No power for No Name - not yet

BY TIMOTHY O'HARA
Citizen Staff

The Monroe County Commission on Wednesday moved forward with two proposals to bring a central sewer system and federal flood insurance to sections of No Name Key, but delayed voting on a plan to bring commercial power there.

County Mayor Mario Di Gennaro sponsored a resolution to bring power and a central sewer system to the entire small barrier island of 43 homes, but Commissioner Dixie Spehar changed the resolution to state the county will focus on bringing a central sewer system to No Name Key first.

If a sewer plan is developed that requires commercial power there, then the county will review that system to determine whether a central sewer system is the best option, Spehar said. The commission could opt for smaller, on-site systems there.
The commission voted 4-1 on Spehar's resolution, with Commissioner Sylvia Murphy dissenting.

In a companion resolution that Di Gennaro proposed, the commission agreed to send the federal government a plan to remove the east end of No Name Key, called Island's End, from the Federal Coastal Barrier Resources System. The federal designation prohibits the fewer than 20 homeowners there from receiving federal flood insurance.

Some residents on Wednesday told the commission they can't sell their homes because banks won't grant loans without flood insurance. One single mother, Marsha Fletcher, wrote the commission a letter about her being forced to sell her home as part of a divorce settlement, but then being unable to do so because she couldn't get flood insurance.

Resident Mary Frances Bakke argued that the area never should have been included in the Federal Coastal Barrier Resources System in 1990, because the area does not fit the criteria, which states it must be undeveloped and not have roads. There were at least three homes and gravel roads at the time, Bakke said.
"We had sufficient development to qualify" for not being in the federally restricted area, Bakke said.

No Name Key must have appeared as a ghost town on Wednesday, as nearly two dozen homeowners attended the meeting, with four hours devoted to the subject. Most residents who spoke agreed the community should be connected to some sort of advanced wastewater treatment system, but they were split on whether the island needs commercial power.

Power opponents claim the sewers are a ruse to bring commercial power to the island. They reminded the commission that it last month directed the county staff to research a sewer system that would not require commercial power for No Name Key. County engineers and other county officials plan to travel to Charlotte County later this month to visit such a plant and see whether it would work in the Florida Keys.

Some No Name Key residents asked the commission to wait until the staff has firm cost estimates on sewer systems before agreeing to bring central sewer or power to No Name Key. Estimates range from about $20,000 a home to nearly $60,000.
"This is way too premature," resident Hallet Douville said. "It's not about public health. It's not about wastewater. It's about bringing power."

Also on Wednesday:
*The commission extended a moratorium on the redevelopment of commercial marinas and working waterfronts for another six months. The moratorium has been in place for three years, county staff said. The moratorium allows commercial waterfront property owners to repair their docks or expand the number of docks, as long as they don't change how they use the property.

* The commission postponed voting on a land-use map change that would allow 43 new homes to be built near the front of Key Haven. The issue will be heard at the county's July meeting in Key West.

tohara@keysnews.com