A circuit judge ruled Wednesday that he will not be the one to decide whether it is legal for Monroe County to allow the power utility to provide commercial service to No Name Key.
The state Public Service Commission (PSC) has "exclusive subject matter jurisdiction" in the debate and it will rule on whether power can be brought to island that is currently powered by the sun and generators, Judge David Audlin ruled.
"The PSC is the correct forum for hearing the issues," Audlin wrote.
He cited state law that "expressly confers jurisdiction on the PSC to regulate and supervise each public utility with respect to its rates and service." The jurisdiction is "exclusive and superior to all municipalities and counties. ... and regulations of the commission shall in each instance prevail."
A PSC attorney filed a Jan. 23 legal brief stating that the PSC believes it should hear the case.
read entire article at www.keysnews.com
Florida
Keys Keynoter
Ryan McCarthy
Nov.
16--A state agency could oversee the decades-long
battle over commercial electricity on No Name Key after Dec. 2.
Monroe
County Circuit Court Judge David Audlin is slated to rule that day on whether
he or the state Public Service Commission has jurisdiction over the legality of
electricity on the Lower Keys island.
No
Name property owner and commercial power proponent Bob Reynolds filed a motion
in August to dismiss a county suit against Keys Energy Services and No Name's
43 homeowners that seeks to clarify whether the county is obligated to issue
permits to run lines over county-owned conservation land or for homeowners to
connect to power poles. The motion seeks to have the PSC oversee the No Name
decision.
PSC
spokeswoman Kirsten Olsen said Tuesday the agency's legal staff is
"studying where jurisdiction may or may not be involved.... The
[commission] is aware of the issue and the motion to dismiss and is looking
into it. No determinations have been made yet."
Keys
Energy planned to finalize a deal with the No Name Key
Homeowners Association in March to run commercial lines to and through the
island. Owners were set to foot the estimated $650,000 bill before Monroe
County officials raised concerns.
"I
think the theory is that [the PSC has] more expertise in this area and since
it's a utility regulatory board, they might be more inclined to see things
their way," Chief Assistant County Attorney Bob Shillinger said.
Reynolds'
motion says Keys Energy has a "territorial agreement" with the PSC
and states: "The PSC holds the police powers of the state of Florida for
the protection of the public welfare to enforce, regulate and resolve disputes
regarding municipal utilities within a defined PSC ... agreement."
Power poles dig-tested
Florida Keys News - Key West Citizen
Friday, November 19, 2010
The first step in bringing commercial power to No Name Key will start today with Keys Energy Services installing two practice utility poles on the small barrier islands.
Crews will dig two holes and install two roughly 40-foot-tall poles, but will not run electricity to them, utility spokesman Julio Barroso said. The purpose is to test the digging techniques that will be needed.
The test run will cost about $8,000, which residents who want commercial power will pay, Barroso said.
The utility still needs the Monroe County government's permission to run power lines along five easements and the No Name Key Bridge, and the Utility Board still needs to sign off on a formal agreement with No Name Key residents about bringing commercial power to the island, Barroso said. The board is scheduled to vote on the agreement at a Dec. 15 meeting.
Work could begin after the first of the year, Barroso said.
Residents who want commercial power will pay the total cost of bringing it to the island, estimated to be about $625,000; those who do not want it won't have to pay, Barroso said.
The issue has divided the small community, whose 40 homes now are powered by solar panels and generators.
Power proponents received good news last month, when the U.S. Fish Wildlife Service sent the utility a letter Oct. 15 stating that power lines and their installation "is not likely to adversely affect" Key deer, Lower Keys marsh rabbits, silver rice rats and other protected species, if the project follows some basic protocol designed to protect the animals.
Feds: No problem with No Name electricity By LARRY KAHN - Keynoter
In what appears to be a major victory for proponents of commercial electricity on No Name Key, a federal agency says such electricity could be run out to the Lower Keys island with minimal impact on endangered species.
"What happens now, the next step and the last major hurdle, is getting permission from the county" to attach an electrical conduit to the No Name Bridge that connects No Name and Big Pine Key, says Julio Barroso, spokesman for Keys Energy Services. "Essentially, the ball is back in the county's court."
He says if county permission is granted, expanding the grid "could start almost right away. Our best guess is after approval from the county, as little as six months they would have power. That is our best guess.... Mind you, a lot of work has already been done in terms of surveying and things like that" for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
"I don't know if it's that simple," Monroe County Administrator Roman Gastesi said. "There are a lot of moving parts to this. We're going to try to figure out what it means not only on the legal side, but the operational side."
Paul Souza, field supervisor for Fish and Wildlife's Vero Beach office, outlines the agency's thinking in an Oct. 15 letter sent to Dale Finigan, Keys Energy's engineering director.
Based on "the best currently available scientific and commercial information, as well as the avoidance and minimization measures" outlined in a new environmental report, Souza wrote, extending Keys Energy's lines to the sparsely populated No Name "is not likely to adversely affect" Key deer, the Lower Keys marsh rabbit, silver rice rat, eastern indigo snake, Stock Island tree snail, Key tree cactus or Garber's spurge.
"Formal consultation" with the agency is not required, Souza added, but there would be conditions attached to powering up No Name:
The utility poles would be 45 feet high, about 10 feet higher than Keys Energy's other poles. That's so the lines would be high enough to "minimize initial and yearly re-occurring tree-trimming."
Poles would be placed only at homes whose residents want commercial power.
Protective measures for the tree snails and indigo snakes would be put in place before work begins.
Contractors would undergo training in environmental regulations and education about endangered species.
Work crews would be trained to not leave food around that could be eaten by Key deer.
There are 43 homes on No Name, all powered by either generators or solar power. Many of the residents have lobbied for commercial power, while others say that homeowners bought knowing they were off the grid.
To get them on the grid, "we would have to change our land development regulations and land plan," County Commissioner Kim Wigington said. "That can be done, but we based them on Fish and Wildlife regulations."
But county Growth Management Director Christine Hurley says "we don't anticipate the need for a comprehensive plan change."
Wigington also raised the issue of where the poles would be placed -- on rights of way or private property. "There are private properties where they would have to take an easement, eminent domain," she said.
Not so, says Barroso. "There's a franchise agreement with us and the county for use of the rights of way," he said, apparently referencing a 1951 County Commission resolution granting then-City Electric blanket permission to use rights of way to extend the power grid to No Name.
Barroso says to power No Name would cost about $625,000, which would be borne by the homeowners, not all Keys Energy customers.
Gastesi says he's likely to ask the County Commission for direction when it meets Dec. 15 in Marathon.
Key West Citizen
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Utility battle may be ending
Feds OK power lines on island
BY TIMOTHY O'HARA Citizen Staff
Commercial power could arrive on No Name Key within a year now that the U.S. Fish Wildlife Service has given the OK to running overhead power lines to the barrier island.
The federal agency sent Keys Energy Services a letter on Oct. 15 stating that power lines and their installation "is not likely to adversely affect" Key deer, Lower Keys marsh rabbits, silver rice rats and other protected species, if the project follows some basic protocols designed to protect the animals.
