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  • Charter Review Committee

    6 Jan 2026 1:32 PM | Anonymous

    Tomorrow (today) Village Council will consider a resolution establishing a Charter Review Committee to provide recommendations regarding possible changes to the Islamorada Charter.




    The resolution proposes that each Council member would appoint one member to the committee, and the remaining two committee members would be selected by a majority vote of the Council.

     

    The Committee is expected to meet at least once a month, and all meetings will be open to the public. The plan is to have a deadline of May 31, 2026, to prepare a final report advising the Village Council of any proposed amendments.


    What is the Village Charter: The charter is like our constitution…  it defines governance structure, powers, and operational procedures. It outlines the roles of elected officials, including the mayor and village council members, and establishes processes for enacting laws, levying taxes, and managing budgets.


    In the last 25 years the Islamorada Charter has been amended several times - changing Council terms from 4 years to 2 years; limiting council members to a total of 8 years on council, increasing Council compensation from $300/mo to $1000/mo; changing election of council from March to November; adding a 35’ height restriction.



    Click here to see the Village Charter.


    The impact of Charter provisions can be significant and must be carefully thought out. Many question the process the Villages is using to do a charter review. Experience and expertise are required to properly sift through the opportunities to improve the charter.  The selection of the committee members is critical.
     

  • Vacancy on Workforce Affordable Housing Committee

    6 Jan 2026 1:30 PM | Anonymous

    Congratulations Frank Derfler on an excellent application to fill a vacancy on this committee (provided to council in the agenda for Tuesday), clearly demonstrating that his knowledge, experience and expertise will be invaluable.

  • Dedication of the Dog Park at Founders Park in Honor of Mike Forster

    6 Jan 2026 1:26 PM | Anonymous




    “Mangrove Mike”

    10/21/1960 - 9/6/2021

    The Village of Islamorada and the United Way of Collier and the Keys, invites the community to the dedication of the Dog Park at Founders Park to honor Mike Forster.


    This will be quite the family event… bring your kids and dogs to gather at Founders Park to share a special time as friends honor the legacy of Mangrove Mike Forster and contributions he made to our community.


    Mike’s dogs - Henry and Ms. Joy will be honored guests!  The Italian Food Company is providing people food while Village firefighter, Heidi, is providing organic dog treats.


    The event is free but please bring non-perishable food donations to support local food pantries.


    For questions, please contact Sharon Mahoney at 305-304-5262.
     


    Dedication of the  Dog Park at Founders Park in Honor of Mike Forster

    January 18

    3:30 pm - 5:30 pm

    Mike’s dogs: Henry and Ms Joy, as puppies, the day he brought them home

  • Just wondering why this happened?

    6 Jan 2026 1:24 PM | Anonymous

    There are officially 12 days of Village Hall office closures and employee observed holidays each year, including Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Years Day. But during the recent holiday season, it seemed those days were expanded to include, New Year’s Eve, December 26, and January 2.

  • Photo of the Week:

    6 Jan 2026 1:14 PM | Anonymous
     

    Photo of the Week:

    Who recognizes this well-known place in Islamorada as it was 30 years ago… 1996?

  • From the Desk of Tom Raffanello, President of the Islamorada Community Alliance: Hope for the new year

    30 Dec 2025 1:23 PM | Anonymous

    As a village we start every year with the hope that the coming year will be better than the last.


    We must keep our vision clear and our voices strong.

    This should be the goal of all Islamorada residents.

    If we adhere to our values we will accomplish our goals.

    Our efforts will  create a lasting impact and renewed energy to complete the projects ignored and put aside because they are hard to resolve.

    May our advocacy inspire fairness, our persistence open doors in the face of difficult challenges.

    Our agenda for 2026 - getting our critical concerns addressed: 

    • Improved public engagement – a full house at every critical council meeting with loads of valuable and insightful public comment. For this to be accomplished residents must be educated on issues and be energized.

    • Complete and activate the Comp Plan revisions that make our regulations current and more protective of our environment and residents.

    • We must review our Village charter –  it  should be a collaborative community project to deal with elections and other items overcome by events.

    • Implement the Wastewater System’s critical fixes with fair cost allocations to assure proactive maintenance. We have emergencies much too frequently.

    • Should we even be operating and maintaining the wastewater system worth hundreds of million of dollars?  Put out an RFP to find a qualified operator. We must get competitive proposals.

    • Find an appropriate place for public works equipment. This issue has been at the top of our master plan for years with no results. Time to get all the equipment out of Founders Park and out of our precious hammock preserves.

