Item B
Madame Mayor and honorable commissioners, My name is
Jackson Morris and I ama member and past-president of the Board of
Directors of Seaside Resort, Inc., a condominium association on Big
Coppitt Key. I have been a resident of Florida for the past ten years.
Prior to that, I served 3 four-year terms as the full-time chief elected
official in my community of 20,000 plus population in the State of
Michigan, This township was made up of both urban and rural
settings containing low and high density residential, commercial, light
industrial, and agricultural zoning districts.
During this time I also served a term as chair of the Southeast
Michigan Council of Governments, a seven county coalition of local
governments in and around the City of Detroit. This organization was
responsible for regional planning of transportation and other urban
infrastructure projects and the approval authority for such projects
receiving federal appropriations.
It was policy at both the local and regional planning levels to
have water and wastewater service districts be co-terminus. You
couldn't have one without the other, and both districts had to be served
by the same public utility.
We often had requests for large developments to leap frog ahead
of urban infrastructure expansion into the rural areas where private
wastewater treatment plants would have to be constructed. These
requests were routinely denied as we knew that when these private
plants failed, and experience showed that they often di4, government
would have to come to the rescue with a heavy fmancial burden on the
public utilities.
This policy of co-terminus water and sewer districts served us
well in Michig~ and I. believe a similar policy will serve Monroe
County residents equally well,
We appreciate the opportunity to appear before you, and I thank
you personally, Madame Mayor, for scheduling this meeting.
Special County Comm, , Meeting
Stock Island
April 2, 2005
It is stated that state near shore waters are polluted is why we need sewage.
Therefore I request proof that these are state waters beyond Long Key as
International, not inland, regulations apply according to the U. S. Coast Guard.
)/. 7~ p~
H. T. Pontin
BIG COPPITT KEY
PROJECT STATUS UPDATE
· Barcelona Boat Ramp - permit drawings completed and submitted,
Waiting for comments/permit from environmental agencies.
· Boca Chica Beach Parking - the Navy is replacing their fence and it will
be installed as close to the tree line as possible and should not impact
parking, On the beach side of the road, the County would like to replace
the rotting logs with a wooden railing. If the Navy won't allow this then we
will put new logs back. In either case, the area used for parking will not be
affected. Public Works will be working to clean up and improve the area.
· Big Coppitt Fire Station Landscaping - all of the exotic invasive plants
that were in the rear area of the station have been removed. The silver
buttonwoods have been trimmed and all of the bougainvillea will be
removed, Quotes from local landscapers have been received to replace
plants and place mulch. Since the prices were high Public Works will be
performing most of the work in-house.
· Big Coppitt Park - plans are complete and going thru their final review.
We anticipate being ready to go out to bid within 30 days.
· Stock Island Fire Station/Road Abandonment - we are proceeding with
design. Letters are being sent out to utilities and adjacent property
owners, Once all information is received, we will complete the
abandonment petition and present it to the SOCC for final approval.
· US1 Culverts, Shark Key - so far this request to FOOT has not been
approved as it does not appear in the FOOT 5 Year Work Program.
April 2,2005
WASTEWATER UPDATE
BOCA CHICA SERVICE AREA
· Boca Chica Service Area (includes Big Coppitt, Geiger,
Rockland and Shark Key)
~ Estimated Construction Cost = $25,000,000 (as reported
by the FKAA)
~ Total EDU's = 1,672 (existing = 1,557, future = 115)
~ Estimated Cost per EDU = $14,954
~ Estimated Monthly Operation and Maintenance Charges =
$25,000, $15 per EDU (based upon an annual cost of
$300,000 per year as reported by the FKAA)
~ Number of Properties Served = 1 ,678 (excludes publicly
owned properties)
~ Status Update
In the event that Monroe County takes over the sewering
effort for the Boca Chica Service Area, we are proposing
a new method of project delivery that should expedite
the process and ensure the best valued system to
taxpayers.
If FKAA retains control of the project, then the
Design/Build/Operate RFP is ready to go.
April 2, 2005