The letter was welcome news to those who have been lobbying for years to get commercial power, a sewer system and water service on the island, which is within the boundaries of the National Key Deer Refuge.
"I think this is a positive step," said Bob Reynolds, a member of the No Name Key Homeowners Association. "Those people who don't want it don't have to have it. It won't hurt the flora and the fauna. It won't hurt anybody."
The letter came after refuge staff reviewed the plan, toured the area and consulted with wildlife experts.
"They don't review this in a cursory manner," said Jim Newton, vice president of the No Name Key Homeowners Association. "They are very thorough."
The letter could be the final nail in the coffin for another group of homeowners who have fought to keep the island off the grid. However, one member of the No Name Key Solar Community has vowed to keep fighting.
"I was shocked," resident Alicia Putney said of the letter. "I am seriously troubled by this. There will be a response to this. ... This is blatantly inconsistent with the incidental take permit of the [federal agency's] habitat conservation plan. I don't think they are following their own rules. Many questions have been raised by this."
Monroe County Commissioner Kim Wigington also questioned the letter, saying it runs counter to language the county put in its comprehensive land use plan at the federal agency's urging. The land use plan states the county will discourage development on No Name Key. The wording came out of discussions with the agency about protecting threatened and endangered species on the island, Wigington said.
County land development regulations prohibit utilities from being extended to No Name Key, so the County Commission will have to decide whether to enforce those rules or do away with them, said Growth Management Director Christine Hurley.
Key Deer Refuge Manager Anne Morkill said she was "comfortable" with the letter. Morkill toured the area with other Fish Wildlife staff who wrote the recent opinion. She said if the county keeps its current land use plan, which limits development on Big Pine Key and No Name Key, bringing commercial power to the homes on the island will not result in increased development -- at least not to a point that would be detrimental to its protected species.
The power utility plans to place 62 power poles on No Name Key, with 13 of them on private property, spokesman Julio Barroso said. The utility has been working on getting permission from the private homeowners, and plans to ask the county for permission to place the poles on county-owned easements.
Getting county approval should not be a problem, Barroso said. The utility and county signed an agreement several years ago that allowed the utility to place poles on county easements, and this case should be no different, he said.
The utility also will have to obtain county approval to place power lines on the No Name Key Bridge. The county must have a technical reason for not allowing use of the bridge, and can't refuse permission because it disagrees with the project, Barroso said.
The cost will be $625,000 and will be spread among the roughly 43 homeowners on No Name Key, he said, estimating the work could be completed within six months of the county granting an easement on the bridge.
County Administrator Roman Gastesi said he plans to bring the issue before the County Commission when it meets Dec. 15 in Marathon.
The water utility on Thursday removed a rule from its regulations that prohibits it from piping water to No Name Key and other sensitive environmental areas in the Florida Keys.
The Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority board voted 3-2, with board Chairman David Ritz and board member Rose Dell dissenting, to lift the prohibition on providing water service to No Name Key and the Little, Middle and Big Torch keys.
Board members Antoinette Appell, Bob Dean and Elena Herrera said the utility's mission is to provide clean water to all Keys residents, making it unfair to single out No Name Key residents. Water is a "human right" that should be provided to all, Herrera said; Appell and Dean agreed.
The 43 homes there now rely on solar energy and generators for power and cisterns for water.
Thursday's vote came after No Name Key resident Beth Ramsay-Vickrey requested the utility provide water service to the island. She contends cistern water poses a significant health risk.
"I want to thank the Aqueduct Authority for being fair," Ramsay-Vickery said after the vote. "Everybody should have clean water. ... We are asking that everyone has a choice."
No Name Key residents who do not want commercial water do not have to receive it, she emphasized.
It was her request that sparked a review of why the utility does not pump water there. It was learned that its prohibition was a condition of a $60 million loan the utility received in 1980 -- and since has paid off -- from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farmers Home Administration, said utility Executive Director Jim Reynolds.
The Monroe County Commission, environmental group Last Stand and some Keys residents argued the prohibition was intended to extend beyond the loan's expiration, and is tied to the federal Endangered Species Act and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's concerns about increased development and damage to wildlife habitat, including the endangered Key deer.
Upper Keys resident Capt. Ed Davidson, who was part of an Audubon Society lawsuit against the federal government that led to the prohibition, said it was supposed to be in perpetuity.
"There is a serious legal background to this," Davidson said. "You can't just revoke this without serious legal consequences."
The County Commission sent the Aqueduct Authority board a letter Thursday urging it not to drop the rule, as bringing utilities to No Name Key is discouraged under the county's comprehensive land use plan.
The utility now must decide who will pay for the infrastructure to pipe water to the island. Ramsay-Vickery said she and other No Name Key residents are looking into securing grant money.
Miami Herald Sunday, January 31, 2010 On this woodsy, secluded, 998-acre slice of Florida paradise 30 miles from Key West, endangered pygmy deer saunter across rustic yards, waterfront homes rest on stilts, and residents revel in their independent lifestyle. One more thing: They never pay an electric bill. The island of 43 homes has remained, improbably, ``off the grid'' – without municipal or commercial power – possibly the last significant community in Florida and the continental United States to do so. That may be about to change, which for the majority of No Name Key residents would be a long overdue coup. But for others, the arrival of power lines would be an unconscionable travesty. The dispute has ripped apart this idyllic outpost where coconuts are sold for 25 cents, bicyclists enjoy the pristine scenery, and young and old fish off the bridge. ``Why change a place that is unique and special?'' asked No Name Key resident Alicia Roemmele-Putney, who has fought for nearly 20 years to keep the island powerless. ``It's so neat to get your power from the sun and your water from the rain.That's why we moved here.'' Out of necessity, each home on the island creates its own power, using a combination of solar panels, batteries and generators. Some also employ wind turbines. The island is not connected to the main water pipeline -- all homes capture rain into cisterns. It's no Robinson Crusoe existence, though. The island's residents -- including lawyers, schoolteachers, college professors, engineers, a veterinarian, a dentist, a mental-health therapist, an insurance-company owner, an employee of Homeland Security and retirees -- enjoy the modern conveniences of clothes dryers, televisions, microwaves and air conditioning. But some say that depending exclusively on self-generated energy is not the earth-friendly solution it seems. Below her living space, Beth Ramsay-Vickrey has a ``battery room'' where 24 golf batteries are hooked up behind a ``Danger, Keep Out'' sign. And she said the loud generators belch fumes and create noise pollution. ``No Name Key should be called the big green lie,'' said homeowner Bob Reynolds. ``The island is run off gas- and diesel-powered generators and acid batteries. The waters are polluted, and we have two active rock pits.'' GROUPS OF CONCERN Over the decades, federal, state and local governments all have weighed in on No Name Key's power issue, as have the electric company, courts and environmental groups. In the past, the power push usually was halted due to money. The residents didn't want to pay the high cost to bring utility lines to the island. But now the growing number of people who want power -- which would almost certainly raise the value of their homes – are willing to foot the bill. ``In more than 20 