There are officially 12 days of Village Hall office closures and employee observed holidays each year, including Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Years Day. But during the recent holiday season, it seemed those days were expanded to include, New Year’s Eve, December 26, and January 2.

 

Photo of the Week: Who recognizes this well-known place in Islamorada as it was 30 years ago… 1996?

As a village we start every year with the hope that the coming year will be better than the last.

We must keep our vision clear and our voices strong.

This should be the goal of all Islamorada residents.

If we adhere to our values we will accomplish our goals.

Our efforts will  create a lasting impact and renewed energy to complete the projects ignored and put aside because they are hard to resolve.

May our advocacy inspire fairness, our persistence open doors in the face of difficult challenges.

Our agenda for 2026 - getting our critical concerns addressed: 

• Improved public engagement – a full house at every critical council meeting with loads of valuable and insightful public comment. For this to be accomplished residents must be educated on issues and be energized.

• Complete and activate the Comp Plan revisions that make our regulations current and more protective of our environment and residents.

• We must review our Village charter –  it  should be a collaborative community project to deal with elections and other items overcome by events.

• Implement the Wastewater System’s critical fixes with fair cost allocations to assure proactive maintenance. We have emergencies much too frequently.

• Should we even be operating and maintaining the wastewater system worth hundreds of million of dollars?  Put out an RFP to find a qualified operator. We must get competitive proposals.

• Find an appropriate place for public works equipment. This issue has been at the top of our master plan for years with no results. Time to get all the equipment out of Founders Park and out of our precious hammock preserves.

• Devise and implement a plan for using or divesting of village owned properties: $8.5 million spent on old church property, Island Silver and Spice and Machado property. We purchased these properties with no end game.  A series of poor decisions.

• Workforce housing – is it even realistic or just a talking point for developers looking for concessions on their projects?

• Addressing traffic congestion. we just ignore the traffic surveys that the Chamber and their minions don’t like and just keep on growing.

• Our government officials should  insist on a Florida DOGE review. It would help residents understand our budget. Expected result: more transparency and efficiency. Who would fight it? What are we hiding?

•  We should be insulted by those who claim we are a rich community and can afford an $85 million annual budget? Arrogance on speed. Reason to bring in Florida DOGE.

• Why don’t we follow our local and state purchasing regulations as to competitive bidding – assuring we get the best products and services at a competitive price. Examples – our ride share service may be great for those using it – provided at over $500,000 of taxpayer money without ever having been competitively bid. $108,000 for lobbyists – no competitive bid.  Wastewater services – millions to a single contractor without competition. This is wrong. And expensive?

• Equal enforcement of code. Why  do we play favorites and use code violations for intimidation and retaliation?

 

Here’s to a year where truth speaks loudly, unity grows stronger, and careful unbiased collaboration guides every decision—because our work today shapes tomorrow’s  Islamorada community.

Stay strong! Be involved.

Tom Raffanello

At just after 4 PM Christmas Day, the FKAA notified customers via Facebook that their crews would be working through the night to fix the leak and restore water pressure.  Thank you to those employees who gave up holiday time to help tens of thousands of customers.

The Christmas Day pipeline leak was a significant incident that caused a drop in water pressure from Islamorada to Key West. FKAA announced a precautionary boil water notice for all homes and businesses in the affected areas. The boil water notice was in effect until noon Sunday. The leak was a transmission main break at MM87. While the new pipeline is in the ground on Plantation Key, it is not yet in use.   While little information has been provided by FKAA it is usually during the busiest times when the pipeline leaks occur.  In the past we have been told the leaks are a result of the pipeline being near its capacity to provide sufficient water during busy times. The water is under pressure to force it to the furthest locations in Key West. Lessons learned - concerns remain.  The new pipeline project, 130 miles of 36” pipe, is expected to take about 15 years.  So far the pipe has been installed on Upper Matecumbe and Windley Key.  Plantation Key is progressing ahead of schedule.  When Plantation Key is completed, about 12 miles of the 130 miles of pipeline will be completed at a cost of about $10 million per mile.

