooler than dark blue roofs because the lighter colors reflect more sunlight and absorb less heat. Darker roofs absorb more sunlight, leading to increased heat transfer to the building and considerably higher cooling loads. Anybody who has ever sat in a dark blue car in Florida knows all about this.
Studies have shown that the difference in inside temperature between a building with a white roof and a dark blue roof will be 8-10° Fahrenheit. According to Thomas & Galbraith, every degree of cooling load increases energy costs by 1-3%. That means the 10° difference in city hall could coat taxpayers 10-30% more to cool the building. Other studies put the costs much higher.
The current city hall has a pleasant "sea green" exterior with white trim. Let's stay with that and make sure the roof and ceilings are white.
Name Withheld
Key Colony Beach