years, this is the furthest those wanting power on No Name Key have ever gotten,'' said Julio Barroso, spokesman for Keys Energy Service, which provides power to the Lower Keys. Last week, Keys Energy Service sought bids for the project. It's estimated it would cost $690,000 for an above-ground system, or $1.4 million for underground wiring. But it's far from a done deal, with various government entities still looking into the matter, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which oversees the National Key Deer Refuge. Among its concerns: How will the extension of service affect the endangered Stock Island tree snail, the silver rice rat and their habitat? PAST AND PRESENT No Name Key was not conceived, at least originally, as a model of self-sufficiency. In 1928, it became an important ferry terminal for traveling to Key West from the mainland when there was no Seven Mile Bridge for vehicles. The island featured a hotel and had utility poles for telephone service. But when the Seven Mile Bridge opened for vehicle traffic in 1938, the ferry terminal became obsolete and travelers bypassed the island. No Name Key became completely isolated after a 1948 hurricane damaged the wooden bridge to neighboring Big Pine Key, and a subsequent fire made it impassable. In the early 1960s, the island was a staging and training site for the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion in Cuba. Rumor has it -- totally unconfirmed -- that the island once belonged to Howard Hughes. In 1967, a modern, half-mile-long concrete bridge replaced the old wooden one, bringing development to the 20 percent of the island not yet purchased by the federal government for the newly created wildlife refuge. Local historian Jerry Wilkinson wrote that some folks were attracted to the island by its absence of public utilities, while others came with the expectation that it was just a matter of time before the juice would arrive. Only two Conch homes existed on the island when Bob and Ruth Eaken purchased eight acres in 1969 and got one of the last county permits to dredge a canal to make 32 waterfront lots. ``I was told . . . they would give us power in three years,'' Bob Eaken said while standing next to the array of solar panels bristling atop his No Name Key home. He's still waiting. As are Lois and Herb Craig, who bought on No Name Key in 1979, completing a house that had been half-finished. ``The electric company told us when there were eight houses out here, they'd bring us electricity,'' said Lois Craig, 88. ``There's about 42 houses here now and we still don't have electricity, and we've always wanted it.'' In 2003, after years of litigation, a circuit court judge dismissed a lawsuit by a group of the homeowners that claimed the state Constitution guaranteed commercial power to anyone who requested it. The lack of electricity, coupled with new strict development regulations, derailed construction of a luxury development called Galleon Bay, which had been approved for 13 units along water leading to the Gulf of Mexico and in front of Roemmele-Putney's home.Roemmele-Putney said one reason she opposes commercial power is that it invites more development, even though development is already severely restricted on No Name Key. ``Infrastructure is forever,'' she said. ``Regulations are not.'' Sue Witter, of the anti-power-lines contingent, said she loves the nights on No Name Key, with ``no spotlights to dim the dark sky so the stars and planets are very vivid.'' ``I know the people who want to bring public utilities have their valid complaints,'' she added, ``but there is nothing wrong -- in fact, something admirable -- about conservation in all our lives.'' PROS AND CONS When storms knock out the power grid on nearby islands, No Name Key is the envy of its neighbors. But solar panels don't generate power at night or on cloudy days, although there's often enough stored in batteries to keep the lights on after dark. Solar-based systems also require regular, often expensive, maintenance. Some residents say that during hot summers they've coughed up $600 a month for generator fuel to keep the air conditioners humming. Kathy Brown, who is president of the pro-commercial-power No Name Key Property Owners Association, said getting access to commercial power ``is our legal right.'' She also emphasized: ``People who don't want to connect don't have to -- and don't have to pay for it. The small group is dictating what we have to do.'' Reynolds added that no one is looking to ditch their solar panels. After hooking up, homeowners could sell any surplus power they generate to the electric company.
Instead of being a throwback to the days when many lived off the grid, No Name Key would become a ``beacon for the future''.
News-Barometer Dec 18, 2009
STAFF WANTS TO APPROVE POWER FOR NO NAME
"The Monroe County Attorney's Office recently issued a written opinion that the Monroe County Board of County Commissioners cannot stand in the way of electrical power being extended to No Name Key."
"County Attorney Suzanne Hutton said she based her opinion on a reading of the original enabling legislation that established City Electric more than 50 years ago, legislation which she says gives now Keys Elergy carte blanche to extend electrical power anywhere it sees fit."
"Hutton also opined four months ago that Keys Energy did indeed have authority under state statue to extend power anywhere in Monroe County"
No Name sewer systems undecided News-Barometer Sept 18, 2009
No Name sewer systems undecided
By Steve Estes
Even though county staff may have cleared the way for commercial power to be extended to residents of No Name Key, that hasn’t yet changed the planning process for eventual wastewater treatment on the island.
In that process, says Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority Executive Director Jim Reynolds, “Everything is still on the table for No Name Key.”
The electrification of the island still isn’t a done deal. The resident request to have commercial power lines run to No Name must still be approved by the Keys Energy Service Utility Board. That board is expected to take up the matter in the next month.
Keys Energy must still also get approval from the US Fish & Wildlife Service to run poles and lines on the island.
On the latter, County Mayor George Neugent says his feeling from USFWS is that as long as the poles and lines are installed on already scarified right-of-way, there will be no mitigation issues. The service, however, is still awaiting a plan to chime in on the request.
Providing underground utilities might be a little more problematic as USFWS owns some lots where the right-of-way extends to the middle of the road and would have to be crossed to get to developed lots where electricity is requested.
Once the service has a plan, it will issue a determination.
Electricity to the island, however, doesn’t necessarily mean central wastewater will follow, said Reynolds.
FKAA is the sewer authority for Monroe County. It is the responsibility of the Board of County Commissioners to pay for the construction of plants and lines. It is the responsibility of FKAA to build and operate the systems.
FKAA has employed what it calls a “decision tree” in early planning stages for the Cudjoe Regional system of which No Name Key would be part.
FKAA is planning to use a hybrid central system that will entail the use of gravity lines, low-pressure lines and vacuum in some instances. There will also be properties where central service is not contemplated and on-site systems will be employed for wastewater treatment.
“We prefer to get as many properties hooked up to the central system as possible,” said Reynolds. “It makes the entire system more affordable for everyone.”
FKAA engineers estimated costs for running central service to core areas in the regional system. That system spans Lower Sugarloaf Key to No Name Key.
Properties that were not immediately off major arteries, or where the residential development was more scattered and more remote, were considered for inclusion in an expansion of that core area.
The general rule of thumb used by FKAA was the estimated per EDU (equivalent dwelling unit or single family home) cost for servicing the core area. If the more remote locations, or less densely populated locations could be served for an amount roughly equal to that of the core area, it was pulled into the core area.
Using the decision tree methodology, No Name Key still fell outside the parameters for inclusion in the central system, regardless of the electrification issue. It is still planned to be serviced by on-site systems in the final product.
“The methodology isn’t hard and fast,” said Reynolds. “If the price of using on-site systems is reasonably close to the cost of central hook-up, in the case of No Name Key the low-pressure grinder system, we could decide to hook those areas into the central system.
