Even though we are probably decades away from seeing noticeable impacts from sea level rise, the time to begin thinking about and planning for those impacts is right now, says County Commissioner George Neugent.
Neugent hosted a town-hall meeting about sea level rise last week, with guest speakers talking about the impacts on property values, the impacts on habitat and wildlife, and potential ways to combat the effects of sea-level rise.
“Five years ago, only scientific communities were talking about sea level rise. Now, it has risen to the level of a daily conversation on street corners,” said Neugent. “Our biggest question will be ‘Is this something we can do anything about?’”
“Eventually,” said Neugent, “there are things we’ll have to do. And there are things we can do right now to prepare.”
He suggested that all governmental entities with road maintenance responsibility begin to raise road levels each time a surface is repaved, and that all municipal building be done with graded drives and parking lots.
Continue reading ‘Sea level rise gets local attention’
For the first time in three election cycles, Republican District Two County Commissioner George Neugent will face someone other than a perennial also-ran in the upcoming race to retain his seat.
Local businessman Danny Coll, owner of Keys Medical Transport and NAPA Auto Parts on Big Pine Key Wednesday filed paperwork to run as a Republican against the three-term incumbent in the August primary.
Coll will face off against Neugent in the Republican primary in August.
FEMA: NO
Enclosure inspection program will stay in place until end
It came as no surprise last week that Federal Emergency Management Agency officials turned thumbs down on a county request to end the pilot flood insurance inspection program for below-base-flood-elevation enclosures.
FEMA had mandated the program, after a few years of wrangling with county officials to start bringing a high number of non-conforming downstairs enclosures into compliance.
Continue reading ‘FEMA: NO
Enclosure inspection program will stay in place until end’
Mother Nature and I are having a battle these days.
And of course, I’m losing.
I have always prided myself on knowing that Mother Nature will always win the war, even though I may win a battle or two along the way.
What’s next step without penny?
The state Legislature may have put the brakes on Monroe County’s quest to get approval for a one-cent additional sales tax to help it fund several hundred million dollars in remaining wastewater upgrades, particularly for the northern Lower Keys section from Lower Sugarloaf to Big Pine Key.
Some county officials had pinned their hopes on a possible extra penny in sales tax to offset costs for the system, estimated at $194 million.
