No Founders Park baseball controversy this time. Coral Shores senior standout, Donovan Thiery, signed a National Letter of Intent to play baseball at Florida State University.  Thiery, whose fastball has been clocked at 97 MPH, is projected to contribute both as a pitcher and a potential DH/first baseman for the Seminoles. Thiery is the first player in Coral Shores baseball history to earn a full Division 1 scholarship.  Baseball games may be standing room only in 2026 to watch Donovan at Founders Park! Hopefully the grass field will be tip top.

Congratulations Donovan!

We get interesting email!  A variety of issues seem to really bother our readers.  Is there something that bothers you?  Maybe we can bring some attention to it!

This bugs me:  

Islamorada likes to say we are the Sportfishing Capital of the World.  Why in this world would we prohibit our own amazing back country guides from using the boat ramp at our community park!

Tours of house and hammock, games, music, art and crafts, and so much more! Click here for details.

Look who was seen strategizing last weekend!

We continue to work diligently to educate the public regarding local issues that impact quality of life, our fragile environment and our limited infrastructure.

We continue to make rational suggestions. Is anyone in Village Hall listening?

I am compelled to respond to the ridiculous assertions made at the baseball field discussion last Tuesday.

To be clear, our position, from the beginning of this issue, has been asking council to adhere to the procedures and rules imposed by our Village.

That request has been ignored.  The baseball preliminary design was in the agenda as a discussion item only.  Yet they broke with their own rules and voted to approve the design which included the controversial artificial turf.

Our position on the “turf or grass” is simple — Have council and the public hear both positions, pro and con, and make the right decision consistent with the Villages’ mission statement.

Additionally, to be clear, this newsletter has over several thousand readers, certainly not a small voice of loonies, considering only 3-4,000 residents vote in our elections.

There is not a movement of people who would “be happy if the baseball field and other sports fields used by our entire community disappeared.”

There is more nonsense in the actual quote from last Tuesday but this is the crux of the statement and I don’t want to bore you. Suffice it to say it was a stupid, insulting, ill advised statement that has zero factual basis.

Shameful.

 

Our position remains consistent. To ask Council to hear the people and ensure the correct decision is made. For some this is hard to do because many officials do not seek opposing opinions but rather operate in their own bubble.

Example:

A  Baseball Field Task Force  of residents, authorized by our Village manager, made the recommendation to do a survey of residents to address the baseball field controversies. The task force request was ignored by Council who did not want to “kick the ball down the road.”

It would not take a great length of time or effort to settle this issue by hearing from  constituents.

Unfortunately, many residents are afraid to comment publicly. They fear both personal and commercial reprisals. This has been expressed by many readers.  

Power, bully politics, with occasional name calling in public, is now the norm in the village council meetings and other forums. We reject childish behavior.

Real public servants adjust their positions when given additional information. Not in this Village. Some council members were predisposed and made campaign promises.

We will never shrink from reporting issues as we see them.

As always, we welcome rational discussion in whatever forum is appropriate.

The “Will of the People” is more than a slogan.  It is the basis for political decision-making, underscoring the belief that our government should act while considering the wishes of its citizens. 

As a community we must do better. Remember, elections have consequences.

Tom Raffanello

With two long meetings last week, the Council made numerous important decisions, sometimes with lengthy discussion, sometimes with no discussion.  

You should have been there.  But then - would it have mattered?

Tuesday Meeting:

• Baseball design approved - while in the agenda for discussion only, the Council voted 4-1, Friedman dissenting, for preliminary Founders Park baseball field design with estimated cost over $6 million, including artificial turf and an 800 sq ft building with concession stand, 4 restrooms, and press box.

