Key West’s attorney was limited in what he could say to the city commission Tuesday night about the afternoon’s cruise ship mediation session with Judge Sandra Taylor, but the parties did agree, Smith said, that he could describe the talks as “extremely productive.”
The commission will hold a special meeting on Thursday, March 10 to discuss the cruise ship issue. Smith said the commissioners and the public should have some additional information by Thursday, March 3 to review before the special meeting.
“We’re looking at a revised resolution (about ships at the city-controlled piers), a revised cruise ship ordinance and a revised agreement with Pier B,” Smith said.
Developing the diesel plant
The old brick diesel plant at Truman Waterfront is and in dire need of repairs and development, City Manager Patti McLauchlin told the commissioners.
She has hosted two public workshops with two more scheduled to see what residents want to see in the historic, but failing, building. Following the four workshops, the city will issue a Request for Proposals from groups that want to develop the property.
McLauchlin pointed out that many of the public’s requests for the property will be included in the renovations of the nearby Frederick Douglass Gym, which will fulfill a lot of the public’s requests, she said, adding that commercial operation will have to take place at the diesel plant in order to fund anything else that’s put there. “But I’m not sure we’ll be able to save those buildings after too much time. Those buildings are in terrible shape.”
Commissioner Jimmy Weekley said, “We’ve been talking about this for a long time and the property is deteriorating. We need to move quickly and shore up whatever we can do on our own in the meantime. It’s important to recognize that there has to be some commercial activity allowed down there.”
Commissioner Wardlow agreed, and urged McLauchlin to send out the RFP immediately after the fourth public workshop. “If not, another commission will still be talking about this in two years.”
Key West supports Ukraine
Commissioner Sam Kaufman called the attacks on Ukraine, particularly a historic Holocaust site there, “tragic, unacceptable, no good and inexcusable. This is not OK. It’s outrageous.”
McLauchlin said the city could fly the blue and yellow Ukrainian flag in solidarity. Mayor Teri Johnston said other cities are also lighting up public buildings in blue and yellow and suggested the same be done at City Hall.
$10K offer not enough to mitigate $585K in fines
A code compliance case and resulting fines have left a Key West property owner, Robert Janicki, with a $585,000 lien against his property at 1205 11th St. Janicki was not present at Tuesday’s meeting, but was represented by his attorney, Van Fischer. At the meeting, Fischer proposed a $10,000 payment to release the lien.
“Ridiculous,” Johnston called the offer. “Your client got caught. He built three structures without permits, and he got caught. It’s fascinating that we continue to get these ridiculous mitigation amounts when it took the property owner more than 500 days to come into compliance. The private sector and construction industry did not slow down during COVID. $585,000 would fund five code officers and five police officers. A message must be given to the community that you don’t do work without a permit.”
Weekley agreed and moved to deny the $10,000 offer. “I’d like to deny this and make the process start all over.” The commission agreed unanimously.
Mallory Square makeover to start with public input
Commissioners voted unanimously to uphold a ranking committee’s suggestion that the city begin negotiations with the Sasaki group to reinvent the underused waterfront plaza at Mallory Square. As of now, the area is not shaded and used only two hours a day for the Sunset Celebration. The Sasaki group told the commission Tuesday that they’ll listen to the public before coming up with specific ideas. “Mallory Square is the exclamation point of Key West,” the group told the commission. “It’s the southernmost public park and we need to start infusing it with community comforts and increasing its connectivity to the rest of the waterfront. We’ll listen first, then come up with ideas.”
