*DISCLAIMER: As the No Name Key Property Owners Association is the only legally incorporated and registered group representing No Name Key, and as NoNameKey.org is a fact only website for information regarding No Name Key; NoNameKey.org has provided the NNKPOA with this webspace.
The No Name Key Property Owners’ Association FACT SHEET:
·No Name Key is a community of 43 solar powered homes.The solar community is, therefore, the entire community.
·The only legally incorporated and registered “group” representing the majority of the homeowners on No Name is the No Name Key Property Owners Association (NNKPOA). As such, the No Name Key Property Owners Association speaks for, and represents, the solar community that is No Name Key. ·39 of our 43 homes must, unfortunately, supplement our solar systems with gas ordiesel generators to have sufficient power for basic quality of life measures. Interestingly, the homes with the three largest solar systems on No Name each must also rely on a gas or diesel generator to provide for basic quality of life measures to supplement their solar systems. ·Over 82% of No Name Key is owned and protected by the government, however the majority of homes on No Name are not located within the Coastal Barrier Resource Systems (CBRS) land. In 2008, Monroe County kindly started a process to correct a ‘mapping error’ to remove 14 homes on No Name that were mistakenly included within the CBRS. A CBRS designation does not prohibit or limit central sewers or other utilities but rather prohibits the availability of federally sponsored flood insurance or other federal monies to owners within a designated CBRS area.
·The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of the United States of America has, unfortunately, designated NNK as one of Monroe County’s 88 “Hot Spots” and has repeatedly documented this fact. The majority of homeowners on our island have deep concerns over what the EPA terms severely degraded inshore and near shore waters.
·Most homeowners on No Name have grave concerns over the air and noise pollution they cause to our island and environment. Thankfully, the emerging technology known as ‘net solar metering’ will allow us to leverage our existing solar systems to rid the island of diesel generators and reduce Keys Energy’s reliance on fossil fuels. This ‘win-win’ will finally allow No Name Key to become a true environmental example, a leader, for others to follow. Net solar metering is the future of solar power and green living here on earth and is embraced by the State of Florida and Governor, Charlie Crist.
·100% of No Name residents have requested a connection to the central sewer system. Thankfully, the BOCC has approved such a connection following lengthy debate and detailed staff analysis in the spring and summer of 2008.
·Due to the economic limitations in Monroe County and Florida’s mandate on wastewater, the majority of No Name homeowners banded together and have spent considerable time and money researching a variety of systems. Based on this research and the opinion of numerous experts, a Small Diameter Pipe E-One type Grinder System appears to be a viable high quality and low-cost solution to our wastewater concerns. Such a system is estimated to cost under $ 16,000.00 per EDU and is energetically supported by the EPA as being affordable and reliable. The EPA estimates that small diameter systems cost 70% less to install than ‘big pipe’ systems and 50% less to maintain and operate. ·In comparison, Shark Key has had an estimated cost per EDU of $ 55,263.15 (38 EDU’s at an estimated $ 2,100,000.00) versus the documented quotation that the Association on NNK has obtained of less than $16,000.00 for a Small Diameter Pipe EOne Grinder System, saving perhaps 69% over the conventional systems being installed in Monroe at this time.
·In its December 20, 1999 report on Collection System Alternatives to Monroe County, the engineering firm CH2M Hill concluded that “grinder pumps are a viable alternative for wastewater collection in the Florida Keys.” ·An E-One Grinder system has been advocated by the FKAA and others. Such systems eliminate the need for on-site septic/holding tanks that are, themselves, environmental threats from tidal surge and hurricanes. Additionally, an E-One grinder type system can have its key components located on a lot’s perimeter, thus allowing 24/7/365 access by FKAA and other utility firms. Since the required power for the pumps does not need to be brought directly inside each home, those few residents who do not want their homes connected to the electrical grid will have the choice to connect or not to connect. With a Grinder, homeowners will have the ability to make their own choice over power serving their actual home.
·The United State’s Department of the Interior’s Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) has not expressed any known concerns over the installation of a sewer system on No Name and would, we believe, embrace this as a logical means to protect our waters and environment. The USFWS did however, in writing, state “FWS believes that electrical service in existing residential structures on No Name Key will not adversely affect the Key Deer or other listed species.”