    • Devise and implement a plan for using or divesting of village owned properties: $8.5 million spent on old church property, Island Silver and Spice and Machado property. We purchased these properties with no end game.  A series of poor decisions.

    • Workforce housing – is it even realistic or just a talking point for developers looking for concessions on their projects?

    • Addressing traffic congestion. we just ignore the traffic surveys that the Chamber and their minions don’t like and just keep on growing.

    • Our government officials should  insist on a Florida DOGE review. It would help residents understand our budget. Expected result: more transparency and efficiency. Who would fight it? What are we hiding?

    •  We should be insulted by those who claim we are a rich community and can afford an $85 million annual budget? Arrogance on speed. Reason to bring in Florida DOGE.

    • Why don’t we follow our local and state purchasing regulations as to competitive bidding – assuring we get the best products and services at a competitive price. Examples – our ride share service may be great for those using it – provided at over $500,000 of taxpayer money without ever having been competitively bid. $108,000 for lobbyists – no competitive bid.  Wastewater services – millions to a single contractor without competition. This is wrong. And expensive?

    • Equal enforcement of code. Why  do we play favorites and use code violations for intimidation and retaliation?

     

    Here’s to a year where truth speaks loudly, unity grows stronger, and careful unbiased collaboration guides every decision—because our work today shapes tomorrow’s  Islamorada community.


    Stay strong! Be involved.


    Tom Raffanello

  • An Untimely Water Outage: Christmas Day

    30 Dec 2025 1:21 PM | Anonymous

    At just after 4 PM Christmas Day, the FKAA notified customers via Facebook that their crews would be working through the night to fix the leak and restore water pressure.  Thank you to those employees who gave up holiday time to help tens of thousands of customers.


    The Christmas Day pipeline leak was a significant incident that caused a drop in water pressure from Islamorada to Key West. FKAA announced a precautionary boil water notice for all homes and businesses in the affected areas. The boil water notice was in effect until noon Sunday.


    The leak was a transmission main break at MM87. While the new pipeline is in the ground on Plantation Key, it is not yet in use.  


    While little information has been provided by FKAA it is usually during the busiest times when the pipeline leaks occur.  In the past we have been told the leaks are a result of the pipeline being near its capacity to provide sufficient water during busy times. The water is under pressure to force it to the furthest locations in Key West.


    Lessons learned - concerns remain.  The new pipeline project, 130 miles of 36” pipe, is expected to take about 15 years.  So far the pipe has been installed on Upper Matecumbe and Windley Key.  Plantation Key is progressing ahead of schedule.  When Plantation Key is completed, about 12 miles of the 130 miles of pipeline will be completed at a cost of about $10 million per mile.  
     

  • The Winner is: FKAA for Best Tap Water in the State

    30 Dec 2025 1:18 PM | Anonymous

    While many customers were wondering about the details of the critical pipeline leak on Christmas Day and the boil water notice, little information was disseminated.  The FKAA offices were closed for 5 days from Tuesday at 5 PM until Monday at 8 AM. On Saturday they did manage to post a notice that they had won a competition for the best drinking water in Florida.

    The Florida Section of the American Water Works Association (FSAWWA) has a “Best of the Best” Tap Water Taste Contest where regional winners in Florida compete against each other.  Samples are judged on taste, color, odor, and clarity.  The judging is not scientific.  Ironic that the FKAA “Best Tap Water in the State” Award was announced while most of the customers were under a boil water notice.

  • South Florida Water Shortage -

    30 Dec 2025 1:16 PM | Anonymous

    water, water, everywhere, BUT will we have enough drinking water!


    Climate change, development boom, and over exploitation of groundwater are draining the Sunshine State. And frequent water leaks? Especially hard hit is South Florida.


    We can no longer take our water supply for granted. Sea

    levels in coastal regions have already risen greatly in the last few decades, pushing salt water into groundwater, expensive to treat to make it “potable.”  

    Kermit H Lewin Stock Island  

    Desalinization Plant, creating water safe to drink from salt water



    And think of all the continual growth in the Homestead area - using the same water source we use.


    As an island community we have plenty of salt water.  There seems to be a plan to build more desalination plants in the Keys to create potable water from salt water. But desalinization plants have significant environmental impacts, including harm to marine ecosystems, high energy consumption, and the production of concentrated brine, which can disrupt local habitats.


    Perhaps the better solution is controlling the volume of water through controlling growth and through conservation of the resource.  The amount of water used per single family home has increased dramatically in recent years.


    Islamorada Rate Study: The Village EDU study currently underway will demonstrate just how much potable water the average single-family home uses now compared to the 157 gal/day that was documented in Islamorada 20 years ago.
     


