The Village purchased the “Machado Property” at about MM88.6 bayside in 2021 and it has been sitting vacant ever since.  In January the Village advertised for proposals to find a developer to enter a 99-year lease with the Village and build and manager 16 affordable housing units at the site.   And then May 12 the Council rejected both proposals received with a vote of 4-1, Council member Deb Gillis dissenting. Was the Council concerned about compatibility with the neighboring community? Protection of the tropical hardwood hammock on the property? The Council comments and the comments from the public demonstrated there are more questions than answers regarding workforce housing and exactly what is needed in Islamorada.   Buses run continually throughout the day transporting the workforce to and from the mainland.  Given the opportunity, would those workers move to Islamorada? With the high cost of land and construction, what options are available?  The Machado  property cost the Village $1.8 million. The recommendation from staff last Tuesday was to give a huge for profit corporation the land with a 99-year ground lease for 16 units of affordable housing - free of charge, a $112,500/unit gift. Is there a better way to subsidize affordable housing?  We have a first-time homeowner program that provides buyers with a $10,000 down payment subsidy - significantly less than the $112,500/unit we were geared up to provide an out of town for profit corporation. Since incorporation 25 years ago, the Village has approved approximately 140 deed restricted affordable homes - some rentals, some home ownership.  Others are in the works - all rentals, mostly 1 bedroom rentals. The Council decided to put on the brakes and figure out how Islamorada can best address workforce housing.  Another study coming up.

The Village delayed the rideshare decision until their June meeting.

A workshop is to be held next week so that the two companies competing for the contract can make public presentations.

Graduating Seniors receive recognition for their efforts as members of the Islamorada Youth Council. Thank you students!

There will be a great variety of camps at Founders Park available to the younger children in the Village, including summer recreation camp, tennis, synchronized swimming, swim and dive combo.   Many of the older students will be helping as junior counselors.

With Summer Camp starting June 1, fingers are crossed that all facilities will be available for the opening of camp.

June 1 Challenges at Park beach health warning Playground being moved Pool  construction site

There are things that happen regarding Village Council meetings that don’t add up. We seem to get a monthly dose of that.

Do they think we don’t pay attention?

With the Thursday Council Meeting mysteriously canceled, the Tuesday agenda grew to 603 pages.

Anyone who has not taken the “Evelyn Wood speed reading course” will not be able to read and digest the 603 pages of information that are germane to the meeting and the decisions that will be made.

The day before a Council meeting, a majority of the council members attend a briefing with staff. This is so they can ask questions before they vote on the issues.

This also eliminates discussions at public meetings since council members now know how to vote.

Is this a benefit to the public? If the goal is to shorten meetings, then, I guess, this is a success.

If the goal is for the public to be informed as to what influenced the council members votes, then it is a dismal failure.

Have you noticed that at most meetings lately the Council seems to whisk through meetings at breakneck speed, with virtually no questions and little discussion? It appears they came knowing how to vote due to their individual personal staff briefings.

Why not share these briefings with their adoring public?

It appears that  public comment gets to be  a nuisance, ruining council/staff plan for shorter meetings.  No need to provide the public with details or justification for their decisions, just speed things up.

Disrespectful and a violation of their oath.

Much on the agenda has no requirement for public comment – various reports along with Council, Manager and Attorney discussions.

This is often followed by a simple “thumbs up” to give staff their “direction” for future efforts. No official vote?  No comments from the public.

These “thumbs up” requests are often providing the go ahead for major future efforts, with the public having no right to speak or hear why council supports the issue.

Doesn’t the Village Attorney know that our charter, Section 5, (8) item c says – “All actions of the village council shall be by ordinance, resolution, or motion.”

No mention of “thumbs up” as to council directions in the Village Charter, our Bible.

The Council, Village Manager and Village Attorney all seem confused. We are required to have a public meetings for decision-making.

How often does the Village Manager take action because a majority of council said “okay” when polled by phone in between meetings?

Last week we pointed out some of the actions taken without a vote (not even a thumbs up?) at a public meeting:

• Negotiating the baseball agreement;

• Approving a license agreement for parking at Anglers Reef.   

These are important issues to the residents of Islamorada.

Speak to us.

In Florida we have the “Sunshine Law.”

What is this sacred law supposed to do? It is intended to empower the Public.

The ultimate goal of a “Sunshine Law” is to ensure government accountability and transparency.  This is to prevent backroom deals and “side conversations” initiated by  members.

“Sunshine” is meant to empower citizens so they can be informed participants in their own governance.

Is it really working as intended here?  We don’t think so.

Section 286.011, F.S., provides that no resolution, rule, regulation or formal action shall be considered binding except as taken or made at an open meeting.

We need to trust that our own government adheres to Florida Law.

Regarding the cancellation of the Thursday’s village meeting, we are guided by the Village Council Meeting Procedures, which states:

“The Village Council has complete discretion and flexibility …. to hold regular meetings at other dates, times or locations, or to cancel or reschedule any meetings.”

And all decisions made by council are to be made by majority vote at a public meeting by motion, resolution, or ordinance.

Thursday’s cancellation does not appear to follow the legal requirements – and is certainly not in any way logical.

We were inflicted with a lengthy 603 page agenda. Now it will be dealt with in one meeting, instead of two.

To read and digest 603 pages in two meetings was an impossible task. To do it in one meeting is an insult to our intelligence.

 It encourages both the council and the public to skip over important facts, figures and decisions to hurry to get home before midnight. 

