Brian Barroso, city manager of the city of Key West, joined Good Morning Keys on Keys Talk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about what’s going on in the city.
With the new acquisition of Higgs Beach, officials in the city are excited.
Barroso said, “What a fresh start. And I mean, it started from day one, the city was wasting no time putting some polish on the newly acquired Higgs Beach. Our community service crews are already on site rehabilitating the exercise deck and then our urban forestry is trimming the trees, our ground team is cleaning and cutting grass, and everyone’s leaning in. I just wanted to say, this is a special shout out to Marcus Davila for coordinating a smooth transition with Monroe County, so we’re keeping the park welcoming while we are developing both the transitional work list and just long-term vision. So we’re really excited about the future of Higgs Beach and the partnerships in which we continue to strengthen.”
Where do we stand with Mallory Square?
Barroso said, “It’s a long-term project, but boy, we’re bringing it forward, so just preserving sunset and just building for the future. So, right now, the Mallory Square, it’s entering an important redevelopment window. So that’s what really individuals need to understand. We are in a redeveloping window, so construction on the pier is expected to begin later this summer, and then we’re also working through potential TDC funding improvements, so be on the lookout, but we’re really trying to stand up some new safe structures. We’re definitely going to be looking at a restroom replacement, and then infrastructure upgrades, and then just more seating. All of these upgrades are aligned with the Mallory Master Plan, so our team is also coordinating with HTA on additional rehabilitation work throughout the area, so I just want to make sure the citizens understand through this construction window. Please don’t worry, the world famous sunset celebration continues. So the city has already installed banners along the construction barricades to keep the celebration front and center, so we’re really trying to make sure that we stay in partnership with the CPS, and then make sure that we’re doing everything we can, that through this construction process we do everything that is necessary to continue this amazing location, and obviously provide that sunset viewing for our residents and visitors.”
Hurricane season is just a few days away.
Barroso said, “I would just say that right now, being prepared and just practicing your preparation and your plan is key. Hurricane season officially begins on Monday, so it’s very appropriate that this afternoon our emergency management team is holding a full tabletop drill at City Hall. We’re actually going to be conducting a tabletop exercise that stands up and activates our gain management team here at what we believe is going to be our ground zero for any preparation or any event, but this is just an essential exercise to ensure everyone is ready for the emergency operational roles, should we need to activate, so it’s a really great opportunity for us to understand what are we doing well, what opportunities present themselves, and just how do we continue to be prepared to support this community if and when an event occurs? We are actually being invited to participate in the county’s tabletop exercise on Friday. So, ours is being conducted this afternoon, and then we have an opportunity, we’re part of a more robust emergency plan, which is the county, so we’ll be activating and participating on that on Friday.”
Community involvement is important to officials in city hall.
Barroso said, “We’re excited about this one. Key West gives back, so a big thank you to the Key West Rotary Club for an incredible casino night fundraiser. So, look, many clubs, all three clubs do amazing work in this community, but this particular one was our casino night fundraiser. This community never hesitates to step up. We want to mention congratulations to Jessica Johnson and Robert Wright. They both were the highest bidders for being mayor for the day. So our mayor is going to entertain those. I know that there’s some other awards, one is a day with myself and a day with the police chief. So just a great opportunity for our team here at the city, including the mayor, to give back opportunities in which individuals can come in and just see how the sausage is made, per se, but just in the ability to give back to this community. So all these efforts, in addition to the great work of the Rotarians, it helps raise thousands more for local charities, so we’re really excited about our involvement in the community, and this opportunity to partner with the Rotary Club of Key West.”
Key West Day at the Miami Marlins game is July 11.
Barroso said, “We were like, man, take me out to the ball game now. So we’re like, hey, get your hat and glove ready. So July 11 is the official Key West Day at the Miami Marlins game, so they are designating this as the Key West Day. The Marlins play the Cleveland Guardians, and for every ticket purchased through the special link, there was a link provided by the city, it’s on our city website, $5 supports the Key West Police Athletic League, so it goes back to the PAL League. So we’re really excited about that partnership, and then just details and tickets are available on the city and PAL website, so please look for both those mediums in which you could find that. And just a big thank you to Rick Lopez and Todd Stoughton for bringing this opportunity back to our community. We’re really excited about the partnership.”
Will there be a first pitch opportunity?
Barroso said, “That’s my understanding. My direction is, let’s make it completely about the kids. My communication back was, let’s not make it the mayor or commissioner or one of us, let’s make sure that we’re really changing lives and making an impact. So our desire is to pick some individuals or have this league pick individuals in which I believe they could be provided an opportunity to throw out, but we’ll see more to come. I’ll leave that to the to the brain trust there, but I did communicate that it should be more about the kids than it is us.”
Where do we stand currently with the Cuban situation?
