For 10 years FKEC has had their Annual Energy-Saving Tree Giveaway, offered in partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation. FKEC  accounts holders received nearly 3,000 trees across the Upper and Middle Keys — adding shade, beauty, and energy savings throughout the community.

If you reserved a tree this year, pick-up day is Wed, Mar 25 in Tavernier from 4:00-6:00 PM. Beyond helping lower cooling costs, trees provide important benefits for the entire community — improving air quality, reducing stormwater runoff, beautifying neighborhoods, lowering  heat effect, and supporting a healthier local environment. The Million Trees Project is the Arbor Day Foundation’s 2026 spring campaign, targeting the planting of 1 million new trees across the United States through individual, school, and community participation. A single tree can remove carbon at a rate of 10–40 pounds per year in its first decade and 48–100 pounds per year once mature. Enforcement of tree removals: With the tremendous value of trees to a community, it is no wonder Islamorada has strict regulations intended to protect our trees.  The local concern is enforcement.   How troubling it is to see property owners ignore the tree cutting regulations and sometimes even “clear cut” (remove all vegetation from a lot) without a permit, to facilitate ease of development.  If caught, the mitigation cost is likely inconsequential to a property owner building a multi-million-dollar home or business. The penalty, if caught, just considered another small cost of making a huge real estate profit.

Technology is catching up.LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology enables precise tree measurement at the individual tree level. Cities have conducted LiDAR-based canopy surveys that map every tree in a municipality: location, height, crown spread, and species.

With LiDAR, maybe Islamorada could save more trees through better enforcement and provide stiffer penalties for clearing without a permit.  There could be programs to replace downed trees after a storm… instead of property owners removing even more trees after a storm, thinking they won’t be caught.

The latest draft from Able City East was received on March 11 and is available on the Village website. Click here. If you care about the future of the Village, get involved. No word yet on public workshop.

A Public Workshop is now scheduled for April 29. Be there.

will be the guest speaker at this month’s lecture hosted by the Matecumbe Historical Trust on Tues, Mar 24 at the Islamorada Public Library at 6 pm. Ron’s subject will be “Politics in the Florida Keys over the last 60 years”.

The lecture is free and open to the public.

Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia helped draft two bills that passed the Legislature in 2026 that will increase oversight of local governments.

“As Chief Financial Officer, I have made it my mission to provide real transparency into local governments’ spending, so Floridians know what their tax dollars will go toward.”

Ingoglia traveled the state over the last year, criticizing local governments for “overspending.” He has singled out more than a dozen municipalities, saying he has uncovered nearly $2 billion in excess spending.

The Department of Financial Services is asking anyone with knowledge of fraud or scams to report it at FraudFreeFlorida.com.

A proposal to make the American flamingo the new state bird died in the Legislature due to lack of support in the Senate.

Rep. Jim Mooney said he wanted to make the change to highlight Florida's wildlife diversity and improve conservation efforts. The proposal would have replaced the mockingbird with the American flamingo as Florida’s state bird. It would also have made the Florida scrub-jay the state’s songbird.

The northern mockingbird remains Florida's official state bird, a designation in place since 1927 and shared with four other states: Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas.

Quote of the Week:

This week’s smile:

I guess we are supposed to be thankful that Village Council meetings have been much shorter in duration lately (last Tuesday, 2 hours 3 minutes; Thursday 1 hour and 3 minutes).

Here’s the rub. We have dozens of pending issues that need to be resolved. And we just worry about the length of meetings?

We will give you a taste of efforts not completed :

• Decision on status of a couple properties that cost over 8 million dollars, purchased in the last 5 year, i.e.

1.        The Machado Property-purchased in 2021 for $1.8 million

2.        Island Sugar and Spice, the eye sore in the middle of town, purchased in 2021 for $2.75 million.

3.        And another White Elephant, the old church property, purchased in 2024 for purpose unknown, for $3,995,000.

• What is the status of the Green Turtle Hammock situation, ending management agreement with Florida Bay Forever?

• The decades long search to find a storage place away from Founders Park for Public Works equipment?