Reynolds said the goal is to hook as many homes into the central system as possible for rate reductions to all users as well as maintenance costs.
“The grinder system is our preferred central option for No Name Key with all other factors being equal, but without electricity, or if we run into mitigation issues that will add to the overall cost of the system, we can stay with the on-site systems,” said Reynolds. The low-pressure grinder pump system locates the pump on private property and the lines in the right-of-way.
Reynolds admits it’s still way too early in the process to make a final determination on system type for No Name Key.
If FKAA has commercial power and chooses the grinder system for central hook up for No Name Key, “We have no intention of being outside the right-of-way. We will not disturb habitat,” he said. “We don’t really see it as a big issue right now.”
The bigger problem might come on Big Pine Key, where habitat encroachment could be a bigger worry for wastewater system designers.
Much of Big Pine is planned to be on a gravity system which will require lift stations to be built along the line runs. In areas where right-of-way is very narrow, particularly in some of the smaller, less dense, more remote neighborhoods, those lift stations might well not fit into the right-of-way.
“We have been envisioning the possible use of cluster systems for Port Pine Heights,” said Reynolds. “But that raises issues of land purchase or lease. If we get into that, it makes it expensive. We may have to go to a low-pressure system there, or use on-sites. That area is still up in the air right now, too.”
Whatever decision may be made, Reynolds said it is at least two years before shovels go in the ground for collection lines, perhaps longer if the county finds no revenue source to pay for the construction.
“Getting an opinion from USFWS can be a time consuming process,” said Neugent. “This is something we have to look at now if we don’t want to bring the project to a halt on Big Pine when and if we get off the ground.”
Neugent’s concern is that while collection lines can be run in the right-of-way in most cases, or even in the street if need be, lift stations can’t.
“That is where we may get into some mitigation issues that cost us a lot more money than we counted on,” said Neugent.
No Name power gets staff blessing Sept 11, 2009 In a reversal of long-standing county policy, staff members last Friday may have cleared the way for the electrification of No Name Key.
Electrification of the remote island off the northeasterly shore of Big Pine Key has been a battleground for more than 20 years. Public power poles stop at the western end of No Name Bridge. In the early years of development of that island, residents who bought there did so because there was no commercial power available, most preferring to live a life off the grid.
Small groups have tried for decades to bring electric power to the island, but the community has always been split just about down the middle between those who wanted commercial power and those who were happy with living mostly through solar power, with generator back up.
Each previous attempt to bring power to the island has run into the same general problem. The residents wanted commercial power, but they wanted Monroe County to pay for the extension of that power.
In the late 1990s, spanning into the early 2000s, residents went through a protracted court battle to force the county, or Key Energy, to bring commercial power to the island. They claimed the Florida state constitution guaranteed commercial power to anyone who requested that power. After years of litigation, the courts ruled that the county had no constitutional obligation to provide commercial electrical power on the taxpayers’ dime to No Name Key.
Following that ruling, the county created a zoning overlay district for lands in the federal Coastal Barrier Resource System, which included most No Name Key, that prohibited the extension of public utilities to the island—a policy the county has stood behind for nearly a decade.
Current residents of No Name, however, have abandoned the thought of having someone else pay for the extension of the power to the island, and have offered to pony up the money themselves for that privilege.
That changed the landscape of the battle, says Assistant County Attorney Bob Schillinger.
“The issue has always been who would pay for the service,” said Schillinger.
As long as the residents wanted public money to pay for the extension of lines, the county’s long-established policy prohibiting that stood in the way.
With the cost not borne by public money, “If the customer wants service extended at the customer’s expense beyond what is already supplied by the utility, we feel Keys Energy has the ability to do that,” said Schillinger.
The state legislation that established Keys Energy is what drives the opinion now, according to Schillinger.
“We believe KEYS enabling legislation gives it the authority to extend service to wherever it deems appropriate,” he said.
That legislation allows Keys Energy to use public rights of way for the extension of commercial power without county concurrence, said Schillinger.
During a Board of County Commissioners meeting a few months ago, County Attorney Suzanne Hutton told the BOCC that Keys Energy had that authority, either by negotiated easement, purchase of land for right-of-way, or eminent domain if all else failed.
Hutton was unavailable for comment prior to press time Wednesday.
Outgoing Growth Management Director Drew Trivette said that the enabling legislation may give Keys Energy the latitude it needs to proceed, but that the county commission could still make a different decision.
County Mayor George Neugent, the only seated commissioner who has been around for most of the battle, has always said that if the majority of residents of No Name Key asked for commercial power, and offered to pay for it, he would support the request.
Staff’s opinion, however, doesn’t absolutely throw open the door for power poles to begin popping up on the way to No Name Key.
The opinion was issued Friday during a meeting between county, Keys Energy and Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority officials.
According to Schillinger, Keys Energy CEO Lynne Tejeda will take the information from that meeting back to her board for direction.
The utility must also await an opinion from the US Fish and Wildlife Service regarding potential impact on endangered species habitat.
No Name Key is part of the Habitat Conservation Plan and Incidental Take Permit for that island and Big Pine Key. Under the agreement for the ITP, limited human development is allowed in return for habitat mitigation. That mitigation usually takes the form of additional land purchased for conservation within the boundaries of those two islands.
Neugent said recently that USFWS officials were non-committal on the question of whether they would support electrification of No Name Key.
The service told county officials they would need at least a conceptual plan that outlined where the utilities would be run, and how, before they could issue any statement of support or non-support concerning the request.
Last Friday’s local meeting was the first step toward preparing that plan.
Neugent said he was told that if utilities and their ancillary support structures were placed only in scarified, existing rights-of-way, USFWS probably would have no issue. If the proposal required going across habitat, or using habitat for the project, the outcome might be different.
Hi primary concern for asking the question was actually wastewater treatment. He wanted to find out if USFWS would object to running a central collection system on No Name Key, if final plans call for that, due to potential impacts on endangered species.
He said service officials wanted a plan that showed locations and routing of any proposed utilities. If a gravity system is to be used, would the lift stations remain on right-of-way, or have to be built in habitat areas not already covered by rights-of-way? If a vacuum system is chosen, which FKAA officials have already said they do not favor, would pits encroach on undisturbed habitat?
“These are questions we need answered before we commit money to any system on No Name Key,” said Neugent.
According to Schillinger, Keys Energy now has a couple of choices to make.
“They can go ahead and collect money from the residents now and get the answers they need later, or they can put the project on hold until they have all the necessary approvals from all the required agencies,” said Schillinger.
The last estimate proffered by Keys Energy to run power to No Name Key was just shy of $1 million, if the utility used above ground poles. That estimate has risen in the last year as building codes changed requiring a heftier wind-load rating.
Running underground power lines, which the residents have said they prefer, would cost more than $1.5 million, according to the utility.
If USFWS decides it needs to do a full-scale biological opinion to render a determination on endangered species impacts, the process could take up to three years. The county needed such an opinion when it built the new park on Big Pine and waited just under three years for the outcome of no substantial impact.
