John Bartus, city administrator for Key Colony Beach, joined Good Morning Keys on KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about what’s going on in the city.
The project to refurbish City Hall continues to move forward.
Bartus said, “We had a big meeting on Monday with the architectural firm we’re hiring to do the storm hardening parts of the existing building and post office, and, of course, the design of the new addition we’re going to put on to the building, did a really nice walk through, had a wonderful meeting and I believe we’re on the right direction. They’ve got a good timeline to make sure that we do everything we need to do to qualify for the grant funding that’s going to help us pay for this. I’m very confident we’re on the right track, moving in the right direction to get this done.”
Key Colony Beach Day is coming up on Sunday, March 2.
Bartus said, “It’s a day to celebrate the city of Key Colony Beach. It was incorporated all the way back in 1957 and it’s a city that’s done a lot of things. They took the bull by the horns in a lot of areas before other communities did down here. I mean, they got themselves a central wastewater system, I believe back in the 1970s. They’ve got such a great sense of community in the in the city, and it’s a great day to celebrate. They’ll have vendors, a lot of vendors, coming in, they’ll have live music all day. The Rotary Club of Marathon will be doing their best to help out by selling beer and wine and helping us raise money for some of the causes that we do. I just want to say just briefly about that the Rotary Club of Marathon has, over the last four years, donated $351,000 back into our local community through scholarships and grants and some other things. So whenever you get there and you decide to get a little thirsty, you want a beer, wine or something like that, come over talk to the Rotarians there and see if you want to become part of the club there too. They’ve got the Barracuda races, which are always fun. They have these little pilchards, and they have a track, and they put them in, and the pilchard’s swim and whatever Barracuda slash pilchard wins the race, you can do some wage earning on. So it’s fun. It’s just a great day. This year it’s moving back to City Hall, the parking lot around City Hall, the post office, the park and the gazebo there. We’re looking forward to having a great time.”
Presents in Paradise was quite a success this year.
Bartus said, “But the need is ongoing, and we’re also working on making a part of that program, Rick’s Closet into a year around clothing program. If you’d like to donate, the easiest way to do that is text presents to 44321, on your phone. Just come out to all the different events going around our community, a lot of them help celebrate and raise money for good causes, and come out and have fun, participate, and the people you’re helping out are your neighbors.”