Local children’s projects may get entire BP oil money settlement

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

Key West City officials are still debating what to spend the $2 million payout from the BP oil spill settlement on, although Mayor Craig Cates said the whole amount will likely go towards projects aimed at local children.

City Commissioners voted in September to use the roughly $2.1 million “primarily” for youth and recreation activities, although no specifics were spelled out at the time. And there were some residents who objected to the entire amount being spent on local children, arguing that the money should be used to improve the quality of life for all residents. Then-city commission candidate Margaret Romero suggested at the Sept. 15 meeting that the money be used to provide clean, safe parks and streets or improve community services by paying for capital improvements like new street sweepers that are often put off due to budgetary concerns.

But Mayor Cates said Dec. 29 that while city officials were still talking about what the money will be used for, he hadn’t seen any suggestions other than for children-related projects.

“Everybody agrees we want to use it for the kids. I don’t see anybody looking at it for any other use than for kids,” he said.

One option, Cates said, might be to expand the current repair project at the Frederick Douglass Gym, a $1.7 million fix of the gym roof and structural problems in the connecting buildings. Expanding the building into the adjacent parking lot would possibly create enough room for a new community center to replace a similar building currently in the Phase 2 design for the new Truman Waterfront Park. Not only would that reduce the $58 million price tag for the new park, it would also create more undeveloped “green space” on the 32-acre waterfront grounds, he said.

“They’re so close already,” Cates said about the Douglass Gym and the park.

Reached by telephone, newly-elected City Commissioner Romero said she would not necessarily object to using the entire $2 million on projects benefiting local children. However, she said she did not want the money to be allocated to a project until that project had a specific budget, “not just generically given to a community center project.”

“I want details. And I want [the money allocation] to be a transparent process,” she said. “I want the BP money to be spent across various quality of life issues.”

Key West’s portion of the 2010 BP disaster settlement was $2.7 million. Lawyers’ fees reduced the city’s payout by $600,000, leaving a one-time windfall in the city coffers.

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