Islamorada council members will return to Founders Park Community Center on Thursday, July 6 to consider a 19-tab agenda. Notable items include a contract decision with the village manager, a contract with a new garbage hauler and a pair of ordinances related to the building permit allocation system (BPAS). The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m.
VILLAGE MANAGER’S ONE-YEAR CONTRACT EXPIRES THIS MONTH
The dais will discuss and consider a resolution regarding the contract of Village Manager Ted Yates. In May 2022, the previous village council concluded its national search for a manager, voting 5-0 for Yates over three other finalists. His hiring came after the resignation of Village Manager Greg Oravec in early 2022. Yates and the village entered into a contact agreement June 9, 2022.
Yates began on the job on Aug. 1, 2022. With his contract set to expire this August, the council will decide whether to renew the contract or not renew and begin the search for a new village manager. Yates’ contract details a salary of $200,000, a $4,000 housing allowance and $15,000 in moving expenses. With the exception of cost of living increases, there are no salary increases for 18 months. Yates was offered health insurance benefits for his spouse, eligible children and himself for $125 per pay period.
A memorandum attached to the tabbed time delves into a series of questions to Alison Smith, counsel for the village, by council members Elizabeth Jolin and Henry Rosenthal in relation to Yates’ current contract. The questions include whether the employment agreement could be renewed with no action taken by the council, as well as if the dais can opt not to renew the agreement by majority vote. If there is a vote to not renew the contract, the two council members also asked whether the village would need to pay any severance.
Smith said the employment agreement could be renewed for another year without any council action. However, the council could choose not to renew the contract with a majority vote, which requires three votes. As it relates to severance, Smith said there is a viable argument “that no severance is owed to the village manager if the employment agreement is nonrenewed.” Smith explained two cases in which severance wasn’t owed, but one case in a Florida court held that nonrenewal of an employment contract is akin to a termination without cause.
“In this case however, whether a renewal of the employment agreement is viewed the same as or different from a termination without cause, an argument could be made that the result should be the same as it relates to the payment of severance (i.e., that no severance is owed),” Smith writes. “This is because under the employment agreement, it appears that only four instances are contemplated under which there is an obligation for severance to be paid if the village manager’s termination is without cause, and none of these four instances include a nonrenewal of the contract.”
SOLID WASTE CONTRACT WITH ISLAND DISPOSAL COMPANY
During the last meeting, council members voted to go with Island Disposal Company over Waste Management to haul trash, recyclables and yard debris in the village beginning Jan. 1, 2024. The dais will now vote to officially approve a contract with the company owned by Brian Lindback. Per the contract, the village would pay $41.01 per month, or $492.12 a year, per residential customer for collection services.
Per the contract, Island Disposal Company would pay the village a 15% franchise fee of all gross revenues billed by the contractor and village from all source collection services, residential and commercial.
Collection of residential trash, recyclables and yard waste can begin as early as 7 a.m. while commercial collection can begin at 6 a.m. The company must also have garbage and recycling containers for residences, as well as containers for commercial users, in place before they begin pickup on Jan. 1, 2024.
BUDGET WORK BEGINS
Council members will approve a resolution to determine the proposed millage rate for the upcoming fiscal year, establish the current year rolled-back rate and the date and time for public hearings. The resolution as currently drafted proposes a millage rate of 3.000, or $300 per $100,000 of assessed value. The millage rate could change as the dais digs into the budget and considers changes during workshops and budget hearings. Last year, the council adopted a $47-million spending plan and a millage rate of 3.000.
Per the Monroe County Property Appraiser, the village’s 2023 gross taxable value is $5,782,676,529, up slightly from the 2022 gross valuable value of $5,083,792,238.
Based on 2023 property valuations, the rolled-back rate is 2.6634 mills. Per a staff analysis, the 3.000 millage rate is 12.64% above the rolled-back rate.
Budget workshops are scheduled during the weeks of July 24 and July 31.
ORDINANCES ADDRESS BPAS
Building permits for new market rate residential construction are just about gone in the village of Islamorada. Council members will mull a proposed ordinance that places a moratorium on any new applications entering the system.
In a bid to safely evacuate those in the Keys, the Florida Administration Commission adopted the building permit allocation system, better known as BPAS, and capped the number of permits issued for new residential structures. In July 2013, some 3,550 allocations were given to the Keys over a 10-year span. With the BPAS expiring this month and many applications still pending, village officials are seeking to cut off any new potential applications.
Only 11 market rate residential allocations were made available to those in the system for 2023. Five were given to applicants at the close of the first quarter of 2023, leaving only six allocations to be awarded for the rest of the year. According to a village staff analysis, 62 market applications and six market applications with a land dedication remain in the queue.
“The utilization of the moratorium as a temporary measure to facilitate governmental decision making, study and the adoption of comprehensive plan amendment and/or land development regulations is a useful governmental tool to temporarily prohibit the acceptance of new market rate BPAS applications, with or without land dedication,” a staff analysis reads.
While a temporary moratorium will be placed on new market rate residential BPAS allocations, with or without land dedication, new affordable residential BPAS and new nonresidential BPAS applications won’t be cut off. The ordinance also doesn’t prohibit the continuation of applications currently in the approval process for a building permit.
Another ordinance before the dais would grant administrative relief for applications in the building permit allocation system that earned additional points for land dedication prior to July 6. The BPAS administrative relief pool is composed of unused market rate allocations. According to a staff analysis, there are 29 available allocations in the administrative pool. Per the ordinance, administrative relief would also be given to individuals in accordance with a court order or settlement agreement.
OTHER MATTERS
A village charitable contributions program saw a number of nonprofit submitting applications for funds. The council will examine those applications during the discussion portion of the meeting.
The dais will also get an update on the Fills. In May, the council decided that the Fills should be a right-of-way and not a park with amenities such as picnic tables and parking. It came after a survey found residents overwhelmingly against any park-like amenities on three small islands that connect Upper and Lower Matecumbe Keys.
The dais will consider approval of a resolution to go with Sea & Shoreline LLC to conduct a backfill restoration project at canal 116 on Plantation Key. The cost of the project is $1.5 million. Resolutions will also go before the council to approve debris monitoring services with Tetra Tech and debris management services with AshBritt.