• Founders Park Master Plan approved - with estimated cost for proposed improvements over 15 years at $78,922,000

• Line of Credit approved: $20 million for emergency funds during a natural disaster or to finance  emergency capital improvements

• Contract approved retroactively $9,250/mo, for financial consulting services with Bishop, Rosasco and Co

• Ambulance Remount approved for Fire Rescue Department, $351,904

• 28’ Contender boat purchase approved for Fire Rescue, $350,000

• Work Authorization for Civic Engineer for $907,645, primarily wastewater

Thursday Land Use Meeting:

• 4 administrative relief approved: awarding 4 BPAS allocations for applicants in system, not awarded based on points but for being in system 4 years.

• Request approved: for Comp Plan change by applicant to enable building 42 affordable housing apartments on an acre in a Coastal High Hazard area (V flood zone)

• Approved Reversal of Planning decision: granting transient development rights for motel units changed to nonresidential use 40 years ago, against Planning Staff recommendation.

At the Council Land Use meeting last Thursday, Sue Miller, representing the Islamorada Community Alliance (ICA), spoke against adding 42 affordable housing units to a 1-acre oceanfront lot on Windley Key as being too dense, especially in a “Coastal High Hazard,” V Flood zone, location.

The applicant’s attorney commented at the podium that the ICA would be against anything the applicant wanted to develop there.

 

Perhaps so.  The ICA has consistently pointed to evidence of “overbuilding.”

• Windley Key is listed in the 2025 Traffic Study as a “D” classification - a segment that should be given particular attention when approving development applications.

• Serious evacuation and safety concerns have been repeatedly mentioned for decades by various speakers like Captain Ed Davidson quoting flaws in the evacuation methodology.

  
  

The ICA does not appear to be alone in their concerns. And the State objected to the change after first reading as it conflicts with our Comp Plan.

At the County Commission meeting last week, a resolution was passed asking for help from South Florida Regional Planning as they review a planned project along Miami-Dade’s Krome Avenue (an important way out for the Keys during an evacuation): 954 acres of agricultural land along Krome  Avenue would include 7,800 new residential units, more than 2 million square  feet of office, retail and industrial space, and three new schools.

The Monroe County Commission is rightly worried. But they have no jurisdiction in Miami-Dade. (Click here for the story in the Keys Citizen Saturday)

Florida Keys elected officials do have jurisdiction in Monroe County. And the ICA has often voiced concerns when Keys elected officials find ways to ignore traffic studies and evacuation methodology, ignore limited water sources, upzone properties to add more building rights; ask the legislature for more ROGO building allocations.  Silent on the tens of millions of annual TDC spending to bring in more tourists.

There are major wastewater concerns in Islamorada.  We will highlight concerns every week until there are none left to highlight!

The wastewater system is operated as an enterprise fund… a self-supporting government fund that sells goods or services to the public for a fee intended to cover all costs… just like a business.  We question whether the Village Wastewater Enterprise fund is operating in a businesslike manner!   Self-supporting? No - they show major deficits year after year. Thank you Islamorada Council for finally scheduling a wastewater special call meeting Nov 17 at 5:30 PM.  Now, let’s find solutions. This week’s concern: The 2022 Wastewater Rate Study is in the Nov 17 meeting agenda.  In the study there are critical recommendations approved almost 4 years ago but never implemented.  Hopefully those important suggestions can be used now to help eliminate the annual deficits the sewer system has been experiencing. Note - In recent past newsletters we have already questioned: Why isn’t Sun Community paying their fair share of wastewater costs? Why is the tiny 1947 trailer park near the Post Office paying more than their fair share? Why are the three breweries in the Village paying a minimal amount? Why does Village policy provide a volume discount for wastewater costs to the larger developments, resorts, marinas, restaurants with more than 10 EDUs? Need for public special call meeting about Wastewater FDEP consent order approval. (Special Call Wastewater meeting now on the agenda for Nov 17, 5:30 PM) Budget concernhighlighted in Nov 10 wastewater agenda item: Year-end (9/30/25) budget amendment shows a wastewater DEFICIT of $5,343,345 for the year just ended, 9/30/2025. We will continue to add/delete concerns until all have been resolved.