I was recently advised that the Village of Islamorada owns 128 properties in the Keys!

We own 105 within village limits (why do we keep property outside the Village?)

Congratulations taxpayers - you are amongst the largest land barons in Monroe County!  Total value estimate - a several hundred million dollars!

 

A PLAN?

Is there a plan for these valuable pieces of property? I have to ask - who manages our holdings? What is our long/short term plan?

 

Take a look at some of our Village owned properties:

 

Island Silver and Spice: The Village bought the property in the heart of the business district, for $2,750,000 in 12/2021. We then demolished the retail store (assessed at almost $1 million).  That was four years ago. What is the plan for that property?

Is it for sale or rent?

 

The old Island Community Church:

Purchased 8/12/24 for $3,995,000 and then leased it back to the church for 1 year, at no charge. Church services continued for the next six months, every Sunday.

We are told that engineers have safety issues with the building. I have also been told that one of the ideas for purchasing the church was to have a Village library. Libraries are a County function, not a municipal function. Buying a library site was not well thought out.

So here we are. A 4-million-dollar building, that may need repairs and has no functional use. How in the name of Ponce De Leon did this happen? Did we know it needed major repairs before we bought it?

Is anybody home? The $3,995,000 purchase of the 16,618 sq ft church structure -  sitting vacant, waiting for a plan.

Machado Property: four single family lots on the highway at MM88.5, purchased 6/16/2021, for a combined total of $1.8 million, and expected to be used for affordable housing. No decision as to whether the housing will be Village owned, leased, or sold.

That encompasses three different Village Councils that have not made a decision on this potential affordable housing. During the campaign for office last year every sitting councilperson had affordable housing as their first priority. And a year has passed.

Somebody remind them. Can you say strategic plan?

 

Green Turtle Hammock: The Village acquired the property with the Rosenthal bay front home/pool, historic Russell Cottage, and a smaller office/storage building. The money came from a conservation grant of $4.7 million in 2006. The pool was demolished in 2011. Demolitions of the residence followed in 2020. Now the council has approved demolishing the smaller building, most recently used as a classroom. Through long term neglect it is now, infested with mold and has become unsafe. 

Only the historic Russell Cottage, will remain. Along with the $1.8 million open air pavilion.

 

An avoidable shame? Did any of the demolitions occur due to improper long term maintenance? Who is responsible for these buildings and their care?

  

Founders Park: The treasured centerpiece of our community!  Unfortunately, we still tolerate the unsightly Public Works equipment scattered around. The Village has listed an offsite public works facility as #1 priority for over ten years – I believe it is in our LAST strategic plan in 2017. Look it up.

 

Affordable Housing properties: The Village has acquired properties for affordable housing and provided long term leases to Habitat for Humanity and Gorman and Company, a builder based in Wisconsin.

The homes are deed restricted and required to be rented/sold to qualified tenants. 

Annual audits were to be conducted to assure the occupants still qualify as to income. To my knowledge this hasn’t been done in a decade. These homes are for affordable housing, not long-term rent control.

Get to work!

 

The aforementioned properties are just a snapshot of our holdings. Shouldn’t Property Management for 128 properties owned by the residents be a top Village priority? They belong to us.

The Village needs to do a better analysis and have an end game for future property acquisition. The public comment and eventually a vote of no less than 4 council persons should be the rule for property acquisition. Three votes on Council should not rule on issues that cost over $1 million.

 

 If the Village wants to buy or sell million-dollar properties, a public presentation with explanations as to why it is a benefit and what our plan is to dispose of the property if it should be required.

 

Residents want to know who manages our multimillion dollar real estate portfolio. The village needs to explain, in great detail, these multimillion-dollar real estate transactions. Now and in the future. IT'S OUR MONEY!

Tom Raffanello

It was refreshing to see the Council and the public in full agreement about the importance of taking a stand by telling the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to prioritize the protection of coastal economies and ecosystems by excluding new offshore oil and gas leases off the Florida coast. The resolution passed opposing the offshore oil drilling with a unanimous 5-0 vote!

after being missing for the last 8 months! It provides a comprehensive list of projects the Council directed the staff to do with dates and current status. This report kept the Council and the residents informed about ongoing projects, improving transparency.  Thank you for bringing it back.

Finally Council approved a Baseball License Agreement for the Founders Park field!  The School Board has already signed one that is slightly different than the Village version, but hopefully they will accept our version.  

Click here to read the agreement - redline version showing Village changes.

Finally the Council discussed the need for a Strategic Plan.  Manager Saunders provided the Council members with a copy of the Monroe County plan.  Click here to see the Monroe County Strategic Plan.

Last Tuesday the Village Council passed a resolution establishing a Charter Review Committee to provide recommendations regarding possible changes to the Islamorada Charter. On Thursday Council appointed seven residents to serve on the committee. Each member of Council appointed one member. Two members were elected by majority vote of council.