No Name might find itself on power grid
Electricity issue coming back to commission
By RYAN McCARTHY Posted - Wednesday, June 10, 2009 11:00 AM EDT
No Name Key residents hoping to be on the grid will seek permission from the Monroe County Commission next Wednesday to use county bridges and rights of way to get commercial electricity.
Mayor George Neugent sponsored the item after No Name resident Bob Reynolds produced a notarized affidavit stating nearly 75 percent of the Lower Keys island's population wants commercial power.
Right now, residents use solar or generators. Whether to bring commercial power to No Name has been debated for years.
"I recognize the potential technical issues out there with [the Federal Emergency Management Agency] and [the state Department of Community Affairs]. However, if 70 percent of the residents of a community would like to bring utilities to their homes and they're willing to pay for it, I don't think I have a problem with that," Neugent said.
If approved by the commission, Keys Energy Services would put in the lines.
Neugent said the county's comprehensive plan only discourages "development in environmentally sensitive areas like No Name," but doesn't necessarily forbid it.
" I don't foresee any [building permits] being issued for development on No Name Key, so that certainly fits my definition of discouraging development," he said.
But permission from the County Commission would be only the first of many hurdles No Name residents would have to clear.
Other steps that must be taken, according to a letter to Reynolds from Keys Energy Chief Executive Officer Lynne Tejeda, include possibly leasing conduit from AT&T, a formal bid to determine the cost, working with other agencies for permits and obtaining signed contracts from homeowners.
And then there's the matter of cost.
According to Keys Energy documents, providing electricity above ground would cost $909,000, while burying the lines would cost $1.9 million.
No Name has just 43 homes; 75 percent of that equates to 32.25 homes. Using those numbers, those who Reynolds says want commercial power would pay nearly $29,000 for above-ground construction and just under $60,000 for underground.
"Those costs do not include mitigation and permitting costs for the project in general. They could be passed on to the residents," Keys Energy spokesman Julio Barroso said, noting only residents who request electricity would be billed. Other residents could tie in later, he said.
"They would stay off the grid, but if at some point they did want to get on the grid, they would have to pay ... what their share of the cost would be. You would have to pay a certain fee to those residents that paid to get the lines down the road. This is and will always be something not forced on anyone," Barroso said.
No Name Key is the largest solar community in the Florida Keys.There are 43 homes powered by a combination of solar, wind, generator and battery power.Solar energy has its limitations; it works great on sunny days, but doesn't produce electricity at night, or on cloudy days.It is obvious to most experts that solar energy must be used in conjunction with commercial electricity if it’s going to be a viable source of alternative energy.The beauty of this “grid-tie” method is that you produce electricity when conditions are optimal, and you use electricity from the electric grid when you require extra.If you produce more than you need, you sell it back to the electric company so that others can use this clean energy.
We NNKers are not proud of our generators but are forced to use them to run our homes (refrigerators, tv’s) when solar isn't enough or if we want to run air conditioning.Generators spew huge amounts of greenhouse gases, toxic air pollutants and create an enormous level of noise pollution. The “green” solution would be to allow No Name Key to hook up to the commercial electricity grid so we could be a model for sustainable solar communities nationwide.
No Name Key was never a planned “solar community”.Homeowners were promised utilities by developers and the electric company.We currently don't have commercial utilities because one woman decided she didn't want neighbors.When she bought her property, she knew a 13-home development (Galleon Bay) was being built next door.She spent years fighting this development.And then things got hinky.This woman got herself appointed to the Monroe County Planning Commission in 2001 and helped craft LDR “P61-01.I’m going to quote text from this LDR because I think you’ll find it as preposterous as I do: “To Establish a New Land Use Overlay District that will PROHIBIT the Following Types of Public Utilities: Central Wastewater, Potable Water, Electricity, Telephone and Cable”.This LDR affected only No Name Key.So, in 2001, in Monroe County, in the USA, a law was created that prohibited an existing community from receiving public utilities.Are you kidding me?Though this woman directly benefited from the LDR, she voted to approve it, without recusing herself.To add insult to injury, this occurred concurrently with her as a named intervener in an ongoing lawsuit filed by neighbors to electrify No Name Key. What happened is history.
The truth is a supermajority of homeowners on NNK want public utilities.We even volunteered to pay for these services.We are not pro-development or commercial power junkies as the local media often portrays us.The majority of our solar systems cannot provide the electricity we need to power approved wastewater systems.We’d need grid power to meet 2010 advanced wastewater standards and to clean our air and water pollution.We are asking for fair treatment and a “green” No Name Key Randy Hochberg
To me, some of the most important myths in need of dispelling, some of the real issues, and things I hope to discuss with you are:
No Name Key is Not a "Barrier Island". -That is a false statement, period. "Portions" of No Name Key are designated as "CBRS areas". There are CBRS areas from Key Largo thru Key West. No Name Key is no more a "Coastal Barrier Island" than Key Largo is.
29 of the 43 homes on NNK are not is a "CBRS area". The 14 homes on the East End ( a developed subdivision known as Islands End) were placed into this CBRS area designation in error: they never qualified for inclusion and they are in the process of being removed.
No Name Key was never intended to be a solar island (as was the case with Cook's). Electricity was on the way to No Name Key. Water vales and pipes were (and still are) in the streets. Additionanly, we have telephones and a new fire well.
The central sewer issue isn't a "guise" to get electricity; most residents had gotten tired and given up (they've been asking, and been "promised' utilities since 1978). It wasn't until one neighbor tried to force composting toilets on us that we stood up and said "enough is enough". & It wasn't until this point that we found out we (NNK - a Hot Spot on 4 EPA/Water Quality Reports, and in the earlier wastewater master planning) had fallen off of the entire wastewater masterplan "by accident". (Not reclassified as cold spot.... we became a "no spot" if you will)
NNK being "green" is a fairy tale: Almost every home on No Name Key has and uses generators (which produce 3 times the CO2 emissions than electricity produced by the electric company). Quite a few of the NNK residents are winter/part time residents; all the power produced by their homes during the many months they are gone goes nowhere, it goes to waste.
No Name Key is "unique" not due to our lack of commercial power, but because we are the largest untapped solar farm in the State.
No Name Key could be a shining example, a jewel for the County, but right now we are just a green lie. The majority of the homeowners on No Name Key want a central sewer connection to stop the pollution of the waters, and would love to grid tie. No Name Key could be a Real part of the solution, and a place all the County could be proud of. -But, the only tie we have here is our hands!
No Name Key residents have come together as an overwhelming, undeniable majority. It is time that the will and wishes of the majority be respected.
Change and progress happens: There are people who still remember when the overseas railroad was replaced by roads. It wasn't until the mid-50's that power was brought to Big Pine Key. It was only (approx) 20 years ago that the water mains were placed underground: Back in the '80's the water mains ran along US1. These were often struck by cars resulting in water outages. Progress came, "a better way of doing things": they were placed underground.
Now is the time for progress to come to No Name Key, there is a "better way of doing things": Grid-tie is the true environmental solution, stand alone solar with lead-acid batteries and generators is the past. -There is a better way of doing things, but we haven't been allowed to change to meet the progress and technology now available.
