City officials will choose a replacement for resigning City Commissioner Dan Kolhage during a special meeting on Wednesday, and in July will decide whether to change the term length of the mayor from two to four years.

If the change is approved, it likely would go into effect for the Oct. 6 election, meaning the winning candidate would serve the same amount of time as city commissioners.

The current commissioners and the mayor on Wednesday will nominate individuals to represent New Town's District III until the city's election on Oct. 6.

Kolhage attended his final commission meeting Tuesday, receiving thanks and praise from his colleagues on the dais and from Key West residents, including former Assistant City Manager John Jones.

"You set the highest financial standards in the history of this commission," Jones said. And Commissioner Bill Verge ticked off the various endeavors, challenges and achievements of the commission during Kolhage's tenure, which began 11 days before Hurricane Wilma flooded the island in 2005.

Bayview Park plaque

The commission also voted to install a plaque at the Bayview Park bandstand recognizing those responsible for its existence.

The decision was a compromise after Kolhage's motion to dedicate the bandstand to former City Commissioner Jose Menendez was denied.

The discussion included a comment from Washington Street resident Margaret Romero, who urged commissioners to end the practice of naming public sites after city officials.

She reminded them of other, nonpublic community members who contribute greatly to the city.

Commissioner Mark Rossi, who conducted the meeting in the absence of Mayor Morgan McPherson, said he would like to consider passing a new city law that would stipulate that city property could be named for someone only after death.

Vandenberg money

• In other commission activity, City Attorney Shawn Smith assured the commissioners that his office diligently will pursue reimbursement for the $1.3 million the city contributed to the Vandenberg artificial reef project.

Lawmakers Tuesday approved the $1.3 million expenditure. They were reminded that the contract with the reef project coordinators specifies that any project funds raised after the sinking of the former military ship will be turned over to the city to repay the $1.3 million.

"There is a continuing obligation to reimburse the city's taxpayers, and we are taking that very seriously," Smith said, although there is no deadline for repayment.

Land trust audit

Smith also told the commission that his office is pursuing a forensic audit of the Bahama Conch Community Land Trust (BCCLT) affordable housing organization.

Commissioners, especially McPherson, have voiced serious concerns about possible financial mismanagement within the organization. McPherson publicly has criticized Executive Director Norma Jean Sawyer after a $102,000 error in which the land trust double-charged the city.

The legal staff is compiling a list of documents and records an auditor will need from the BCCLT, Smith said in answer to Commissioner Teri Johnston's question about the audit's status.

Her question came just minutes after Sawyer received an award that was supposed to come from the mayor.

But in accepting the "Community Housing Mayor's Award" from Rossi instead of the absent McPherson, Sawyer lambasted the mayor and Commissioner Clayton Lopez, who also was absent from the meeting due to illness.

"Because of greed, power and misplaced anger, the mayor and Commissioner Lopez have maligned my name," Sawyer said, adding that the two are trying to divide the Bahama Village community.

She called the Mayor's Award "hypocritical and arrogant," saying she knows it did not come from McPherson.

The city's all-volunteer Community Housing Committee nominated and selected Sawyer as the recipient of the award that recognizes progress in the creation or maintenance of affordable housing.

Committee Chairman Omar Garcia praised Sawyer for her success in finding financial resources for affordable housing.

"I do not accept this as the mayor's award, but as one from my peers who truly respect what I'm doing," she said.

Turtle news

And finally, sea turtles will return to the historic turtle cannery building at Key West Bight in the form of an exhibit, researched and developed by the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum, that details the turtle industry's success and demise in Key West.

The commission approved a lease between the city and the maritime history museum for the cannery building.

mbolen@keysnews.com