While many customers were wondering about the details of the critical pipeline leak on Christmas Day and the boil water notice, little information was disseminated.  The FKAA offices were closed for 5 days from Tuesday at 5 PM until Monday at 8 AM. On Saturday they did manage to post a notice that they had won a competition for the best drinking water in Florida. The Florida Section of the American Water Works Association (FSAWWA) has a “Best of the Best” Tap Water Taste Contest where regional winners in Florida compete against each other.  Samples are judged on taste, color, odor, and clarity.  The judging is not scientific.  Ironic that the FKAA “Best Tap Water in the State” Award was announced while most of the customers were under a boil water notice.

water, water, everywhere, BUT will we have enough drinking water!

Climate change, development boom, and over exploitation of groundwater are draining the Sunshine State. And frequent water leaks? Especially hard hit is South Florida. We can no longer take our water supply for granted. Sea levels in coastal regions have already risen greatly in the last few decades, pushing salt water into groundwater, expensive to treat to make it “potable.”   Kermit H Lewin Stock Island   Desalinization Plant, creating water safe to drink from salt water

And think of all the continual growth in the Homestead area - using the same water source we use. As an island community we have plenty of salt water.  There seems to be a plan to build more desalination plants in the Keys to create potable water from salt water. But desalinization plants have significant environmental impacts, including harm to marine ecosystems, high energy consumption, and the production of concentrated brine, which can disrupt local habitats. Perhaps the better solution is controlling the volume of water through controlling growth and through conservation of the resource.  The amount of water used per single family home has increased dramatically in recent years. Islamorada Rate Study: The Village EDU study currently underway will demonstrate just how much potable water the average single-family home uses now compared to the 157 gal/day that was documented in Islamorada 20 years ago.

On Jan 6, Village Council will consider a resolution establishing a Charter Review Committee to provide recommendations regarding possible changes to the Charter.

The resolution would create a seven-member Committee. Those appointed must be voters in the Village. It is proposed that each Councilmember would appoint one member to the committee, and the remaining two members would be selected by a majority vote of the Council.   The Committee is expected to meet at least once a month, and all meetings will be open to the public. The plan is to have a deadline of May 31, 2026, to prepare a final report advising the Village Council of any proposed amendments.        Any recommendations must first be approved by the Council and then placed on the November 2026 ballot for approval by a majority of Islamorada voters.

What is the Village Charter: The charter is like our constitution…  it defines governance structure, powers, and operational procedures. It outlines the roles of elected officials, including the mayor and village council members, and establishes processes for enacting laws, levying taxes, and managing budgets. In the last 25 years the Village Charter has been amended numerous times - changing Council terms from 4 years to 2 years; limiting council members to a total of 8 years on council, increasing Council compensation from $300/month to $1000/month; changing election of council from March to November, adding a 35’ height restriction. Islamorada residents interested in serving on the Charter Review Committee should contact individual Council members or submit an email to the Village Clerk at clerk@islamorada.fl.us.  Hopefully there will be dedicated individuals, who reflect Islamorada’s diverse community, willing to volunteer their time, knowledge, ideas, and experiences by serving on the Charter Review Committee. Click here to see the Village Charter.

David P Purdo

March 21, 1941 — December 22, 2025

David was a police officer in Detroit Michigan from 1962 to 1977 before moving to Islamorada where he became a fixture as a boat captain and outspoken advocate for the community.

Dave served on the Islamorada affordable housing committee and eventually was elected to the Village Council, serving two terms. He is survived by daughters Patty and Kathy and two granddaughters along with Barbara Edgar and daughter Cinnamon.

Florida Bay Forever and the Wild Bird Center team up for a Guided Bird Walk!! Saturday January 10th, 8:30 am.

Looking for books, DVDs and more? Stop by the Islamorada library. Check out the recent refresh while you're there. The Library closes at 1 p.m. Wed, Dec 31, and will be closed on Thu, Jan 1.

You can find out more about the hours, events at more at keyslibraries.org. To learn how you can get eBooks, eAudiobooks, streaming video and music, digital magazines and more any time, go to keyslibraries.org/online. Get Challenged: Join Winter Olympic fun by participating in the Upper Keys Winter Olympics Reading Challenge. All ages are encouraged to participate. Register at the Islamorada Library and join the reading challenges throughout the month of January. Complete the selected reading activity or event and earn a Medal. Register now.