Since 1995, I have owned property in Key Colony Beach and have been a permanent resident since 2012.
Due to Hurricane Irma in 2017, the floor in the present city hall complex has sunk and is in need of replacing.
The city received $300,000 from insurance for this purpose but chose to rent temporary trailers. The floor in the complex should have been replaced as soon as the city received the insurance. Because of renting those three trailers and using all the insurance monies, the taxpayers will foot the bill for any renovations or additions.
I am told the mayor said the present floor is below the old elevation and that he is trying to get funding from the state to build a new complex. This will take 1 ½ years at an approximate cost of $2 million.
Let’s go with the pros and cons:
- If the city does receive the funds from the state, the taxpayers will be paying for the trailers for at least another 3 years. If the city doesn’t receive the funds the taxpayers are back to square one.
- If the city receives the funds from the state and builds a new complex we may lose the Post Office. And if lost it will never return! I have been told the mayor stated, “If we lost the Post Office we will bring in something else.” No one wants to go to Marathon for their mail, etc., and do not want or need “something else.”
- If the city decides to build a new complex without state funding we — the taxpayer — will be paying for it.
The present building is sound. There aren’t any settlement cracks in the exterior walls of the building. I do not know what the elevation is of the current building, but going by my own home it looks the floor would only need to be raised about 12 inches to meet the present flood elevation requirements. If the floor in the present complex is replaced at the current elevation and the insurance cost is about $10,000 more per year as opposed to the cost of a new complex at approximately $2 million it would take 200 years just to break even.
I have been trying to think of a word or phrase to cover this, then I recalled a statement made years ago which went something like this: “Socialism is a wonderful thing until you run out of other people’s money to spend.”
This letter should be sent to the 800 registered taxpayers giving them all the facts and go by what the majority wants, not what the mayor wants.
Edward Roach Sr.,
Key Colony Beach
