No Name Key electrification gets another public charge
By Steve EstesNo Name Key residents will get another chance to chime in on potential changes to the land use regulations on their island Monday when the Monroe Board of County Commissioners acts on a resolution to transmit those changes to the state Department of Community Affairs.
The proposal being considered would allow the development of central wastewater systems on the remote island off the north east shore of Big Pine, as well as the extension of electricity.
No Name Key has never been on the commercial power grid, and the thought has pitted neighbor against neighbor in the battle to place the environmentally sensitive island on the grid.
In the summer last year, county staff, with the support of the then-seated commission, proposed the extension of central wastewater systems to No Name Key, originally without the caveat of also providing commercial power. Power was added, however, when the then-majority voting bloc decided that only systems requiring commercial power would serve the island.
That voting bloc has since been unseated by voters, however, and the measure has yet to be approved for final transmittal.
Late last year, the old commission voted to send a land development regulation change to DCA allowing central sewers and commercial power, but it was rejected by DCA, which oversees growth management issues in the Keys Area of Critical State Concern because there was no comprehensive plan policy allowing the proposal.
The No Name Key Property Owners Association, a group formed during the most recent battle to electrify the island, has challenged that DCA decision.
Monday’s vote, if approved, will send the policy documents to DCA that would have allowed the land use regulation change, and the state agency can then decide whether the policy is compliant or non-compliant.
Some officials involved in the issue still have questions, however, about whether this policy is even needed for No Name Key.
“I thought when we talked about this last that we were going to wait until the (Florida Keys) Aqueduct Authority gave us some proposals on No Name Key before we took final action,” said District One County Commissioner Kim Wigington. “This is an emotional issue, but it needs to be decided with data on engineering and done logically.”
Wigington said that she never plans to make decisions based on who talks the longest and loudest.
“When people bought on No Name Key, they bought knowing there was no commercial power. They knew the rules and now want to change them. I don’t see that as reason enough,” she said. “If 90 percent of the people who live on No Name Key come to us and say they want electricity, that living off the grid is no longer what’s good for the island, then we can revisit that.”
In the staff report that accompanies the proposal, county planning staff cites the state mandate for wastewater upgrades in several sections for their rationale to approve the policy.
In each instance, however, the staff cites the state mandate as one that requires central wastewater systems to meet the mandate.
That isn’t accurate, according to Mayor George Neugent. He has said for nearly two years that the mandate calls for wastewater systems to be upgraded to 2010 standards throughout the Keys, but that the state has little concern over how that mandate is achieved.
According to FKAA officials, no type of system that meets the mandate is off the table as yet for No Name Key. The agency plans to put together a study for the island showing the pros and cons of each type of system, present it to the residents, and then come to the county commission in the next few months with a recommendation.
Those recommendations could include any type of central system, or on-site systems that meet the state’s 2010 guidelines, according to Colleen Tagle, public information officer for the FKAA. That decision will be made after the study period and public input.
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Neugent is the man behind the curtain on this issue, he controls the hillbilly in Key Largo and Mrs.Wigington has a hole in her back where Neugent and Putney control strings that are connected straight to her mandibles.
Will we ever know how NNK got pulled off the FKAA list since the EPA reports found that Bahia Shore Drive (Ms. Putney’s Street) on No Name Key was on a “hot spot” list for fecal pollution from 1993 – 2001. Then No Name Key disappeared from the County’s Sanitary Wastewater Plan and no one can explain how that happened. No Name Key had been in previous “drafts” of the wastewater plan as a “hot spot” and then, poof – it was gone. Ms. Alicia Putney joined the Wastewater Task Force as a member representing No Name Key in 2000. Coincident? Others are beginning to wonder and ask questions.
Now the DOH has let it slip out that what they plan for No Name Key is composting toilets and an experimental gray water system.
Over my dead body!
They will take away my flush toilet when they pry my cold dead ass from the seat!
