The Latest News: November, 2024
Lots Going on in Little KCB
KCB has two important meetings in the third week of November: a Town Hall and a regular commission meeting.
Townhall Meeting November 18
First up, the City Commission will host its monthly "Townhall Meeting" in Marble Hall and as a Zoom webinar on Monday, November 18, 2024, at 9:30 a.m. This Townhall will include fees and fines, garbage, pedestrian and bike safety, sewer bills, and the city hall building schedule. The "commissioners' packet" has a host of useful details.
Townhall Meetings are planned for the Monday before each monthly city commission meeting "in season".
Come in person! Attend on Zoom!
Have your questions and comments ready!
The city commission really wants to hear from all KCBers!Be persuasive. Be focused. Be present.
Please attend the meeting to hear the news and to tell your story or make your requests. The commission invites all KCBers to air their interests and concerns on these topics. Really. They do want to hear from you. Town hall meetings educate the commissioners who have pledged to include your issues at the commission meetings.
From the Agenda:
Mayor Raspe will welcome back KCBers who were out of town over the summer months.
Vice-Mayor Foster will review the Fee Schedules shown on pages 1-12 of the commissioners' packet
Laurie notes: If people wonder about code fines, this is a good time to ask.
New fees include building permits (with added fees for the city engineer, legal, fire safety, and many more), a new garbage service charge, variance charges, application charges, trailer parking changes, and more.
Don't we already pay Marathon Garbage Service $548.58 (on our tax bill) for trash hauling? And doesn't KCB already fine us when our cans are left out?
The packet includes a schedule of 47 revised and new violations with punitive fines ranging from $25 to the maximum $250 per day. 16 of the listed violations and their fines are brand new.
- The prior commission disbanded KCB's (free) citizen-led Code Board in favor of hiring the Florida Department of Administrative Hearings to hold code proceedings. Commissioner Harding never answered these questions:
- Is it true that the work formerly done by citizens didn't bring in enough revenue?
- Is it true the DOAH magistrate has rubber stamped whatever the city lawyers or the code enforcer told him to do?
- Isn't it true that Florida law mandates that municipal fines and fees shall raise only enough revenue to cover the cost of administering the department?
- Why can KCB "sweep" thousands of dollars from the building department fees and fines into the general fund?
Commissioner Harding has resident feedback on an open grant for Pedestrian/Bicycle safety.
Commissioner DiFransico will discuss the revised Sewer Billing Approach.
- Should the city commission change our sewer billing from the current "flat rate" quarterly bills sent by the City to a bill based on water usage?
- The Commission has unanimously tabled the Utility Board's suggestions to change sewer billing. The current billing method means the residences without pools or irrigation subsidize high volume users with renters, pools, etc. The revised plan would make the billing more fair and also make it easier for the city to administer.
Commissioner Colonell has some timelines for Townhall Progress.
People Are (still) Asking for the city hall renderings approved at the last commission meeting.
KCB is our little city. Be there. Be ready. Be focused. Be persuasive. And please volunteer to help our gem.
Click or tap here to email the commissioners and city clerk .
Download the 11-18-2024 Townhall Meeting Agenda and Commissioners' Packet.
Join the 11/18 meeting from a PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone or Android device:
Please click this URL to join. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83999354894?pwd=3ap1wehLy6gle4Je3A5nO58TohDESh.1
Passcode: 637573
Public Hearing and City Commission Meeting November 21
Read the Key Colony Beach Regular City Commission Meeting Agenda here: http://PeopleAreAsking.org/resources/11-21-2024-regular-meeting-agenda.pdf.
The City Commission will host a public hearing followed by a regular monthly meeting in Marble Hall and as a Zoom webinar on Thursday, November 21, beginning at 9:30 a.m. The primary topic for that meeting is commission approval of the fine and fee schedules discussed at the Townhall Meeting.
We'll look at the Thursday meeting in the next email, once the commissioners' packet for that meeting is posted.
Join the 11/21 meetings from a PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone or Android device:
Please click this URL to join. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84992795447?pwd=pVNYVCO3bFtDNmHOEZ9cnWxaduztmZ.1
Passcode: 391337
New Garbage Cans ("Free")
Key Colony Beach, as well as the cities of Marathon, and Layton, and unincorporated Monroe County, will soon have new, beige, 96-gallon garbage carts delivered, with continued twice-weekly collection. The new carts are for garbage collection only. Regular cans will continue to be used for yard waste, and the blue carts for recycling.
