The Monroe County Commission on Wednesday agreed to waive building and planning fees for select nonprofit agencies and for-profit developers who build affordable housing projects in the Florida Keys.

Nonprofits and developers will have to plead each case to the County Commission.

The financial impact on property taxes would be about $45,000 a year, not enough to justify the harm that comes from not creating new affordable housing, commissioners said Wednesday.

After the commission in October considered eliminating the waivers, Habitat for Humanity lobbied the board to retain them, especially for nonprofits.

Hospital taxes

County Commissioner George Neugent on Wednesday withdrew his request to create a special taxing district between Marathon and Layton to help keep Fishermen's Hospital open.

There are still too many unanswered questions about whether the district is needed and whether it would be supported by the state Legislature and local voters, who ultimately would have to approve it.

County Commissioner Mario Di Gennaro said a University of Miami Hospital executive on Wednesday said officials will meet with local officials in January to discuss taking over the Marathon hospital. Di Gennaro and hospital board member Bruce Schmitt had lobbied the nonprofit to do so to avoid taxing property owners.

The hospital board claimed it would need government subsidies for five years to maintain the building and buy new equipment to replace what it expects Health Management Associates will take with it if its contract to operate the hospital is not renewed.

New positions

The commission voted to hire Christine Hurley as its new Growth Management Division director.

Hurley will be paid $118,000 a year plus benefits.

Though she is scheduled to start at the end of the month, she drove from Fort Myers to Tallahassee on Tuesday to accompany a county delegation that addressed Gov. Charlie Crist and the Cabinet on Area of Critical State Concern issues.

"That shows commitment," County Administrator Roman Gastesi said. "A lot of folks (in Tallahassee) knew her and she was already prepared."

The commission also selected Sylvia Murphy as its new county mayor, and Heather Carruthers as its vice mayor.

They replace Neugent and Murphy respectively in the mostly ceremonial positions that rotate annually.

The commission also named Key West Mayor Craig Cates to the Monroe County Tourist Development Council board, replacing Morgan McPherson, who was ousted in the Oct. 6 election.

Hickory House

The commission rejected a bid to lease the county-owned Hickory House property on Stock Island.

J2 Development, based in Okaloosa County, offered to pay the county $800 a month for 25 years, with the first three months free while the company renovated the aging building and boat docks.

The commission paid $3.1 million for the property in 2006 and has been trying to unload it for the past two years.

tohara@keysnews.com