People Are Asking

The Latest News: November, 2023

November 28 and 30: People are Asking about the debate over KCB City Hall, and the Long Hidden, $3M FEMA Letter of Denial.

The Citizen reported, "While disagreements rage about whether the city of Key Colony Beach rebuilds or repairs its city hall, there is legitimate debate as to whether the current structure can be used in the interim for large group meetings."

Then-Mayor John DeNeale reported early on that the reviews of the structural integrity of city hall by FEMA, K2M Design, the City Engineer, and other experts immediately after Hurricane Irma, "didn't find enough damage to warrant demolishing and rebuilding City Hall." There was a lot of backup from FEMA and other experts including former administrator Chris Moonis' own friend, Norry Lynch, that showed the damage was cosmetic, not structural, and didn't meet the 50% Rule required for a substantial damage determination.

Back in October, 2022, FEMA sent current administrator Dave Turner a 60+ page letter detailing the fraudulent claims, coverups, and more that are under investigation. Turner said he was "sure the letter was shared," but couldn't remember how.

At the subsequent City Commission Regular Meeting for November 17, 2022, "City Administrator Turner reported on available grant monies through the Hardening Grant and that no final answer from FEMA has been received at this point..."

That newly uncovered FEMA letter addressed to Turner and hidden away in city hall "clearly stated that 'based on FEMA policy and project cost calculations, [the KCB City Hall] project does not meet the 50% rule and does not qualify for replacement.' Not only did FEMA determine it didn't meet the 50% threshold for a rebuild, FEMA calculated the percentage at just under 9%."

The Weekly further reported that the letter zeros in on an engineering group hired by the city commission to buttress its claims that they condemned the building. Eastern Engineering Group admitted it "never inspected the damaged City Hall building or reviewed any other damage data or assessments."

That's vastly different than the stories city officials have claimed for the past six years.

Read the Citizen story here and the Weekly story here. Some readers have reported difficulty with external links so we also maintain local copies of the Citizen article and the Weekly article. We also have a more complete look at whether the KCB City Hall was really condemned with most of the documentation from that period to the present.

November 16: The Key Colony Beach City Commission had a packed agenda for the November meeting.

  • They will introduce and maybe choose from the seven (or more) candidates for the open position on the commission.
  • They will discuss renewing Vernis & Bowling as the city attorney.
  • They will approve dry floodproofing of one city building
  • They will approve a warrant for nearly $.5 million in the past month.
  • And more.

Read all about it and see the agenda here.

The Citizen and Free Press reported that a familiar face is throwing his name into the mix to fill the open Key Colony Beach City Commission seat. He admits he "is not familiar with all the city's issues." See the article link here.

Laurie and Joe have asked our commissioners to add the following items to the meeting agenda:
  • Vote to vacate the July 20th measure to award the bid to H.O.B. The referendum petition is successful. The commission has denied Concerned in KCB our first amendment rights by trying to dismiss our fully legal petition. Don't they think they have wasted enough taxpayer's time and money fighting a dead-end battle?
  • Vote to solicit bids to fix what can be fixed and build what must be built to get us back in a city hall we can be proud of. We have a committee of informed, interested, and expert residents who will help the commission put that plan together.
  • Vote to solicit legitimate bids to repair the existing city hall complex. KCBers want a real estimate of what it will take and what it will cost. Our committee will help with that, too.
  • Vote to move back into the post office and Marble Hall as soon as possible. KCBers want that serious error reversed. The City Hall lot will surely be a construction zone but we have a plan to make that work safely as well.

People are asking why the canals are cloudy green and why crap kept popping off the bottom of our canals all summer? This report on YouTube shows that Marathon residents think they have an answer. "The City of Marathon has tentatively agreed to settle the Clean Water Act lawsuit brought by FOLKs. On November 14, 2023 [next Tuesday], the Marathon City Council is expected to choose between various alternatives to the use of shallow injection wells."

The Citizen and Free Press reported that the City has filed another motion to dismiss your petition drive to halt the rebuilding of city hall. City officials claim the decision to build the Taj ma-KCB was not subject to a referendum and that they held numerous open meetings for comment. Wouldn't that be better known as "spin"? See the article link here.

The Citizen and Free Press reported that Florida's Judicial Circuit Assessment Committee voted unanimously against merging court districts in Florida. That's not the end of it. The decision nest goes to the Florida Supreme Court which must report its recommendations to the Florida legislature. See the article link here.

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