Dishonest quagmire talk leaves fairness stuck in the mud.
The county administrator has described the wastewater funding situation as a “quagmire“. The truth is it’s really not that difficult. Calculating the disparity is a matter of simple arithmetic. If you can add, subtract, multiply and divide you can figure it out. Continue reading
There’s an article at KeysNews about Monroe County’s contract with Energy3 to dispose of yard waste. Energy3 plans to build a gasification plant in Miami.
Gasification is a promising technology. It was used in Sanford to process wastewater sludge for years – generating electricity in the process. Unfortunately, the owner-operator of the gasification equipment, Maxwest Environmental Systems, filed for bankruptcy last year.
According to the article, Monroe County, is simply paying Energy3 to dispose of yard waste. The taxpayers have no exposure here. Hopefully, this will be a successful venture for Energy3.
Monroe County commissioner, Heather Carruthers, is pushing for light rail. There’s no harm in looking into it I suppose. I just get nervous when the county gets anywhere near large capital projects.
Pollution and water quality are such a huge issue. Domestic wastewater is a sizable part of it, of course. But there’s so much more to it.
Anyhow, saw this nice article on KeysNet.com about the damage sunscreen can do the reef. It’s a reminder that corals face many threats.
A few years back, researchers discovered that a pathogen in sewage causes white pox disease in corals. The Keys have made headway on this particular issue with the major expansion of centralized wastewater.
Here’s an article from KeysNews about raising money for research.
It’s Blue Paper Friday again! Some good articles as usual. Continue reading
Comm. Murphy actually responded to the email I sent yesterday. Here it is in all its glory. Continue reading
The Keys are closing in on $800 million spent on sewer projects. That excludes the tie-in costs and the ongoing operational costs. So is this huge expenditure worthwhile?
Certainly in some cases, extraordinarily unwise 
decisions have been made. Taxpayer money has been needlessly squandered, and we’ll never get it back. The economic environment in some areas has been damaged by extreme funding inequities. Perhaps for a very long time. That’s too bad. Continue reading
I wrote an email to Commissioner Murphy and copied the other commissioners. I very much doubt I’ll get a response. They like to put their bullshit out there and just let it circulate. Then it just seems to coat everyone’s brain cells. Ewww. Not a pretty picture, is it? Continue reading
So much bull___t!
So I read this story on KeysNews this morning. Commissioner Murphy’s comments are awful. I think I gave her way too much credit in my write-up. She comes off as completely disengaged and clueless here. She contradicts herself in a big way. First she says, Key Largo doesn’t pay a dime more for the sewer project. Then she says they do but it will all be evened up in two or three years. Which is it? I’ll get my haz-mat suit on and wade in.
First off, I’m glad Robby Majeska has filed to run for Murphy’s seat. Whether people know it or not, the wastewater projects are the highest dollar issue the Keys has going right now. The combined cost is around $800 million. Just sit with that for a minute. An $800 million project, a population of 73,000. Majeska is a small business owner. He’s been on the Key Largo Wastewater Treatment District (District) board for years. He understands the issues. He understands the numbers. Not only when it comes to wastewater but many other issues. Most importantly, he cares. Continue reading
That email I wrote to the Key Largo Wastewater Board made the paper. I’m glad. The prior news story about Tobin walking out of the meeting made it sound like the board members are just fighting over nothing. I suppose it looks that way on the surface. But there are deeper concerns over staffing issues and transparency. As these concerns go unaddressed anxiety grows, prompting some commissioners to probe a little deeper. Then others push back against that. It seems they’re in a bit of a spiral. It’s not constructive. Continue reading
There are numerous factors that have impacted the economy of the Florida Keys – the recession, the BP oil spill, the housing bubble. These are events that had national or regional impact. That is, everyone in the Keys and beyond was affected.
Monroe County, for reasons that they have yet to explain, chose to under fund the Key Largo wastewater project by $100 million as compared to the other unincorporated areas. Note that the Key Largo project is about the same size as the other projects combined. That is a huge number. Isn’t it logical to assume that huge differences in wastewater funding account for differences in economic performance? Doesn’t it make sense that businesses who are excessively burdened by the wastewater project wouldn’t be able to grow or even survive? Wouldn’t they be at a competitive disadvantage? It’s common sense, right? Continue reading
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