Selections by Council Members: Mayor Don Horton: Ty Harris Vice Mayor Mahoney: Richard Black Anna Richard: Roger Young Deb Gillis: Lori LaLonde Steve Friedman: Susan Raffanello At Large members: Craig McBay Joe Roth

The Committee is expected to meet at least once a month. The deadline is May 31, 2026, for the committee to approve a final report advising the Village Council of any proposed amendments. All meetings will be open to the public. Be sure to watch for notices of the committee meetings. Public engagement will be critical. The charter equates to a Village constitution.  Not only does it provide the governing procedures, it can provide critical regulations that cannot be altered except through a referendum requiring a vote of Village registered voters. (Example - the village 35’ height restriction is in the charter and cannot be changed by Council vote.)    Click here to read the Charter.

Huge TIKI on SD Marine property, bayside along Snake Creek - wonder about it?  We’ve been wondering too!

Almost 3 years ago a Major Conditional Use Permit was approved by council following a lengthy public hearing. The conditional use allowed for the construction of 4 restaurants with a total of 13,511 square feet, 12-Unit Hotel/Motel, 30-Slip Docking Facility, a 180 square foot bait house. This new, nearly 5,000 sq ft tiki, is to be restaurant seating (100 seats) for a mobile food truck according to the site plan submitted last summer. Is this site plan a replacement for the 2023 site plan, or a Phase 1 that potentially needs council approval? According to code, any restaurant over 5000 sq ft requires a public hearing.  While the tiki is listed in the site plan as a 4,975 sq ft restaurant- what about a food truck instead of a kitchen for a 100-seat restaurant. Just a way to avoid a public hearing?

Palmheart Press is currently accepting entries for their upcoming anthology: The Chain: Connection in the Florida Keys, demonstrating the bond between people here and our environment.  If you have a story to tell - this is a great opportunity to write - no professional experience needed, just a love of nature in the Keys.

The anthology will be a collection of poems or short stories, by different writers, all residents of the Keys.  The book, up to 150 pages, will be available for purchase locally and on Amazon.  Folks with a love for our environment are encouraged to submit their own literary “masterpiece.”  All sales proceeds will be donated to Florida Bay Forever!  A great way to help an important local organization.

Saturday January 17th - 9am to 4pm San Pedro Church Gardens. Free admission - parking onsite with a $5 donation.

Every successful entity produces and executes a Strategic Plan. In my experience they are usually reviewed annually. During the last election every candidate spoke about the importance of implementing and following a Village Strategic Plan. As of today, none of the Village Council members elected 14 months ago has discussed or said the words “strategic plan.”  I write it off to the “I will say anything to get elected” posture of several of our council members. Just last week I listed a dozen issues that could be the starting point for the village to launch a successful and productive 2026. A follower of our newsletters and property owner in Islamorada commented that much of the list looked like the start of a Strategic Plan. What a compliment. The list is sound organizational advice that our village should adopt. But is it a bad idea because it comes from the ICA? Some may feel that way, but good ideas are there to be stolen and applied by our government to improve our village no matter who comes up with the ideas. My list last week was intended to be the beginning of goal setting, a “to do list” for 2026. Click here to look at my suggested goals for 2026. The last official Islamorada Strategic Plan was approved in 2017. In the very first paragraph the Plan stated: “The Strategic Plan is intended as a guiding document to be utilized for annual goal-setting, budgeting, and evaluation processes to direct the Village’s actions,  investments, and engagements with partners.” Now let’s talk about Strategic Planning. The Village 2017 Strategic Plan has 30 goals listed in order of priority. The ratifying vote to determine priority ranking consisted of 15 staff and 5 council members. Why this heavy disparity? Staff should have input but not the majority of the votes. They were not elected by residents, and most do not reside in the village. Last I heard, the residents are to be in charge of their government through elected officials. The 2017 Plan is full of serious flaws not in sync with current Village needs. Yet a new or updated Strategic Plan has not been discussed or produced. It was mentioned by Elizabeth Jolin several years ago, but got no traction or support. The last goal, Goal #30 in the 2017 plan, was implemented quickly : “Transition from contracted to in-house wastewater operations and maintenance services.” That has proven to be a huge multi-million-dollar mistake. This decision needs to be reversed. I look at Council meetings and think “these guys/gals have no direction.” They often seem to be running a rudderless ship. A vetted Strategic Plan would provide current goals and direction to all the village personnel and elected officials. If I were a betting man, and I am, I would wager that most of the current council and current staff have never seen the 2017 Strategic Plan even though it is available on the Village website. Click here to see the 2017 plan. The top priority back 9 years ago – a place for public works. We are still working on it. There is no need to hire a contractor to help with a Strategic Plan and push this off another year or two. We make the mistake of contracting plans at the drop of a hat. The Monroe County Strategic Plan could be adopted by the Village as is. It is a generic plan that prioritizes critical goals. Same goals we all have in the Keys. Using strategic plan goals, annual goal-setting could then establish a “to do list” and budgeting to accomplish the goals. Monroe County made their strategic plan simple and clear. It has just three categories: Quality of life, The environment The economy. It lists areas of concern and priorities in each category. Period.  A concise list any local government in the Keys could use that would guide to specific annual goal-setting. Click here to see the Monroe County Strategic Plan. We certainly need a replacement for the 2017 plan -  a precise set of goals that can be used to prioritize the village agenda.  And there should be no doubt… the new plan must be in the best interests of Village residents. Council… do the job you were elected to do. Tom Raffanello