Those of us that want better water quality and sewer protection for our waters, those of us that want to participate in grid-tie, should be allowed.
-And for those who don't want to be part of the progress, part of the real solution, they are not forced to: No one is forced to have commercial electricity to their home. -No one in the entire country has to have electricity to their home: stop paying the electric bill and I guarantee you will not have electricity.
Beth Ramsay-Vickrey Full-Time NNK Resident
Planning panel OKs power on No Name Key BY TIMOTHY O'HARA KEY WEST CITIZEN July 24, 2008
A plan to bring central sewer service and utilities to No Name Key moved ahead Wednesday, with the Monroe County Planning Commission recommending a change to the county's comprehensive plan and land development regulations that would accomplish both objectives.
The change also could help one No Name Key neighborhood of 18 homes become eligible for federally subsidized flood insurance.
The Planning Commission makes recommendations to the Monroe County Commission, which has the final say.
No Name Key is a sparsely populated island adjacent to Big Pine Key in the heart of the National Key Deer Refuge. A dozen or so homeowners for years advocated independent lifestyles, with homes that include cisterns, solar and wind power generation and other, off-the-grid features. This group successfully fought efforts to connect the island to the power grid in the 1990s and early 2000s. But the island's philosophical winds may be changing.
Another group of property owners appears to have persuaded the Planning Commission and the County Commission that electrifying the island is necessary to provide advanced wastewater treatment on No Name Key a state mandate with a 2010 deadline. Only one speaker opposed the move during Wednesday's meeting.
In recent months, the County Commission has passed several resolutions and ordinances that call for new and better sewer systems for No Name Key, paving the way for, at the very least, limited electrical power from the utility grid.
Wednesday's Planning Commission decision focused on bringing sewer service and electricity and possibly removing obstacles to the availability of subsidized flood insurance to a No Name Key neighborhood known as Island's End.
The area is in the federal Coastal Barrier Resources System area a designation that discourages development in low-lying coastal areas prone to flooding by making such areas ineligible for the National Flood Insurance Program.
A companion designation in county law extends that prohibition to wastewater and electrical utilities. The Planning Commission voted to strike criteria related to power and sewers from the county designation. Those restrictions are not included in the federal designation.
The County Commission last month approved a resolution asking the federal government to lift the designation for No Name Key, and asked county staff to explore removal of the local designation. The county has sought the help of U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, to remove the federal designation.
"We are asking for more info before we reach any decision," her spokesman, Alex Cruz, told The Citizen. "It's not easy to get properties off the Coastal Barrier Resources System."
NewsBarometer June 19, 2008
BOCC throws support behind lifting No Name federal designation
By Steve Estes
The county commission Wednesday agreed to throw its support behind an effort to have the east end of No Name Key removed from the Coastal Barrier Resource System designation that has stymied the development of public utilities on the island for more than a decade.
The federal designation was applied in the early 1990s in an effort to steer growth away from environmentally sensitive coastal areas, and coastal areas where repeated flooding occurs during storm events. By doing so, the federal government said, it would save the taxpayer the cost of constantly rebuilding after floods.
The Monroe Board of County Commissioners also agreed to lend its support to changes in the county’s land use regulations and comprehensive land use plan that would eventually allow for the installation of a central wastewater collection system on one of the island chain’s most ecologically fragile outposts.
“These two items begin the process of allowing you to eventually install central sewers on No Name Key,” said Don Craig, a planning consultant for some No Name residents. “Unless you take these steps, you cannot, under your regulations, extend central wastewater to No Name.”
The county enacted a Coastal Barrier Resource overlay district on No Name to further the goals of the federal designation and steer development away from the island, according to planning documents. Under the terms of that overlay, public utilities were prohibited.
About 14 No Name residents sent the request for support in lifting the designation, saying that the area had been placed there in error in the first place and the move was simply a way to correct that mistake.
When the designation was initially handed down, part of the criteria was that the area be developed at less than one unit per five acres and that it have reinforced roadbeds, electricity, wastewater systems and water.
All of those things existed, says Mary Bakke, No Name resident.“There was one home that received its CO (Certificate of Occupancy) in 1976 and three in 1988,” said Bakke. “There has been development on No Name Key for a long time.”
Bakke also claimed that No Name did have reinforced roadbeds-they just weren’t paved. All the homes had power generated by their own systems, each had a septic system and each had a cistern for water, which she says should have been enough to exempt the east end of the island from the designation.
No Name resident John Lentini said he believed that a single anonymous comment sent to the Department of the Interior when the CBRS designation was being discussed was the sole reason for the east end’s inclusion in the area.
CountyAttorney Suzanne Hutton told the commission later, however, that volumes of data and testimony went into federal decisions about the CBRS.
“The commission’s support will be one of the positives they look at,” she said.The resolution of support will go to the county’s elected federal representatives for further action.It will take an amendment of the CBRS legislation by the US Congress to lift the designation, a process most felt could take years to accomplish.
Proponents of central wastewater systems and of lifting the designation, said the federal question doesn’t really stand in the way of installing sewer systems on the island. It simply means that state, county or private money must be used to build any such system.
It is the county regulations that specifically prohibit extending public utilities to the island.The second vote began that process, but it has a long way to run before resolution.The BOCC directed staff to look at amending the county’s land use and comprehensive plans to allow wastewater pipes to be installed on the island, though they tried to direct the issue away from electrification. Read More: www.Keysnews.com
NewsBarometer May 30, 2008
County agrees to No Name sewers
By Steve Estes Residents of No Name Key won their battle for central sewer connections last week when the Monroe Board of County Commissioners voted 4-1 to extend the central wastewater collection system to their remote island off Big Pine Key. That leaves just over 1,000 residents of the county in so-called cold spots where central system hook ups are not planed by the county’s approved wastewater master plan. “We are thrilled with the BOCC vote,” said Beth Ramsay-Vickrey, a No Name resident. “No Name Key was scientifically documented as having degraded water quality, further hindered by power constraints. Central sewer connection for No Name Key was the only logical decision the BOCC could make, and we are grateful to them for that.” Not all No Name Key residents cheered the outcome, however.Long-time resident Alicia Putney wrote the commission before the vote (click here to read more)
KeyNoter May 23, 2008 Yes to sewers for No Name By Ryan McCarthy
The Monroe County Commission voted Wednesday to sewer No Name Key, something the island's residents have been waiting to hear for years since having their “hot spot” designation removed.
Being a hot spot means No Name will be a priority to hook up to central sewers once the county installs them.
If the residents aren't part of the system, they might have to install their own individual sewer plants to comply with a state mandate of advanced wastewater treatment by July 2010.
But Commissioner George Neugent cautioned No Name residents that the vote to sewer their island doesn't mean it will happen any time soon. “The thing that hasn't sunk in yet is we're broke. No matter if we make you a hot spot or not, we're dead in the water as far as moving forward with sewering anyone,” Neugent said. “It's a house of cards that has no substance. I don't think some of my colleagues understand that.”