Barroso said, “First and foremost, what I would say for the layman, the nexus is to use the moniker Cuba. What I want to be very clear is that our meeting with the US Coast Guard was about international travel. So what we really want to be clear is, we’re not necessarily denoting that this meeting or the information we’re providing is exclusively related to Cuba. It’s not. It’s about international travel. So, I want to make sure that I’m being respectful to our partners at the US Coast Guard, because they acquiesced and provided that opportunity for the mayor, myself to meet with them, so right now, international travel by vessel from the US to anywhere still requires a Coast Guard permit, just as before. So, what our city has done is we’ve gotten that information from the Coast Guard, and we’ve posted it on our website. So, this is just related to international travel by vessel, so it still requires a coast guard permit, so that’s our position. We’re not necessarily saying it’s about Cuba or not about Cuba, it’s about international travel. So I wanted to make sure that we’re very clear about that, because what many are seeing right now is the moniker of just Cuba. So city staff is preparing a preliminary report on how potential federal policy shifts could impact Key West. If anyone is looking for information, there’s really no more information to provide. We’ve done everything we can to meet with the individuals, entities that are associated with the protection of our borders, and mostly, how do we prepare as a city? So, right now we’re working on a preliminary report, and then we’re just paying very close attention on any federal policy shifts. So, we understand that just given the proximity, the historic ties, and the roles of our port community, we know that there is going to be an impact, and our plan is to continue to make sure that our 105 facilities are intact, we have an opportunity if there’s a humanitarian effort to stand that up. We have identified locations of that respect, but at the end of the day, we don’t have any additional information unless there’s a change in policy. So right now no immediate action is required. We’re just monitoring developments and coordinating with our federal partners, and if the travel policy changes, we’ll meet with these agencies, including Treasury, OFAC, and CPP, to ensure that we’re ready. So, right now, we believe we’re doing everything we can to stand up any type of scenario in which impacts the city of Key West, but it’s really being in close partnership and collaboration and communication with our partners, but right now there’s no information that can be updated other than what we’ve provided already. We’re ready as a city to do our part.”
Where does the lease with the Outer Mole Pier stand?
Barroso said, “Just want to take the opportunity to reiterate the strong partnership with the Navy. They’ve been amazing partners and continue to be. So we did receive formal notice regarding the lease, but we really were provided an opportunity through that same communication to identify the individual in which we could apply a license agreement for this year’s boat races. So, what we have done is we formally have requested a license agreement with the Navy for this year’s boat races. We’re waiting for that response back, but we feel very positive about that, and we’ve been in communication with offshore racing with, with how do we prep for that. So, what happens after this year is something that we need to obviously revisit and make sure that we’re doing everything we can to continue to bring this amazing event to Key West and the community, and know that the Navy is, I don’t want to speak for them, but I’ll stipulate our conversations. They’ve been amazing partners, and I accept the opportunity that they are going to continue to do everything they can to provide this opportunity to our community.”
How is the budget coming at the state level?
Barroso said, “We understand that their budget is nearing completion. So, what we’re really excited about is to understand and see and recognize the great work that we did in Tallahassee regarding funding, so we have a preliminary understanding of what was approved. Now it needs to pass the window of veto for the governor, and if that happens, if and when, we’re going to be extremely excited to report back what the efforts have yielded with our partnership with the Southern Group, in particular, but just the hard work that this team continues to do to advocate for funding, know that every dollar that we are able to get from a funding and a grant perspective effectively reduces the tax obligation to our community. So we’re anticipating that information. We want to make sure that we report accurate information, that’s a key component to our approach, but we’re eagerly anticipating it getting to the governor’s desk and passing that opportunity to be vetoed, and then we will report back. Just for context, we applied for $11 million from Tallahassee for the upcoming year, so just use that as a benchmark. So we’re excited about what we preliminary have heard back, but again we still have an opportunity to go through the veto window. So, when that occurs, if and when, just look for that information. I anticipate being able to do some type of reporting out at the upcoming commission meeting, but we’re really excited to let the community know, and our partners know what we’ve been able to advocate and receive from Tallahassee. It really is a reflection of the relationships that we rebuilt over the years, and the relationships that we can continue to strengthen as we move forward.”
Key West officials also took a trip to DC earlier to talk about funding.
Barroso said, “Equally excited about that. It’s close to approximately 18 million that we applied for at the federal level, and again, same type of process, similar timing, but we’re really excited to see what we’re able to do. There are two specific projects that we’re looking for funding, so just from a community perspective and understanding, we applied for roughly about 4 million for the FDOT project at Jose Marti, which is going to begin at the latter part of this year, and then we did ask for 14 million for our fire station, understanding that that is a bonded project, and anything that we can get to reduce that obligation from a bond perspective just helps again reduce or mitigate the impact from a millage perspective, so we’re really excited about that 18 million and what that looks and feels like, but again, just our ability to get into the right rooms at the right time, speaking to the right people and asking the right questions has just been amazing. I mean, there’s been years in which, under previous administration and leadership, that we didn’t receive any funding, so we’re really excited, I would say cautiously excited, because we understand the environment in which we’re operating in, but what we anticipate is reporting back to this community the great efforts and advocation for the city of Key West.”
Every other Tuesday is Coffee with the City Manager.
Barros said, “So individuals that would like to come in and speak to the CM, we have that opportunity, so it’s every other Tuesday, and we look forward to providing this platform. We believe informed citizens are a strengthened community, so we really feel that there is no moniker of, man, I don’t know what’s going on there. We do operate in an environment of transparency, honesty, integrity, and we provide these platforms in which individuals come in and see that for their first hand. I’m big on just being informed and make your own decision and source to source, and what better source there could be than you yourself if you take the opportunity to come here.”
Memorial Day was a time for reflection.
Barroso said, “I would be remiss if I didn’t pause and just recognize that for many it was a day off, but for us it was a recognition of the sacrifices that were made by those who came before us. Outside of that, just a big thank you to our team here that continues to do great work.”
For more information, click here: https://www.cityofkeywest-fl.gov/