An Aug. 17 meeting of the Islamorada Village Council marked the first for Bryan Cook, the interim manager loaned by Monroe County for a 60-day period. A roughly four-hour meeting saw the council working through an agenda with 24 items. There were also discussions on the baseball field at Founders Park and a possible boat launch for local fishing guides.
Proposed baseball improvements under the scope
At Founders Park, spacious green fields welcome young soccer and lacrosse players. Further into the park, an Olympic-sized pool brings visitors, locals and high school swimmers for recreation and competition.
Toward the front of the park near the administrative building is a fine-cut baseball field for the Hurricanes’ baseball program. Throughout the year, the field is used for a Steady Bats program, which focuses on the fundamentals among athletes ages 10-18, and the regular season in the spring. The field is also used by residents and visitors when available.
Over the years, school facilities up and down the Keys underwent renovation and upgrades. Now, the Monroe County School District is eyeing improvements to a field of up to $5 million. Plans caught the attention of some residents concerned about some aspects of the project and requesting more information.
Per an agreement with the village, improvements to the field at Founders Park are under the school district’s responsibility. Earlier in the year, the school district issued a request for qualifications for the design and construction of renovations and upgrades to the field, bleachers, fences, dugouts and batting cage.
Taking to the podium during public comment, Capt. Ed Davidson shared concerns over the lack of public involvement in the development of what he called a major, $5 million commercialization of the village’s park. He also shared issues with the possible use of astroturf.
“It tends to be problematic in hot climates like ours. You have to wash it and rinse it once a week,” he said. “There’s not really much to speak of in water systems. We have as fine a grass and clay diamond as many folks have seen anywhere in the country.”
Rich Russell, former Coral Shores athletic director who’s transitioned to a new role overseeing athletic facilities, told the council that no design elements of the project are finalized yet. Concepts of what the facility could look like were drawn by companies during the RFQ process. But that doesn’t mean all amenities outlined in concept drawings will move to construction, he acknowledged.
Resident Joan Scholz said she only learned about the project a few weeks ago. While she supports school athletics – she was assistant coach for track and cross country – Scholz had issues with the idea of transforming the baseball into a stadium-like facility.
“We can’t take space away from residents. There’s a lot of pride and a lot of people who have built Founders Park.”
Russell said a contract for the project hasn’t come before the school board. He also stated that the village was kept in the loop on the project from the get-go.
“I had a conversation with Councilman (Henry) Rosenthal a year-and-a-half ago, as well as Mayor Buddy (Pinder),” Russell said. “Laura (Lietaert), Maria Bassett and I walked the field and discussed vision and direction. There should be no suggestion this was covert.”
Fishing guides seek boat ramp access at Founders
Boat ramp access in Islamorada is slowly fading — a major blow for one industry contributing a significant portion to the Keys’ economy. Now, village officials are exploring ways to help local fishing guides, through the possible use of a ramp at Plantation Yacht Harbor Marina at Founders Park.
Acknowledging the hardships faced by local fishing guides to launch their boats, Vice Mayor Sharon Mahoney began looking into a ramp once used by the locals dating back to the 1960s. It’s a different ramp from the one used by locals for free and nonresidents who pay $40 round-trip. Mahoney started examining the feasibility of the former boat ramp.
“Right now this is at the baby stages,” she said, adding that the Florida Department of Environmental Protection said the village could renovate existing ramps. Mahoney said they haven’t assessed how it would affect seagrass and mangroves in the area.
Mayor Buddy Pinder said he remembers using the old ramp.
“The poles for the dock are still there if you look at the mangroves,” he said.
Meanwhile, Capt. Steve Friedman, on behalf of the Florida Keys Fishing Guides Foundation, took to the podium to voice support for a past program that allowed local fishing guides to use the boat ramp at Founders. In the past, Friedman said the program allowed the guides to launch their boats during “odd” hours. The program existed for years and faded away following Hurricane Irma when guides were assisting in cleanups throughout the Keys.
“For some reason, it seemed that there was no more interest in the program, so they closed it. That was announced at a nearshore water committee meeting when I was on the panel and asked that it not be stopped,” he said. “They said (it) was for a lack of participation.”
With local marinas at capacity and other water access diminishing in the Keys, Friedman supported the idea of an additional ramp that could benefit the fishing guides and village.