Neugent said his office has already begun receiving calls from other county “cold spots” such as Eden Pines and Port Pine Heights on Big Pine Key about receiving sewers. “I predicted this to happen,” he said. “People are saying ‘You made No Name Key a hot spot, we want to be sewered too.'”
New Mayor Mario Di Gennaro said the county has for years been dragging its feet with sewering in general, costing it “hundreds of millions of dollars.”
“They should have never been taken off the hot list. They are entitled to be sewered; let's get the job done,” he told the Keynoter. “We're not going to make [the 2010 deadline], but let's do it as quick as possible.”
Commissioner Sylvia Murphy was the lone no vote, but says her vote doesn't mean she's against sewering No Name Key.
“What we did in that vote is lock ourselves into a promise, and that I was not going to do. I'd go for it in a heartbeat if it can be done like everything else, but I'm not willing to promise something we cannot do for everyone else in that same situation,” she said.
A staff memo included with the agenda item says No Name was “inadvertently ... completely omitted from the county's 2000 wastewater plan,” making it a cold spot and a low priority for installing sewers. It also says 1999 studies show water-quality degradation on the island.
No Name residents presented 33 signatures at the April County Commission meeting asking to be included in plans to sewer Big Pine Key, despite their off-the-grid status. No Name residents generate their own electricity, collect their own water and dispose of their own sewage.
NewsBarometer May 23, 2008
Sewer decisions are way overdue
By Steve Estes Making decisions piecemeal is not the best way to do government business. Decisions made in that fashion usually come back to bite the taxpayer in the rear end.
The Monroe Board of County Commissioners Wednesday approved adding No Name Key to the central wastewater collection system for the remainder of the Lower Keys. That was a good decision. Just because the residents of No Name Key live a little further out than your average Keys resident, they should not be left off the sewer plan. But neither should other subdivisions that face a similar set of circumstances. It was nearly two months ago that county officials told No Name and other local residents that they were in the process of making the determinations on what properties could expect to be connected and what properties could expect not to be connected. And they said it should be about month from then. It’s been two months. Residents of No Name Key were unwilling to wait for the slow-turning turns wheels of government to get back to them and instead went full-speed ahead to get what they felt was their due from the commission.
We applaud those efforts.(click here to read more)
Key West Citizen Thu, May 22, 2008 No Name Key to get central sewers BY TIMOTHY O'HARA
No Name Key residents are a little closer to connecting to a central sewer system, but questions still remain about how much it will cost, with estimates ranging from $13,500 to $58,000 per home. The MonroeCounty Commission on Wednesday agreed to include No Name Key in a Lower Keys central sewer system plan and directed its engineers to research classifying the area as one that should be connected because its nearshore water quality has degraded. Scientists had classified it as such, but MonroeCounty did not follow suit because of the island's "remote location" and "low density," Commissioner George Neugent said.
A group of No Name Key residents successfully lobbied the commission to reconsider. Because the Florida Keys are under a state mandate to have all properties on an advanced wastewater treatment system by July 1, 2010, residents could face fines if not connected by then. The commission voted 4-1, with Commissioner Sylvia Murphy dissenting. "What is the hurry?" asked Murphy. Neugent, citing a Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority study, initially had argued against it, saying it could cost as much as $58,000 a home. "It's a matter of economically feasibility," he said. "It's all about money. We are out of money." Tavernier resident and civic activist John Hammerstrom, who uses solar power for energy and a cistern for water, argued the issue comes down to cost versus benefit, and he thinks the cost is "prohibitive" and the benefit is "minor." "This has nothing to do with sewer but a lot to do with commercial power," he said, suggesting some people are using sewers as an excuse to electrify the island, which has no commercial power.
Some say generators are enough to power the central sewer system; some say they are not. No Name Key is surrounded by some of the best fishing and recreational lobster harvesting in the Keys and is home to several endangered species. Residents argued that a central sewer system would better protect the environment. Resident Brad Vickrey told the commission how the abandoned well on his property has saltwater in it, and that the water level changes along with the tide in the canal behind his home. He fears the water in his septic tank is doing the same thing, and bleeding into the canal and nearshore waters. "I want to clean up our waters," Vickrey said.
News-Barometer MAY 16, 2008 No Name may get central sewers By Steve Estes The Monroe County Board of Commissioners is expected to approve a proposal Wednesday that will designate No Name Key as a hot spot for central sewer service.
According to the staff report, the island of 46 homes was inadvertently left off the master wastewater plan when it was developed, which automatically classified it as a cold spot.
Hot spots are those areas expected to be served by central sewer plants while cold spots are those areas not expected to be served by central sewers.
Part of the cause for the omission, county official believe, is because No Name Key is off the grid for electric power and is one of the Keys’ most environmentally sensitive islands and thus not considered. Because of that omission, however, staff reports that the island can be added (to read more, click here)
KEYNOTER May 14, 2008
Island to be named ‘hot spot'
By Alyson Crean
That would make it a sewer priority
Residents of No Name Key will be pleased to know the Monroe County Commission is ready to consider their island a “hot spot.” The designation could mean they get the chance to hook up to county sewers once they're installed.
The County Commission meets May 21 at the Key Largo library and among agenda items is to designate No Name Key as a so-called hot spot, which means it's a priority area for central sewers.
At the April meeting, residents presented a petition that included 33 signatures from homeowners asking they be included in plans to sewer nearby Big Pine Key.
What makes No Name different is its off-the-grid status. The 43 homes there generate their own electricity, collect their own water and dispose of their own sewage.
“We want to have central sewers,” resident Rick Sweet said.
“We need this,” his wife Jennifer said. “We need it for ourselves and we need it for our ocean. If the ocean dies, we die.”
According to a staff memo included with the agenda item for next week's meeting, No Name was “inadvertently ... completely omitted from the county's 2000 wastewater plan.” The omission made it a so-called “cold spot” by default. Cold spots are considered the lowest priority in installing central sewers, as they theoretically least affect the nearshore waters.
But the memo says that studies done in 1999 show the waters, especially the canals, show water-quality degradation. That study was conducted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Some residents say if it takes electricity to control a central system, then the county should move forward with hooking them up to the Keys Energy Services grid.
“Since the last time you discussed electrification more than five years ago, the old [system of allocating building permits] has been replaced with a tier system,” which maps land by its buildability, said consultant Donald Craig, representing several of the residents. “There is no reasonable way additional development could occur by electrification.”
A regional sewer system is a long way from happening, however.
According to Jim Reynolds, executive director of the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority, a central system for the Lower Keys is still in the talking stages. No plans are congealed and it's not clear where funding would come from.
But residents stepped up to say they want to be part of county planning rather than looking at installing individual plants when the state deadline to have sewers installed arrives in July 2010.
KeysNews.com
Solar vs. electric debate relit on No Name Key - 05/04/2008
Mandated central sewer system requires power
BY TIMOTHY O'HARA
Citizen Staff
No Name Key has long been held as the bastion of green living. The island relies on the sun for power and the rain for water. Key deer roam through residents' yards, reminding visitors they are in the heart of a U.S. wildlife refuge, home to several threatened and endangered species.