·Since September 2001, No Name residents have been subjected to an oppressive and onerous County Ordinance43-2001 that prohibits basic infrastructure improvements including central sewer, power, cable, telephone, and potable water. No Name is the only residential community in Monroe County subjected to these restrictions yet the majority of residents did not and do not support this Ordinance. This Ordinance was crafted, in part, by No Name resident and then sitting Planning Commissioner Alicia Putney while she was also a Named Defendant in a lawsuit and representing a small group of residents fighting one of the very items that the Ordinance prohibits (commercial power). Rather than recuse herself given her obvious bias (both as a homeowner on the island and being directly involved in a lawsuit over one of the items the law sought to prohibit), public documents confirm that Ms. Putney voted on the Ordinance despite ethics laws for public appointees that required her to disclose her personal conflict of interest on the record and file a memorandum of voting conflict in the official minutes of that meeting. Failure to comply with Florida ethics law appears a violation of her oath of public service. While the ethics law did not prevent her from voting, it does require disclosure of the conflict of interest before voting. ·Despite Ordinance 43-2001, No Name Key has many infrastructure improvements including its modern bridge linking it to Big Pine Key; direct wired landline telephone service, direct-wired landline high-speed internet service, paved roads, street signs, and a new fire fighting water well. Additionally, despite this terrible Ordinance and its prohibitions, several residents have, thankfully, been able to purchase potable water in recent years for their cisterns.
·In July 2008, the current Planning Commissionunanimously voted, 5/0, on a Land Development Regulation (LDR) and Comprehensive Plan change to County Ordinance 43-2001 to allow basic infrastructure on No Name so that the island can be sewered. The Planning Commission and Board of County Commissioners have taken logical and intelligent steps to support a minor modification to this Ordinance by allowing developed sites (the 43 homes) to receive these basic improvements. These improvements were made while maintaining the prohibition on the undeveloped lots on No Name so as to prevent future development of the island yet still serving existing homeowners’ needs and, as importantly, the will of the majority.
·In September 2008, the Board of County Commissioners(“BOCC”) voted to support the suggested changes to the Land Development Regulation (LDR) following the unanimous support by the Planning Commission as well as the County’s Growth Management and County’s legal staff. At the September 2008 BOCC, the County legal staff said it supported changes made by the Director of Growth Management, Drew Trivette, and that the Florida Department of Community Affairs has already provided assurances that it, the DCA, supports Mr. Trivette’s requested changes to the LDR and Comp Plan. The BOCC also provided residents with a vote of confidence in support of the forthcoming Comp Plan change that accompanies the LDR change that was approved at the meeting.
·Also at the September 2008 BOCC meeting, the Association offered a conceptual sewer plan design for a small diameter pipe E-One Grinder system and a quote of $ 676,822.00 ($ 15,740.05 per EDU). That presentation included Keys Energy’s December 2007 estimate to provide power to every home on No Name for $ 573,900.00. Of their quoted $ 573,900.00 cost, Keys Energy estimated that crossing the bridge that connects No Name to Big Pine Key was $ 310,000.00, a figure that Keys Energy explained was very conservative and likely higher than what the final cost would be if/when the project was installed. ·The next local step in correcting County Ordinance 43-2001 and allowing residents the opportunity to best protect No Name will be the vote in 2009 to support the Comprehensive Plan change. Once approved by the BOCC, the requested changes to the local Ordinance will be sent to Florida’s Department of Community Affairs for its own review and approval.
**IMPORTANT UPDATE** On April 29, 2010, the County Attorney opined that "THE COUNTY HAS NO LEGAL AUTHORITY TO REGULATE UTILITIES", rendering County Ord. 43-2001 "moot" due to its' conflict with Fl Chapter 380: "The work by any utility shall not be considered to be a form of development".
ON APRIL 15, 2010, U.S. FISH WILDLIFE SERVICE APPROVES THE RUNNING OF OVERHEAD POWER LINE TO THE HOMES ON NO NAME KEY.
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; and states no further consultation is required.
·The emergence of new, modern, solar technologies and grid-tie, along with the evolution of Florida laws, offer exciting new ways for No Name Key residents to lead the world in leveraging solar power for the protection of the planet. No Name Key offers the promise of becoming a real environmental example for others to follow in the future, not just the romantic one that exists today. October 1, 2008 The No Name Key Property Owners Association supports basic infrastructure improvements including a central sewer connection and its electrical power needs for residents of No Name Key in Monroe County, Florida. The Association does not advocate development of the island and has, as its principal goal, the long term, multi generational, and protection of the islands unique character that is achieved by its limited density and abundance of nature. The Association is a strong advocate of a central sewer system to protect our inshore and near-shore waters from pollution. The Association, while an advocate of grid-tie solar net metering and the environmental benefits it offers the world, feels that no one should be forced nor denied civilization’s most basic infrastructure improvements such as central sewage treatment and disposal, or commercial electrical power.
For more on the No Name Key Property Owners Association, click here: NNKPOA
To learn more about solar, and the systems available, click here: ABOUT SOLAR
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