• The Contract to maintain 18 miles of FDOT right of way for $65,000 per year ($300/month/mile- both sides of highway)

• Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU)

• Food truck regulations

• Vessel exclusion zones

• Noise ordinance

• The Wastewater EDU counts and accounting to assure it is self-funded as an enterprise fund

• The Marina enterprise fund – do they pay to utilize Village owned property to create revenue for Village funds

• Ongoing Budget concerns – making Islamorada more affordable to working residents and fixed income retirees

• Parking issues everywhere in the Village, on U.S. One and Village right of way – need overall plan to make the scenic highway scenic again

• Implementation status of recently approved Founders Park master plan

• Status of 2017 - 2023 Village Strategic Plan

Had enough?

What happened to the After Action Status Report – used to remind council and residents what actions are pending!  It would be constant reminder of things needing attention. We thought it was coming back.

Based on recent updates - the Village Planning Department had the initial Comprehensive Plan draft from Able City since Sep 2025.  Five months later, Feb 2026, the staff sent recommendations for changes without any public involvement. 

Couldn’t we have used that 5 months to discuss the draft publicly – a few workshops.  Why did the staff keep it so private?

Now Able City has sent an updated draft received last week. But it will be about 6 weeks before a workshop is held – and that may be the only workshop for public involvement. 

Remember, this contract with Able City was approved October 2024. The Constitution of the United Staes took less time to be drafted - just 116 days!  With no email and internet.

Since the end of January 2026, the Charter Review Committee has already met 5 times so far to discuss extending the Council term of office from 2 years and increasing council compensation.  These changes have been consistently rejected by voters in past elections. Sounds like another Village Council member wish list.

Cheers for the Youth Council!

We heard from the Youth Council at Tuesday’s Village Council meeting. It appears that these teenagers have figured out how to be creative and productive in helping our community be a better place while still attending school 7 hours a day. Their recommendations were the results of their enthusiasm and hard work. 

None of the issues that we mentioned in our aforementioned list are impossible to resolve. It will just take some “enthusiasm and hard work”.

Village Council- step it up!

Elections have consequences.

Tom Raffanello

The field at Founders Park is the only county high school baseball field not owned by the School. It is owned by the residents of Islamorada.

It was 18 months ago that the School Board signed a design build contract to upgrade the baseball field at Founders Park where the Coral Shores High School team plays ball. The Village is a party to that contract but has not agreed to it. But the design work based on the unsigned contract has been underway for over a year.   As owners of the property, which has been leased, free of charge, to the School Board for over 2 decades, the Village Council wants a say in the design - to assure the kids in the Upper Keys get the best and safest place to play… including the field surface (artificial turf), ADA facilities, etc.  All compatible with a Village park. At the School Board meeting last week, the School Board indicated that they want   total control over the design. They believe any changes requested by the Village should be at Village expense. While the School Board indicated the Founders Park location is their first choice, they did suggest the possibility of moving ahead with their backup plan to put the field in the Coral Shores school “backyard” or use land available from the County. Are the two groups at an impasse? Which will win - the Village as property owner (property bought with Village tax funds) or the School Board who is funding the upgrades (also tax funds from Upper Keys taxpayers.)

The Village began an electric vehicle ridesharing services pilot program in “Downtown Islamorada” in 2018. The Village has expanded it several times to provide the better services through the entire Village and to Tavernier Towne and the Tavernier medical services. Cost annually is now $553,400 with an FDOT grant covering 50%.

Freebee has provided the service since 2018 but has never been selected via a competitive bid process as required by state and federal grants and by Village code. Recently FDOT questioned the Village as to the procurement process and competitive bidding during a compliance review.   The Village Manager received an email recommendation from the Village lobbyist providing reasons why the Village should extend the contract with Freebee another year without competitive bidding.  Why is the lobbyist involved? The Village did not follow the suggestion and on March 12 issued an RFP, “Request for Proposal.”  A selection committee appointed by the Village Manager will rank the proposals received and recommend to council a rideshare company for the next year. Will the staff selection committee and council be influenced by the lengthy list of reasons the lobbyist provided encouraging the Village to continue with Freebee?  Click here for email from the lobbyist. We think required competitive bidding is overdue - by about 8 years!What’s the controversy?