The rules that say No Name Key can not have electricity were put in place wrongly. There is no reason that No Name key should not have electricity, and there never was. What kind of cruel person would deny other people the right to live in comfort and peace.? If you want to live without, then fine do as you wish. Don’t force your desire to live without modern conveinences on anyone else. Mrs Wiggington, I hear you having an experimental grey water system designed for us, so that not only can we pollute the ocean we can all have composting toilets. OVER MY DEAD BODY
When I moved to No Name Key, I never could have imagined I would be forced by the County Comissioners to install and use an OUTHOUSE in my own bathroom. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING!! OVER MY DEAD BODY!!!
In this County, and in the State of Florida, 60% constitutes a Super Majority in an election, or on a ballet. The No Name Key Property Owners Association represents More than this 60% Super Majority; this has been demonstrated and is indisputable.
It is the Duty of our elected officials to represent the wishes of the Majority.
In case any of our elected officials has forgotten this duty, please refresh yourself with the Immortal Words of Abraham Lincoln, from the Gettysburg Address: “that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
We, the people of No Name Key, have spoken:
1) Composting toilets are not an acceptable “advanced” wastewater solution for No Name Key.
(2) We will not accept a composting toilet, in any form.
(3) We will not give up our flush toilets.
(4) We do not want, nor will we accept, an experimental wastewater treatment system.
(5) We will not have our homes devalued and our lives degraded by these actions.
(6) Treating NNK differently by not providing a central sewer connection and utilities is discrimination and must stop.
(7) No Name Key residents need to be treated the same as every other taxpayer in this County.
(8) No Name Key is not a remote offshore island; we are connected to Big Pine via a wide modern concrete bridge; just as all the Keys are connected via these types of bridges.
(9) We are not a “campground”, as was implied in a newspaper article; we are a community of 43 homes.
(10) The No Name Key Property Owners Association represents a “Super Majority” of the homeowners on No Name Key. Our position as the Majority has been clear and consistent for over a year: we want a central sewer connection, and any utilities needed to run it.
(11) We will protect our homes, and the quality of our lives.
It is high time that our elected officials listen and act accordingly.
I am sick of listening to comments like those of Ms. Wigington that suggest that homeowners on No Name Key knew they weren’t getting utilities.
Get your facts straight Ms. Wigington, the original homeowners on NNK were promised electricity and other utilities by the electric company.
And now that the vast majority of homeowners (over 65%) want sewer and electric, you make up 90% as a target. What planet are you from?
I have been a registered voter in Monroe County and a resident of No Name Key for over 15 years. The residents of NNK deserve the same public entitlements (ie. clean water, clean air etc.) that the rest of Monroe County residents enjoy. The majority of NNK residents are willing to pay for this public service. Not at the over inflated guess-timates provided by Mayor Neugent et al., but at the scientifically based estimates (including systems in operation within the State of Florida) paid for by proponents of the central sewer project. The apathy exhibited by certain county politicians for this public works project is apparently based on a future claim to have saved the taxpayers money at re-election time. It’s time these people are voted out. Remember, the residents that are opponents of central sewers are in the minority.
No Name Key Myths
There are many myths regarding No Name Key. Here are just two.
1. Residents who originally purchased land and built house were assured of infrastructure coming to No Name Key. It was later, that one resident got on the planning committee and while in a law suit, wrote an ordinance that prohibits electricity, potable water, telephone and cable from residents of No Name Key.
2. Stand Alone solar power is a viable alternative, environmentally “green” energy. Our houses on No Name Key are battery operated. Most of our lea d acid batteries are charged by solar and some of the lead acid battery charging occurs by generators. Nothing about lead acid batteries and generators are helpful to the environment.
What is amazing is the Board of County Commissioners allows the super majority of residents on No Name Key to be held hostage by the language written by one. Can anyone imagine asking the residents of Monroe County to be prohibited cable, telephones, water or electricity?