“After all, I think everybody here could agree that the fishing guides are part of the backbone of the economy of this entire county and give back a lot,” he added. “To give back to the guides to allow a few of them to use this ramp would be very beneficial.”
Lisa Watts, dockmaster at Plantation Yacht Harbor Marina, said the idea of giving local guides access to the current ramp could pose a problem. The marina office and boat open at 8 a.m. and close at 6 p.m. every day.
“It’s going to be hard to open the ramp from 6 to 9 (a.m.) and just have guides,” she said. “Because then we’re open to the public at that point. Then you have traffic, and you have to have lights because we have no lights on the ramp.”
New interim manager Bryan Cook said the village is in an “exploratory phase” at the moment.
“Rather than have the brainstorming debate here, you can task staff to come back with options,” Cook told council.
Council seeks efficient meetings
Meetings of the Islamorada Village Council average roughly four hours dating back to mid-November when a new dais was sworn in. In a bid for shorter meetings — some have lasted six hours — the dais approved the establishment of a meeting procedure via 5-0 vote.
The 13-page document outlines everything from the dais’ seating arrangement to the way the council conducts its business from roll call to adjournment. It also explains decorum at meetings and the ability for the mayor or sergeant-at-arms, a sheriff’s deputy, to remove a person who’s unruly. At the request of Councilwoman Elizabeth Jolin, the council agreed to reword language allowing the sergeant-at-arms to remove a person who’s unruly or could pose a safety threat. Originally, the proposal stated that the sergeant-at-arms had the authority to remove any person who violated any meeting procedures, or at the request of the mayor.
An original set of meeting procedure changes presented to the council by John Quick, attorney for the village, included the elimination of public comment during an ordinance’s first reading, unless a majority vote waives the rule. Quick said certain items, such as land use changes, come with a state-required public hearing before the dais approves the first reading. Another round of resident remarks would be heard ahead of a council vote on second reading.
Jolin disagreed with the omission of public comment during an ordinance’s first reading. The council went with Jolin’s request to strike such language from the list of new meeting procedures.
“A lot of times on first reading, a lot of things are shaped sometimes by the public. And I appreciate what they have to say,” said Vice Mayor Sharon Mahoney.
Jolin also took issue with language in the proposal allowing the council to waive any meeting procedure via majority vote.
“If you get some rogue council, we can do whatever we want. I’m not sure why that’s in there actually,” Jolin said.
Quick said language inserted into the village meeting procedure gives flexibility in certain situations, adding there could be instances where the council wants to give a public speaker more than a three-minute limit to discuss an important matter.
In other news …
Six property owners were awarded residential market rate building permits following council’s approval of the second quarter allocations. Five were awarded to applicants without a land dedication and one to an applicant with a land dedication.
During public comment, Emmy Black, student at Plantation Key School, told the council her family had waited two years to build a home. Richard Black, father to Emmy, didn’t need to say much more. The Black family received a permit following the dais’ approval.
Eleven market rate residential allocations were made available for 2023. Seventy-three applications for market rate residential allocations remain in the BPAS queue.
An application for administrative relief for four properties owned by Sojourn Inc. was approved by the council. An application was submitted to the village on June 22 for properties located in the Sojourn property subdivision on Lower Matecumbe Key. Per a settlement dating back to 2008, the property owner is entitled to six market rate BPAS allocations.
The dais also approved an amendment to an agreement with CPH Inc. to revise a master plan at the Fills — the three islands connecting Upper and Lower Matecumbe Keys. The Florida Department of Transportation owns property comprising the Fills and leased to the village to control congestion and use of the area. In March 2021, the village approved CPH to prepare a master plan for the Fills at a cost not to exceed $55,000.
By May 2022, CPH gave the village conceptual plans for Indian Key, Lignumvitae Key and Tea Table Key Fills. The process, which started under a previous council, was redirected by the current council seeking no parking on the Fills. Concept plans are needed for presentation to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Florida Department of Transportation per lease agreements. CPH provided a cost quote of $32,375 to update the master plan and conduct a survey.
A resolution was approved for a grant agreement for a splash pad resurfacing at Founders Park, as well as a work agreement with Avalon Gardens Inc. for a planting project at Southwinds Park.
The council also established a millage rate of 2.9316 for the 2023-24 fiscal year to cover village operating expenses, as well as a cost of living adjustment of 7% for all staff.
