Key West Mayor Dee Dee Henriquez joined Good Morning Keys on KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about what’s going on in the city.
Over the weekend, the conch blowing contest was a lot of fun.
Henriquez said, “It was the 62nd annual Key West conch blowing contest. I will tell you there were some very talented people there that day. There was three or four of them that actually played songs. There was one gentleman that he played Somewhere Over the Rainbow. It was incredible. I really enjoyed myself.”
The planning department will meet today from 1 to 3 p.m. in City Hall.
Henriquez said, “It’s very important. It’s one of two meetings today. So the planning department is conducting two public meetings regarding a potential amendment to the workforce housing land development regulations. The first meeting is today, from one to three. It’s at City Hall and the Commission chambers. The second meeting if you don’t make it today, the second meeting will be Monday, April 7, from one to three as well in the commission chambers. The city planning staff is encouraging community participation and discussion to gain important feedback for the proposed code amendments. You can also join by zoom. So if you’re not able to be here physically, you can join by zoom, and you can get that information from our city’s website on how to join and the link. It’s very important that we hear feedback from our community.”
Henriquez received a standing ovation for her State of the City address at last week’s commission meeting.
She said, “I was shocked that when I looked up, everybody was standing and clapping. I wanted to try and give everybody an update on all the different things that are going on throughout our city. It was very exciting. I did a video instead of a PowerPoint presentation, and I will be showing it at the Rotaries and the Chambers, so you will have an opportunity to see it. And it’s on our website as well and our Facebook page.”
Florida Keys Day will be later this week in Tallahassee.
Henriquez said, “Florida Keys Day is an exciting time, not just for the city of Key West, but for all of Monroe County. Myself, the city attorney and city manager, we’re going to go up a day early, so we’re leaving tomorrow, and we have a full agenda on Wednesday. We’re going to meet with the governor’s chief of staff, Senator Rodriguez, Representative Mooney, along with the Speaker of the House, Daniel Perez, and even the future speaker, Representative Mike Redondo. So we are going to be hitting the halls in the capital on Wednesday, and as everyone knows, my objective is to build partnerships back with the state officials so they can help us continue to move our city forward. Then Wednesday night, there’s a little reception for everybody from Monroe County. Thursday, all of us will be there. I believe we’re going to get the agenda today, but we’re going to be meeting with lots of different agencies and have separate meetings with different representatives and senators. So I’m really hoping that we can make a huge impact while we’re there this year and start building our partnerships with the state officials.”
Are there particular priorities that our city delegation is looking to impress upon those in Tallahassee?
Henriquez said, “We have two projects out there right now, a sewer project and an infrastructure. One of them is lining and coating of 58 sanitary manholes in the Key West wastewater collection system. Doing so will reduce the groundwater inflow and infiltration into the collection system, and that is a $500,000 project. Then the other one is to revitalize the Crosstown Greenway on Von Phister corridor, and that will provide a better driving surface, preserving vehicle wear and tear, enhanced energy efficiency and safe operations for the drivers and the pedestrians and the cyclists. So that’s another $500,000 project. So that’s what our lobbyist requested from us, and then also, again, the Florida Keys Stewardship Act funding and Key West’s share should be about $2 million. Then we have some coordinated funding with their county and our other partners as well and of course, e-bikes is one of them in transportation. So there’s going to be a lot of us up there, and we have a lot of work to do.”
Could funding changes at the federal and state level make things different this year?
Henriquez said, “There is lots of conversation about cutting back and being fiscally responsible. So it’s going to be a very interesting year. Another topic is the ROGOs or the BPAS on the senator side versus the representative side. So that’ll also be discussed up there as well.”
How does Key West differ in the ROGOs issue?
Henriquez said, “We call them BPAS, but the conversation is whether it’s going to be a 24 and a half hurricane evacuation versus a 26 hour evacuation, and we are here at the end, so takes us a little bit longer to get out.”
What else is coming up?
Henriquez said, “There is a Key West Bight board this Wednesday, March 12, at 4pm so that’ll be going on this week. The Garrison Bight City Marina live aboard community meeting is going to be on March 31 and that’s in reference to the rent increases. So it’s going to be March 31 here at City Hall, from five to seven. So I know that’s going to be an important meeting for them as well.”