Council: be professional, and show us some respect.

We residents have common sense and we know when we are being played. We put you there to serve, not to ignore us.

As I have said so many times: Elections have consequences.

Yours,

Tom

Need a summary of important stuff?

Reports of interest (no public comment required): FKAA Water pipeline status update; Plates and Plans update Citizen Advisory Committee Appointments: 24 openings, 18 existing committee members have applied to continue serving, 10 new applicants for various committees   Village Charter Review Committee recommendations: Need direction from council regarding the recommendations so two public hearings can be scheduled before the July 24 deadline for submission to the Supervisor of elections. Citizen Advisory Committee updates(no public comment expected): Parks & Recreation Land Acquisition Near Shore Water   Mayor and Council Discussion(no public comment expected): Wade Trim wastewater engineer’s report; Anglers Reef Right of Way Parking discussion Consent Agenda, 8 items to approve without Council discussion, one chance for public to comment on any of the items. An interesting item on the consent agenda is US One Right of Way Maintenance: Village agreement to have village continue to provide monthly litter removal, mowing and tree trimming on FDOT US One Right of Way for $75,644/year. See details later in this newsletter. Resolutions: Expanded and improved Boat Ramp at Founders Park: First step - a conceptual design approval - $30K. Note that many boats and trailers use the parking area - no current income for this storage indicated in the Marina budget. New revenue potential? “Machado Property” Recommendation: Consideration of 99-year ground lease for developer to provide multi-family rental units, majority being 1 bedroom apartments.  (See more details later in this newsletter.) Rideshare recommendation: Council scheduled to select rideshare provider based on two proposals responding to the Village request for proposals. (See more details later in this newsletter.) Wastewater Parts Purchases Fireboat grant approval BPAS allocations - we think there are 39 market rate applicants still waiting.  Data in  tabs for market rate and nonresidential allocation awards is not understandable. Public Hearings: Purchasing Ordinance: increases the manager’s right to approve purchases without council approval from $25,000 to $50,000. No swim zone within marina waters TDR banking ordinance - 1st readings Comp Plan and LDRs - Approved by LPA. Administrative Relief for 125 Mockingbird Road Administrative Relief for 113 Venetian Way Administrative Relief for 148 Tequesta Street Major Conditional Use - Transfer Station/Recycling Center - 86550 Overseas Highway; Will a major code violation be addressed before the major conditional use is finalized? ACTIONS AND POLICIES STATUS REPORT - OPEN ITEMS Council members and public continue to question this report - formatm acuracy and completeness. Example - Baseball agreement entry: Discussions with School Board are ongoing..

The Department of Transportation is responsible for maintaining the Right of Way from MM72 to MM91 (19 miles) through the Village. The Village was not satisfied with once a month maintenance by FDOT.  

For several decades the Village has contracted with FDOT to allow Village Public Works to do the maintenance. This year FDOT is going to pay the Village $75,644 to do the maintenance for the year. That’s $6,304/month; $332/mile/month to pick up litter, mow grass, and trim trees in 19 miles of Right of Way.

Certainly, according to our Public Works budget, the Village taxpayers pay more than ten times that $75K for roadway maintenance, a majority appears to be for U.S. One.   Why not let FDOT do that work and if once a month is inadequate some months, let the Village supplement the effort.  We could probably save several hundred thousand dollars!

The Village had purchased the “Machado Property” at about MM88.6 bayside

in 2021 and it has been sitting vacant ever since.  In January the Village advertised for proposals to find a developer to enter a 99 year lease with Islamorada and build and manager 16 affordable housing units at the site.  

Two proposals were submitted (local Habitat for Humanity and ANF, a corporation out of Broward County.) The staff selection committee, ranked ANF # 1 with their plan to build two multi-family apartment style buildings totaling either 32 or 16 rental units, mostly 1 bedroom units.  Habitat offered an alternative plan - 9 ownership single family homes.

The original May 12 agenda uploaded on May 8 for public review included only the ANF proposal.  We think for such a critical and controversial issue, the Council and public should be provided both proposals and both organizations should make a presentation. (Think back to the Comp Plan update process when the council selected a group ranked #2 after hearing the presentations).

Why are so few proposals being submitted to the Village for critical projects?

Will the Council consider the concerns of the neighboring community? Will the hammock lots involved be protected? Why were they included in the RFP when a primary goal in the Village is to protect our environment?  Yes, affordable housing is a concern.  We have had 25 years now to work on getting more affordable housing and we have less than 140 deed restricted units… less than 6 per year.

Click Here for our suggested solution.

The Village rideshare service has become very popular to many people in the community. On average approximately 4000 rides are provided each month, or perhaps 2000 round trips. That equates to about 120 each day. It has been suggested that about half the riders are tourists.   It is important to look for ways to provide the best service possible while trying to reduce the overall cost to local taxpayers.  

It was unfortunate that only the Freebee proposal was in the Council meeting agenda.

Since the community has only had first-hand experience with Freebee, it would be very helpful to have presentations from both rideshare proposers before making a decision.  

To some, familiarity breeds contempt.  To others, familiarity breeds contentment.  It is critical that we see presentations from both to see the real advantages and disadvantages.

It should be a simple process to provide a ballfield for kids that put their hearts and talents into the game. The School Board and the Village should meet together in public to work out a solution.  Surely both groups have the same goal - a place for the kids to play ball. Get it done!