Kristen Livengood, public information officer for Monroe County, joined Good Morning Keys on KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about what’s been going on in the county.
Remembrance of 911 will happen tomorrow.
Livengood said, “Tomorrow is definitely a busy day. We’re going to start out with our BOCC meeting that starts at 9am in Key Largo, and that’s followed by in the evening, at 5:05pm is our final budget hearing, and that’s also taking place at the Murray Nelson Center in Key Largo, but can also be watched. We continue to do our hybrid schedules where people can watch and even interact with our meetings online. That’s one of the good things that came out of COVID, is all of this technology where, especially because we live in such a wide area of, 110 miles long that people can participate even when the meetings are in Key Largo or Key West or Marathon, no matter where you’re at. So in the morning, though, Monroe County Fire Rescue is going to continue to remember those who lost their lives on September 11. We have, for years now, invited the public to go to any of our stations. We have eight stations that they can go to. Stock Island, Big Coppitt, Sugar Loaf, Cudjoe, Big Pine Key, Conch Key, Layton or Tavernier, any of our stations open to the public at 9:50am. They’re going to bring our fire trucks out of the station’s Bay and then at 9:59, they sound the horns. They do five blasts, followed by a minute of silence. Then from 10 to 10:28, they do a time for personal remembrance and reflection. At 10:28 which was the time that the north tower collapsed, they sound the apparatus again with three sets of five blasts, and then have another one minute of silence. And then at 10:29, they raise the flag back up. So it’s a really beautiful ceremony. I know it’s one of those things that everyone remembers where they were on September 11. I was a senior in high school, and I walked into the office, and everyone had the news on, and I just looked up and I was like, oh my gosh, what is going on? So I just, I know that everyone has their stories, or have even been involved with it, especially if you’re from the New York area, it’s something that was just across America. We were all so involved with what was going on.”
The Tunnel to Towers Foundation is hosting a 5K run.
Livengood said, “This foundation was started after 911 to help the firefighters families that had lost their loved ones. They actually bought houses for the fallen firefighter’s families after 911, but why that’s significant to us down here in the Florida Keys is that after one of our Monroe County Fire Rescue firefighters, Herve Thomas, after he passed away a couple years ago, this Tunnel to Tower Foundation actually came in and purchased a home for his wife and daughter, Naima. Naima is a senior this year, but for the past I think it’s three years now, she’s had a beautiful home on Big Pine to live in, and it is absolutely a great foundation, and they’re hosting that 5k on November 2 at 8:30am at Big Pine Key community park. People can run, donate or volunteer, and they can sign up at the website t2t.org or they can email [email protected], but I just thought that was very important to mention, because it’s just such a great organization that helps fallen firefighters from across the United States.”
The audit of Monroe County Fire Rescue and Trauma Star will also be a topic at tomorrow’s meeting.
Livengood said, “Then we’re going to be welcoming Christine Hurley. She has her contract and it is great to hear how excited she is to come on and I think our staff is just very excited that she is a familiar face.”
The ROGO survey is on the county website.
Livengood said, “This ROGO survey is about our takings cases. So it is a 10 question survey. The first five questions are the same questions we asked in the past three surveys. So it’s very, very, very quick survey. Usually we say they take about three minutes. That’s one of we’re saying takes about four or five because it’s actually a learning experience for this survey, because before each of the questions, it kind of gives you a little bit of an idea of what the takings cases are and why they’re so important to this process. So I definitely suggest to all of your listeners, if they haven’t taken that survey yet, to go take it. They can go to our website. We’ve got some one pagers on there that if people are interested on what’s going on and what these terms mean, like taking cases, that they’re able to just learn a little bit more about it and why this is such an important conversation that we’re having. By now, I hope that most people who wanted to know, I hope that they absolutely know, because our director of strategic planning, Kimberly Matthew, she actually read and spoke to, I believe, 27 different civic groups and nonprofits and homeowners associations over the past few months, and she’s been trying to educate everyone. We hosted a couple weeks ago, also a few town halls for anybody who’s not a part of a civic group here in the Florida Keys that they were that we had some open availabilities for people to come take a separate survey that we did, but we’re just really want to hear what the public is thinking, and you know what the sweet spot may be at the end of all of this for whether or not we take any additional ROGO permits or not. I also put it on all of our social media. It’s a huge task and a huge responsibility to make this decision. So just trying to make sure that that everybody’s heard, and I’ve heard the commissioners now say several times, that they’re not looking at those 8,000 they’re looking at way less. But they just want to make sure that they get it right, too. This is something that will, without a doubt, affect our future.”
The in person vulnerability assessment open houses are also coming up.
Livengood said, “This is going to be a more interactive setting for people to be able to see posters and review specific maps and various types of assets and flood risks that the county has. This also goes into planning for future, making sure that county buildings and county assets, bridges, things like that, are all set up for sea level rise and different vulnerabilities with hurricanes and things like that along the way. The first open house is going to be Monday, September 16, from five to six, and that’s going to be in Commissioner Lincoln’s conference room, and that’s at her Big Pine office, which is in the Winn Dixie Plaza. Thee second Open House is Tuesday, September 17, from five to six that is at the Monroe County Public Library Marathon branch, and that is near 33rd street in Marathon. Then the open house number three is Wednesday, September 18, and that’s from 5 to 6pm and that’s going to be in Commissioner Raschein’s conference room at the Murray Nelson building in Key Largo. The public is welcome to swing by. They can come and go as they please, as the open house is, it’ll be open for that hour. Come in, see the maps, ask questions from the experts and just see what’s important, and obviously provide any input as well for what they consider vulnerable aspects of the community. So it’s just a great way for the community to be able to come out and really be a part of what we got going on here in in Monroe County.”
The first orientation in the new Monroe County Emergency Operations Center was this morning.
Livengood said, “I’m excited to get over there and see it all set up, and anyone who’s a part of the internal operations will be swinging by today to look at it, and then we also have our big grand opening on September 23. Media is obviously invited to that, anybody who really has interest in it, if they are interested in coming, they’re welcome to reach out to me. It’s been a very long time coming, and we are excited to get that online, especially since we’re going into the heart of hurricane season right now. So just one of those reminders to everybody to make sure that they’ve got their kits stocked for seven days worth of worth of supplies for their family and their pets and they continue to watch the tropics right now, because this is the time that we need to keep our eyes on everything. Let’s just hope that we make it another year, today, and tomorrow are also Hurricane Irma. Let me tell you, talk about post traumatic stress disorder. Holy mackerel. Every time I see something in the tropics, I think we all take a collective breath who had to go through that. So just a reminder to make sure those kits are stocked and that you know where you would evacuate to. Every year I make a phone call to my friends in Orlando, and hey, is it okay if the girls come stay with you, if they need to evacuate? Because obviously I have to stay, but you’ve got to make sure that everyone else has a great place or a couch to crash on, or spare room to sleep in, or a hotel that they know will take their pets or anything like that.”
For more information, click here: https://www.monroecounty-fl.gov/