County Commissioners Waiting For Legal Opinion On Relocating KOTS

 

By John Andola

 

Where to put KOTS? The County Commissioners have decided to wait for a legal opinion before possibly relocating the homeless shelter from the Monroe County prison grounds on Stock Island.

 

 

The plan is to move it to the Easter Seal site, across College Road, land owned by the city of Key West.

 

 

At the March 19 meeting in Marathon, Commissioner Heather Carruthers said she was concerned because KOTS does not seem like a temporary facility and it just might qualify as affordable housing under the law. If that’s the case, the statutes may need to be changed and doing that for one situation, she said, may not be a good idea. Commissioner George Nugent agreed on the need for a legal opinion before the legislative route is considered.

 

 

Also at the Board of County Commissioners meeting, a presentation was made by the SPCA for a $575,000 contract with the county to support a new 20,000 square foot facility and attendant programs. The current county contract with the SPCA is for $408,000 annually. Members of the SPCA pointed out that the current facility on College Road is greatly inadequate for the number of animals housed there and also that the building and surrounding areas flood badly during rain storms. County Administrator Roman Gastesi has so far agreed to contract terms including $515,000 annually.

 

 

It was also pointed out that the contract with the county is a reimbursement contract so the county pays only for appropriate invoices presented by the SPCA. Spaying and some other medical services provided by the SPCA do not quality for payment by the county. Any undispersed funds at the end of the contract year remain with the county. SPCA is currently engaged in a major fundraising campaign and its members anticipate raising all the necessary funds for the new construction, plans for which have already been designed.

 

 

The county attorney pointed out that notice of the proposed contract must be advertised for 21 days and that the county must be assured that all construction funds are secured before it can negotiate a final agreement with the SPCA. Gastesi assured the commission that a final agreement could be reviewed at the April meeting. Commissioner Nugent complimented the SPCA for all the “fine work” they do and moved to expedite the proposal and move the project forward.

 

 

Rhonda Haag, the County Sustainability Manager, reviewed highlights from the March 10 meeting of the Monroe County Climate Change Advisory Committee (MCCCAC) and explained the process in place to produce an RFP for disposing of county yard waste. Although the MCCCAC about a year ago recommended composting in the Keys, the committee is now in agreement to release an RFP that allows for different methods of yard waste disposal in the Keys or elsewhere that meet important criteria. Several of those criteria are financial: Overall price, insurability, verification of costs consistent with activities described, proposed revenue sharing, appropriate base for unit cost escalation, relevant corporate financial record/audits and financial sensitivity to changes in service.

 

 

Additional criteria for consideration include: Greenhouse gas emissions, ability to provide in-county vs. out-of-county processing, use of county property, short term vs. long term (2 years or 10 years), allow costs greater than $84/ton, allow one or a combination of geographic areas and most important be certain that appropriate and accurate comparisons can be made for RFP evaluation.

 

 

The MCCCAC at an upcoming work meeting will present Haag with its recommendations for writing the RFP. Haag, with the assistance of a consultant, will write the RFP and bring it back to the BOCC for approval before its release. Commissioner David Rice said he was especially concerned that this project be assigned an end date since it has been in the works for some time and seems always to be put further in the future. It was agreed that an RFP come to the BOCC no later than June and that it be released so responses can be returned in August.

 

 

After some detailed review of the financial commitments from the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), Monroe County and the city of Marathon the BOCC approved a resolution for an interlocal agreement committing FDOT to provide funding for the repair and rehabilitation of the old Seven Mile Bridge between Knights Key and Pigeon Key. The commission also approved an interlocal agreement between the city of Marathon and Monroe County setting forth the funding obligations of the parties for the repair and rehabilitation of the bridge.

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