You know that triangular little “park” in front of the Custom House, known as Clinton Square? Do you know whom it honors or how long it’s been there? LIkely not, because the monument at its center is often obscured from view.
Key West officials are working to improve Clinton Square to highlight the monument that was installed by the U.S. Navy in the 1860s to honor fallen Civil War soldiers. The expanded park area also will preserve access to the Custom House, Opal Key Resort and other properties, while eliminating illegal parking and stopping in the area. Work should begin by the end of 2022, project manager Albi Balliu said at the Aug. 16 city commission meeting.
At that meeting, the commission also approved a settlement with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection pertaining to the city’s sewage treatment plant on Fleming Key, where several violations occurred in 2020 and 2021, including improper discharges into surface or groundwater and elevated levels of enterococci and fecal coliform bacteria.
The city has made plans to improve its sewage treatment plant operations and pay FDEP a fine of about $58,000.
City commissioners on Aug. 16 also postponed two potentially hot-button issues until September, which is after the city’s Aug. 23 mayoral election.
A proposal to increase the pension payments to the city’s retired police officers and firefighters will be heard on Sept. 20. If approved, retirees would receive nearly $200 more per month in their supplemental monthly benefit, which would increase from $269 to $450 per month. The proposal also would extend the length of time the supplement is paid from age 65 until the death of the retiree. Finally, the proposal also would provide retirees with a 13th monthly check for any year that the pension plan’s net investment revenue exceeds 9%.
The city’s finance department does not support the proposal, which would cost the city an additional $1 million per year and would represent a 7.5% increase in payroll costs. Not surprisingly, the trustees of the pension plan support the proposed increase, saying it would be in the best interests of the retirees of the Plan and the citizens of Key West and that the increased monthly supplement would alleviate the hardships to retirees due to the economy. The benefit changes to the plan would also help attract and retain qualified police officers and firefighters thereby benefiting the citizenry of the city of Key West, the agenda item states.
The other potentially controversial item pertains to vacation rental properties, and would increase the annual licensing fee from $22 to $300. Property owners wishing to rent their units for one to six months at a time would have to pay the higher annual licensing fee.
Several local real estate agents have expressed concern about how the proposal would affect the ability of future property owners to rent their properties on a one- to six-month basis.
Their concern stems from the line in the proposed ordinance that states, “Properties that had a valid non-transient (rental license) on May 5, 2022 will be eligible for a permit.”
Although the matter has not yet been publicly addressed, real estate agents are concerned that properties sold in the future would be prohibited from renting their unit monthly. But again, public discussion has been postponed twice and is now set to be considered on Sept. 7.
