State cuts county from water bill but hands Key West Legion cash

State cuts county from water bill

but hands Key West Legion cash

BY TERRY SCHMIDA

News out of Tallahassee is a mixed bag for Keys residents with county politicians disappointed, and Key Westers receiving a little help with building restoration.

First, the bad news: two state bills, H.B. 7003 and S.B. 918 have zeroed in on Lake Okeechobee, the Everglades, and North Florida spring areas as priorities when it comes to receiving water quantity and quality affairs. This decision has left a number of county officials scratching their heads, given that Monroe, along with the Big Cypress, Green Swamp, and Apalachicola Bay areas, is a rare Area of Critical State Concern. Many county pols figured that this designation, which has caused considerable inconvenience over the years, would give Monroe a leg up on receiving some of the annual $700 million or so in Amendment 1 money which could be set aside for water projects such as canal restoration, as well as land conservation ventures. (The Amendment was a statewide referendum passed by voters on the midterm ballot in November.)

At press time a number of Keys lobbyists, politicians and officials were preparing to make their way to the state capitol in order to push a bill crafted by State Rep. Holly Raschein which would have brought home some $20 million annually over the next two decades. However, state legislators have told Raschein not to hold her breath, as her bill is unlikely to survive the session.

Land conservation will also likely take a hit in the future, as state politicians have been carving away at the Florida Forever program, dashing hopes of some county officials and pols that Amendment 1 could help bolster the sagging scheme.

“The fact that the senate doesn’t even want to use any of that money for land acquisitions seems to be a dismissal of the will of the voters,” District Three Commissioner Heather Carruthers said recently. “I’m disappointed that they’re not being better stewards of the money collected from the people who voted for Amendment 1. However, we’ll find other ways to deal with that issue down here.”

On the plus side of the legislative ledger, the proposed state budgets includes a grant to help fix up the historic but ramshackle William Weech American Legion Post 168 in Bahama Village.

“We had $310,000 from a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) grant, which the Legion was supposed to match dollar for dollar,” said Key West architect Bert Bender, who is spearheading the restoration project. “However that proved difficult, so the city has agreed to reduce the allocation to $210,000, and allow our $50,000 state grant to serve as a full match. We completed the Phase 1 stabilization about a year ago, and now we are seeking funding to proceed with the balance of the project.”

The project resonates beyond the neighborhood, Bender said.

“During WWII, black soldiers fought and died for their country alongside white soldiers, but the military was still de facto segregated, and at the end of the war black vets were excluded from participation in white legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars halls. This building was constructed in 1953 as a response to that policy, and as such is significant to our national history.”