Carts will be distributed to the residential/physical address on file with Monroe County for the Middle and Upper Keys beginning in December. Although the carts will arrive throughout the month, please do not start using the new carts until the week of December 29.
Don't forget to mark it with your address and to pull your cart in to avoid a KCB ticket.
Visit https://www.monroecounty-fl.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=1714 to read more about it.
Tree Trimming
Prune with a Purpose, Monroe County's handy new educational brochure, shows how proper tree pruning fosters healthy growth and reduces the risk of branch failure. That enhances our trees' resilience to wind damage. It offers practical advice in sections showing how to remove an entire limb, remove just a branch from a limb, and detrimental practices to avoid. Visit http://www.monroecounty-fl.gov/1376/Prune-with-Purpose for more info and a link to the brochure.
First Look at what the Key Colony Beach City Commission did at the November 1, 2024 Special Meeting
The City Commission hosted a special meeting about City Hall on Friday, November 1. Commissioners discussed and approved their new City Hall renderings as they move forward with City Hall renovations plans.
Quote of the Day
"I don't want resident input
to affect what the architect does."
Mayor Joey RaspeThe current City Hall has about 4,200 s.f. of ground floor office space. The renderings add 1,377 s.f. new first floor space plus 1,550 .f. new second floor space for 2,927 s.f total new construction. Most commissioners said they were not in favor of the "three tower" plan.
Commissioners expressed a desire for "enough" space. They discussed that that space could include a gym, visitor center, and multiple reception areas. Worthy of note, KCB uses Marble Hall for community meetings, visitors, and exercise groups.
The drawings were in the November 1 commissioner's packet but not on the city website. The city website also still shows City Hall is condemned. Click or tap here to email the commissioners and city clerk .
The renderings in the November 1 Special Meeting Agenda Packet are "old news" and, apparently not the renderings they voted on. They approved "Scheme A1" from Wes Burton which was unavailable at press time.
People Are Asking, If a building must be completed in 15 months, why has KCB taken over six years just to start on City Hall, and "hopes" to finish by 2026?
LIVS Rendering of the Taj ma-KCB Commission Rendering of the City Hall Rebuild (click on each image for more information)
People Are also Asking why the towered rendering looks so much like the LIVS-design rejected by KCB residents?Here are all the available downloadable files from October and for the Special Meeting. Click on each filename below to download each file:
10-17-2024 Regular Meeting Agenda
10-17-2024 Regular Meeting Agenda Packet
10-17-2024 Public Hearing Agenda
10-17-2024 Public Hearing Agenda Packet
11-01-2024 Special Meeting Agenda
11-01-2024 Special Meeting Agenda Packet (includes one set of City Hall Renderings apparently produced by Building Official Tony Lorenzo, now available as of 11-01-24)
11-01-2024 Special Meeting City Hall Rendering approved by the commission unanimously (these drawings by architect Wesley Burton were not available as of 11-01-24)The commission has been asked to host a new meeting during the week of November 4 to present the renderings that they approved at this meeting as well as the "laundry list" and "grocery list" they will give to the architect.
No response so far.
Commentary
about this commission meeting
Several KCBers have also suggested holding a Town Hall.
The next City Commission Regular Meeting & Public Hearing is scheduled for November 21 in Marble Hall. As of November 1, there is no Town Hall on the November schedule.
Dry Flood Proofing
The Review Committee will meet to consider dry flood proof engineering for the City Maintenance Building in Marble Hall and on Zoom on Friday, November 8, beginning at 9:30 a.m.
The Committee will evaluate and rank all responsive bids received for this project.
Please attend the meeting in person or by Zoom if you can't get to Marble Hall.
This meeting will be held in Marble Hall!
Join from a PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone or Android device:
Please click this URL to join. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87222745162?pwd=Rxp1xYQWYfRka1EtS5XfbTensAbX2A.1
Passcode: 491922
Farmer's Market
The KCB Farmer's Market is coming back to the City Hall parking lot, starting Tuesday, November 12, from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. They usually have fresh produce, fresh juices, Colombian empanadas, arepas made of 100% corn, gluten-free pasta, Mediterranean food, ciabatta bread, pistacho butter, fresh made desserts, imported cheeses, Just Accent (wood boards), and more.
If you want to become a vendor, call Rosy Perez (305.218.5911).
