A crowd of about 25 live-aboards gathered at Mallory Square on Tuesday morning, along with Key West City Commissioner Sam Kaufman and a few others, to voice issues they believe
While not formally voting on whether to accept a federal grant to rebuild and expand the ship docking pier at Mallory Square, Key West City Commissioners promised to adhere to the cruise ship limits imposed by last Novemberâs referendum.
The commission agreed to postpone a vote on the matter until its next meeting, June 2. However, several commissioners were leaning toward accepting the $521,835 grant, which will require the city to add a $174,000 match for its 25% share of the phased construction project.
Delaying the vote until June 2 will give city Port and Marine Services Director Doug Bradshaw time to discuss modifying the project with state officials â who are administering the grant â to either reduce the size of the proposed pier expansion, which proposes to approximately double its length to 200 feet, and/or insert language that would specifically only allow smaller ships that adhere to the referendum limits to dock there.