Key West Botanical Garden In The News
The Citizen: Garden, cruise ships top city agenda
BY MANDY BOLEN
Citizen Staff
The botanical garden will expand and Key West may survive as a cruise ship port of call, according to city officials.
Old City Hall was crowded Wednesday evening with supporters of the Key West Botanical Garden and Tropical Forest, and its expansion plan was unanimously approved.
Members of the public who spoke on behalf of the garden included a 7-year-old girl, who asked city commissioners to approve the expansion "so they can have a freshwater pond and more animals."
It's part of a three-phase, $2.5 million overall plan for the garden.
And all is not yet lost for Key West's cruise ship industry in light of pending rule changes that, if enacted, would all but eliminate the island city as a port of call.
City Manager Jim Scholl told the City Commission that discussions about the impacts of the rule are ongoing, with several states opposing the proposed requirement that cruise ships go directly from a U.S. port to a foreign one. Such a change would require ships leaving from Fort Lauderdale or Miami to head directly to the Caribbean rather than stopping in Key West.
"But right now, there is no timeline or indication of what the interpretation may be," Scholl said. "One thing that is encouraging is that there are already exemptions on the books if the rule does change as proposed."
Scholl also told commissioners that his staff is working on a new parking ordinance for the historic district that would take into account people who work in the area and need to park there daily.
But Commissioners Dan Kolhage and Mark Rossi reprimanded Scholl for what they called the city's continued refusal to seek employees by using a Request for Proposals.
The commission denied Scholl's request to extend a $20,000 contract for Scott Fraser, who has been working as the city's FEMA coordinator to procure reimbursements.
"For whatever reason, the city continues to go around its own ordinances to hire people without going out for bids," Kolhage said, although the city laws do grant the city manager the authority to do so if it is considered in the best interest of the city. "This has got to stop. We simply dole out jobs without going out for RFPs."
Rossi agreed, and suggested postponing the decision in order to issue the RFP.