The sound environmental practices of the island's 43 homeowners, however, doesn't exclude them from a state mandate requiring advanced treatment standards for sewage processing. They face stiff fines if they don't connect to a central sewer system, or have a solid plan to, by the July 2010 deadline.
Nearly two dozen residents packed the last Monroe County Commission meeting and demanded that No Name Key be included in central sewer design plans for Big Pine Key, which itself was recently included as part of a Lower Keys plan.
The meeting revived the battle over whether commercial electricity should be brought to the island, as solar power and generators, currently used on the island, will not provide enough energy to fuel a wastewater pumping station.
In the past, some have argued that generators already are a mainstay on the island and regularly used in the summer to power air conditioning units. Critics argue generators leave a larger carbon footprint than connecting to Keys Energy Services. Other residents challenge that finding, and argue that homes can be modified to be cooler in the summer.
The debate has pitted neighbor against neighbor. Residents have not been shy about voicing their animosity toward one another. One group tried to bring electricity to the island in 1998 and five years of court battles ended with commercial power staying off the island. But the scars remain.
"The charm of this island has nothing to do with the lack of power, water or central sewer," said Bob Reynolds, who bought his No Name Key home four years ago. "We came here in spite of these things. The charm is the lack of people and the nature."
Longtime residents Mick and Alicia Putney, staunch opponents of bringing commercial power to the island, argue that people bought their homes knowing there was no power on the island. No Name Key residents who can afford the hefty price tag can purchase a solar system that can power air conditioning units. The Putneys are concerned about the volatility of the debate, as it once again has polarized the community.
"I wish we could be amicable and constructive, rather than confrontational," Mick Putney said.
On Wednesday, No Name Key residents met with MonroeCounty engineers, Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority sewer experts and Keys Energy Services representatives to discuss a form of central sewage system that requires little power.
No Name Key resident Thomas Sinclair, a national sewer expert, proposed a plan that also could cut sewer costs by a third. If effective, the technology could be used in other MonroeCounty sewer projects, saving residents thousands of dollars in sewer upgrade costs, said Dave Koppel, head of the county's engineering department.
Sinclair, who has worked on sewer projects around the country, proposed the island use one of two systems: a septic tank effluent pump (STEP) or septic tank effluent gravity (STEG). The systems allow residents to modify their septic tanks and the wastewater to be carried to a central collection system. As with a septic system, the solids are stored on site and removed every five to 10 years. But the wastewater is pumped away to a central collection system, instead of being stored on site, Koppel said.
"This has potential for all of the Keys," Koppel said. "If it works for No Name, why can't it work everywhere else This is something we need to look at."
The county has known about the technology for years and it was proposed as part of MonroeCounty's wastewater master plan several years ago. The idea was shot down because some of the waste would stay on residents' property, Koppel said.
The system may require only one pumping station for No Name Key. The pumping station could be placed on the No Name Key side of the BogieChannelBridge, and engineers could run a small power line across the bridge to a power supply on Big Pine Key, Koppel said.
"We would not oppose this," Mick Putney said. "We are against the extent of power to No Name Key. We are not opposed to a minimal amount of power being brought to the foot of the bridge."
KeysNews.com 09/20/2006
Sewers, utilities may come to No Name Key
KeysNews.com
BY ANN HENSON
Free Press Staff
NO NAME KEY -- Mick and Alicia Putney fought alongside other neighbors for five years to keep their island free of utilities, relying instead on solar panels to generate electricity and cisterns to collect rainwater.
But a push to upgrade sewer systems in the Florida Keys by 2010 may reignite the battle, as county officials begin looking at replacing aging septic systems with central sewers or smaller, on-site package plants.
"No water or electricity, I think we eventually will have to get them off septic tanks and onto some type of treatment," said Elizabeth Wood, county wastewater engineer. "By not having utilities, they are having a negative affect in the environment. It's something we'll have to look at."
A narrow, (NNK Webmaster note: this is a WIDE two-lane bridge) two-lane bridge over Bogie Channel separates the more heavily populated Big Pine Key from No Name Key, where loud and smelly diesel generators power air conditioners, coffee makers and other appliances in some of the homes. Most of the residents who fought to bring utilities to No Name Key have moved on, said Alicia Putney, a former county planning commissioner.
"The density is so low, out of the cluster of*23 homes, there's three who are full-time residents, four, if you count us," she said. (*NNK Webmaster NOTE: This is incorrect, there are 43 homes on the island)
One attempt to build 43 luxury homes on the island, however, got new life last week when Judge Richard Payne tossed out a jury's award of $750,000 for property that jurors found devalued because it has no access to utilities. Owner Hannelore Schleu, who failed for years to win county approval for her family's GalleonBay project, will get a new trial. Payne previously found the county guilty of rendering her property useless by not issuing permits, while refusing to buy the vacant land. MonroeCounty had the option of handing out the 43 permits, and this option was renewed by Payne's latest order.
Putney, who touts No Name Key as "the only solar island in the Keys," said she expects the county to live up to promises made years ago and to provide residents with information on the best available systems to meet the sewage treatment requirements.
But times have changed, and Wood said that in the far reaches o f Big Pine Key, homeowners will either have individual upgraded systems or small package plants for neighborhoods. She includes No Name Key in that assessment, which means residents would likely need municipal electricity and water to operate those systems.
That would be good news to full-time resident David Eaken, who five years ago joined the fray in pushing for utilities on the island. Eaken said he gave up his quest several years ago and bought, along with nine other families, a diesel generator that consumes about 200 gallons of fuel per month at a cost of $600.
"We just ran out of steam, paid huge bills from attorneys and we got tired and just wanted to live our lives," said Eaken, an outreach coordinator with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Eaken said he had not heard about any new push by residents to power his neighborhood, but he disputes Putney's claims that No Name Key is an environmental haven.
"No Name Key is a big green lie," he said. "We use thousands of gallons of diesel fuel a month, have loads of used-up six-volt batteries at my house and we have septic tanks, which in all of the Keys are not much more than cesspit
Treating sewage without water or electricity is possible, but it's not easy or cheap, said George Garrett, director of county marine resources, who worked on wastewater issues when the county's master plan for upgrading sewer systems was created.
"It's been done on two other islands and approved," he said.
Cook's Island, east of Little Palm Island in the Lower Keys, is one of those islands. Eaken said a few homes for seasonal residents are on the island, as is a Boy Scout camp.
"They have an above-ground septic tank and have to climb a tower -- 12 steps -- and do their business," he said of the camp facilities.
The only system that Eaken knows of that will operate without water or electricity is one that uses dry compost.
"We would have to completely retool our homes; it would be a radical change," he said.
Garrett said the CountyCommission's decision was a political choice not to force No Name Key to hook into utilities that left island residents on their own.
"It's up to the property owner to figure out how to meet the standards, and the Department of Health is in charge of telling people who do not meet 2010 standards that they must do so," he said.
CountyCommissioner George Neugent said he anticipates having to deal with new demands to power No Name Key.
"Once again there's a growing interest in getting electricity out there. I think they'll be able to make an argument ... how can we run our wastewater systems without a constant electric system?"
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