Additional soil contamination near the site of the planned workforce housing development on College Road has further delayed the start of construction on the affordable rental complex.
A new, small area of pesticide-contaminated soil on city-owned land off College Road on Stock Island needs to be removed before the Florida Department of Environmental Protection will give the go-ahead for construction to begin. The location of the polluted soil is a parcel adjacent to the planned housing complex currently rented by the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority. It should be removed sometime next week, according to Steve McAlearney, city engineering director.
âItâs very small, a few truckloads [of contaminated soil], if that,â he said.
Key West City commissioners have a full agenda for their meeting tonight, including hiring Patti McLaughlin as interim city manager and firing Duval redevelopment consultant KCI Technologies, Inc.
McLaughlin, currently assistant city manager, has been tapped to temporarily take over for outgoing City Manager Greg Veliz, who is leaving April 16 for a new position with the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority.
If McLaughlin is approved as expected, she will oversee city operations while a candidate search, also on Tuesdayâs agenda, is carried out. Commissioners have set aside $20,000 for the search.
In a related agenda item, commissioners will vote to appoint members to an advisory screening committee to assess and rank new city manager candidates. Each of the seven city commissioners as well as the cityâs three unions will appoint one person to the committee. A last committee member will be appointed by city hall staff management.
Waste Management, Inc., the residential and commercial trash hauling company servicing Key West, has asked city officials for multiple substantial rate increases in the middle of its current contract that, if approved, would result in millions of dollars in unexpected and unbudgeted expenses.
Waste Management met with City Manager Greg Veliz and other city officials recently to ask for four rate increases, including one that would immediately raise the residential trash collection rate from $14.62 to $16.32 per month even though the current contract with the city does not expire until Dec. 31, 2021. That price hike totals $264,784 in unanticipated costs to the cityâs solid waste enterprise fund.
Cheers: To State Sen. Ana Marie Rodriguez for voting against the cruise ship bill, although she submitted, but then withdrew, an amendment exempting Key West because of its status as a State Area of Critical Concern. Key West residents should keep a close eye on the progression of the Senate and House bills, both of which fly in the face of votes for referendums in last Novemberâs elections.
Cheers: To the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for its ongoing investigation into one, and possibly another, local labor supply company. These companies have been skirting the law for years and have artificially suppressed wages. However, the crackdown itself is having some impact on local businessesâ abilities to operate.