City wants $1.3M from feds for storm

Florida Keys News - Key West Citizen

Friday, November 16, 2012

City wants $1.3M from feds for storm

Isaac robbed island's beaches of costly sand

BY GWEN FILOSA Citizen Staff
gfilosa@keysnews.com

The city is counting on $1.3 million in federal disaster relief to help with the costs of replenishing Key West's "sand-enhanced" beaches, which were damaged by the winds of Tropical Storm Isaac.

Key West will replenish the Isaac-damaged beaches either way, but city staffers are already immersed in the complex, detailed process required to attain reimbursement m...

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This money should come from

Submitted on Sat, 11/17/2012 - 9:51am by 666

This money should come from the TDC or another tourist source. Raise Cruise Ship fees so we actually make some money and use that. If needed, or get the tourism industry to pay. we seem to have no trouble finding millions for cruise ship studies, right Commissioner Rossi? I have said it many times before, the 1/2 of town that rants abouts cutting federal spending are the first with their hands out looking for Government Grants. I guess to be successful with your tourism business, you need The Government to "build that." Shame on Key West for even considering this while parts of the country are still without shelter and power.

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It's NOT money from the

Submitted on Fri, 11/16/2012 - 7:12pm by david2009

It's NOT money from the "Feds", it's money from ME!

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You have no right to federal dollars...

Submitted on Fri, 11/16/2012 - 11:17am by Noles01

The country is 16 trillion in debt and KW wants OUR tax dollars to replace sand on it's beaches? How about using cruise ship dollars? Disgraceful and pathetic and indefensible. Start thinking about the big picture, the debt from all the pie in the sky nonsense that our kids will have to pay for. We have some serious reckoning to do in this country...

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Smathers beach......was a disaster....before Isaac.

Submitted on Fri, 11/16/2012 - 8:42am by none

Whoever "manages" Smathers beach.....has allowed it to go to hell in a hand basket quite frankly. They "occasionally" blow the sand off of the walkways, the trash containers smell like cadavers, the rope fence along the walkways is all torn down at many sites.....etc. That....along with all of the dead, smelly seaweed...when the wind is out of the south and not raked in a timely fashion.....makes our beach highly attractive to visitors....as you might imagine. In addition....immediately after Isaac......some "brain surgeons" who raked the surface seaweed off the beach......piled it high directly across the road from the area near stairway 11. It smelled up the entire beach and nearby condominiums.....for 2 weeks until it was picked up. There is ABSOLUTELY NO MANAGEMENT by the City of Key West......of our beaches. NONE. Commissioners.... Ask yourselves one question: WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME.....THAT ONE OF YOU ACTUALLY WENT TO SMATHERS BEACH ??? Whose District is it in?

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Actually, that was highly managed

Submitted on Fri, 11/16/2012 - 4:18pm by Scott

Firstly, regular beach seaweed is managged on a daily basis, mostly dependant upon the prevailing winds that week.

Secondly, the Bridle Path is a pre-approved storm debris staging site; one of only a few approved by the State. Use of this site keeps those very large trucks from having to travel through our narrow downtown streets.

Thirdly, the reason the seaweed sat there for two weeks was to let it dry out some. The City must pay for disposal by the ton. The bulk of seaweed's weight is from water saturation. The longer it's allowed to drain, the less it weighs, and the less it costs for trucking and disposal. Yes, it does start to smell, and there comes a point where it's drained as much as possible before the smell becomes massively pungent, and that's when it's removed.

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I call Bu!!$h!t... every

Submitted on Fri, 11/16/2012 - 5:33pm by ezinthekeys

I call Bu!!$h!t... every time i go down there the seaweed has been there for well over a day and stinks to high heaven. Dream on Scott... you're not fooling anybody. That's the worst stretch of beaches on Key West and everyone knows it.

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Ok, let's get creative ...

Submitted on Fri, 11/16/2012 - 5:24pm by Elvis

It is very easy steps to make home made tar balls, especially when you have half the island about to be repaved on N. Rsvlt.

1). Get a bucket

2). Add 1/4 tar

3). Add sand near brim

4). Mix.

Then:

Place mixed balls on the beach in a natural spaced formation. Call local environmentalists and BP immediately while second city worker takes Polaroids to retain evidence. Purchase chicken carcasses at local Publix and disperse them evenly to show natural wildlife also impacted. Hire the residentially challenged to protest BP on the beach due to chicken shortage.

Learn from the lower Duval bar owner that placed tar balls under bar stools with a similar recipe above.

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So this is an "Emergency"?

Submitted on Fri, 11/16/2012 - 7:18am by david2009

So this is an "Emergency"? Sandy hitting New York, that is an emergency.

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"Sandy" came closer to us than the Goverment wants us to know

Submitted on Sun, 11/18/2012 - 9:32am by trapper

actually blew harder here than Isaac , but we didn't get the TS warning so Fantasy fest wouldn't be interrupted. Our safety was compromised for money. And , Yes the seaweed sits for days filled with garbage.