  • Charter Review Committee

    30 Dec 2025 1:13 PM | Anonymous

    On Jan 6, Village Council will consider a resolution establishing a Charter Review Committee to provide recommendations regarding possible changes to the Charter.




    The resolution would create a seven-member Committee. Those appointed must be voters in the Village. It is proposed that each Councilmember would appoint one member to the committee, and the remaining two members would be selected by a majority vote of the Council.

     

    The Committee is expected to meet at least once a month, and all meetings will be open to the public. The plan is to have a deadline of May 31, 2026, to prepare a final report advising the Village Council of any proposed amendments.

          

    Any recommendations must first be approved by the Council and then placed on the November 2026 ballot for approval by a majority of Islamorada voters.  


    What is the Village Charter: The charter is like our constitution…  it defines governance structure, powers, and operational procedures. It outlines the roles of elected officials, including the mayor and village council members, and establishes processes for enacting laws, levying taxes, and managing budgets.


    In the last 25 years the Village Charter has been amended numerous times - changing Council terms from 4 years to 2 years; limiting council members to a total of 8 years on council, increasing Council compensation from $300/month to $1000/month; changing election of council from March to November, adding a 35’ height restriction.



    Islamorada residents interested in serving on the Charter Review Committee should contact individual Council members or submit an email to the Village Clerk at clerk@islamorada.fl.us.  Hopefully there will be dedicated individuals, who reflect Islamorada’s diverse community, willing to volunteer their time, knowledge, ideas, and experiences by serving on the Charter Review Committee.


    Click here to see the Village Charter.
     

Your Chance to Speak Up!  


Attend a Meeting - It's fun!

Wednesday, January 28, 2026 5:30 PM (No Link)

Charter Review Meeting

Where: Islamorada Community Center, 87000 Overseas Highway, Islamorada, Florida

Friday, January 30, 2026 4:00 PM

Legislative Weekly Update

Where: Zoom

Monday, February 2, 2026 5:00 PM

Workforce/Affordable Housing Citizens Advisory Committee Meeting

Where: 86800 Overseas Highway, 3rd Floor Conference Room, Islamorada, FL

Wednesday, February 4, 2026 9:30 AM

Land Acquisition Citizens Advisory Committee Meeting

Where: Islamorada Administrative Center & Public Safety Headquarters, 86800 Overseas Hwy, 3rd Floor Conference Room, Islamorada, FL

Friday, February 6, 2026 4:00 PM

Legislative Weekly Update via Zoom

Where: Zoom

Monday, February 9, 2026 5:30 PM

Village Charter Review Committee

Where: Founders Park Community Center, 87000 Overseas Highway, Islamorada, FL

Tuesday, February 10, 2026 5:30 PM

Village Council Meeting

Where: Founders Park Community Center, 87000 Overseas Highway, Islamorada, FL

Friday, February 13, 2026 4:00 PM

Legislative Weekly Update via Zoom

Where: Zoom

Meet the Islamorada Community Alliance

We are working on updating this website.  Check back soon to see how we are doing.  If you have suggestions about what you'd like to see and information that is important to you, please let us know.

Our vision

To enhance the community of Islamorada by preserving the quality of life of the residents as well as the beauty and vitality of the native ecosystems and to stop any further degradation of our community from over-development.

Mission statement

To provide the Islamorada residents with information about events occurring in our community that will impact our quality of life, preservation of our native ecosystems, land development, lawful and transparent governance.


CONTACT US

ICA.in.Keys@gmail.com
 Islamorada Community Alliance

P.O. Box 1507

Tavernier, FL  33070-1507


SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTERS

You can also keep up with the local news about Islamorada by subscribing to our newsletters.  Send us a note at 

ICA.in.Keys@gmail.com


Go to our Newsletter Archives:

Islamorada Community Alliance Newsletters

The Village of Islamorada's Newsletter Archive:

The Village Weekly Updates


 

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Our vision

To enhance the community of Islamorada by preserving the quality of life of the residents as well as the beauty and vitality of the native ecosystems and to stop any further degradation of our community from over-development.

Mission statement

To provide the Islamorada residents with information about events occurring in our community that will impact our quality of life, preservation of our native ecosystems, land development, lawful and transparent governance.

DONATE TO THE ICA

Your tax deductible donations allows the ICA to keep you informed about important events that will impact and help protect our quality of life, our neighborhoods, property values and native ecosystems. Your donations make this possible and are most appreciated.

 DONATE

Contact Us

ICA.in.Keys@gmail.com

Islamorada Community Alliance

P.O. Box 1507

Tavernier, FL  33070-1507




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