I am happy to report that today’s Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) meeting turned out okay for Key Largo taxpayers when it comes to wastewater.  As I mentioned here, I planned to monitor Rep. Raschein’s Stewardship Bill.  Raschein added a provision that ensures that the first $100 million will be distributed in accordance with existing interlocal agreements.  That means a much needed $26 million for Key Largo.

The language preserving the existing distribution prevents the county from diverting state money away from other entities and foolishly squandering it on poorly planned new projects (ie. “shiny objects”).  The BOCC did approve the legislation including the needed language.  Now let’s hope they don’t monkey with it behind the scenes during session.  That’s a favorite maneuver of theirs.  They try to get around the existing agreements and blame it on the state.

There was another item of interest to me.  It was Sherry Popham’s presentation regarding water quality in Duck Key canals.  I predicted that Popham was there to speak in support of canal restoration projects.  This is one of those “shiny objects” I’m so concerned about.

I was very pleasantly surprised.  It turns out that Popham’s presentation had nothing to do with “shiny objects”.  The Duck Key homeowners are not asking for county money at all.  They requested a rule change that would allow them to go forward with removing silt from their canals at their own expense.  I applaud Popham and Duck Key homeowners for their sense of responsibility to their community and to the environment.  Color me impressed.