Gentle Rebuttal
Dear Editor,
A recent press release from FKAA and the County very unjustly and incorrectly attacks two homeowners for filing a lawsuit May 9 that seeks to get those two mega-powers to follow their own rules. The lawsuit simply requests the Court to confirm that the law specifically requires that a gravity connection for people’s sewers be placed in the right of way, not in the yard. So why all the hostility and chest thumping by FKAA and the County? It’s their own rules these women want enforced!
Monroe County Code Section 20-105 (e):
“(1) The utility shall provide a means of connection within the public right-of-way, whether by vacuum pit or other, that abuts the property and that can be accessed via a gravity system….
FKAA/County violates their own rules by demanding that the homeowners give FKAA an easement to build a County sewage pump station in their front yards, with unrestricted access forever to workers. FKAA/County also demand that homeowners provide electrical service for the County pump station at homeowners’ expense, when 85% of the other CRWS homeowners and 100% of other FKAA areas were not required to do this.
FKAA/County’s press release calls the lawsuit “frivolous” but what is frivolous about a 14th Amendment violation? Or trying to enforce the law? FKAA/County say the homeowners want to be paid for the easement. They don’t. They want the pump stations to be placed on the road shoulder instead of in their yards- just like Marathon did. Just like the laws require. Read the lawsuit and see for yourself at: https://www.dropbox.com/s/20gkhj3huy3cban/Complaint.pdf?dl=0
The FKAA/County are making threats, again, against homeowners who are simply asking the Court to order that the law be followed. It cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands in attorney’s fees when FKAA/County fought the legally required Cudjoe deep well for two years, only ultimately to be forced by citizens to follow the law and drill the deep well, as they should have from the beginning. Please, let’s not have a repeat. Just follow the law, FKAA/County. And stop attacking citizens who disagree when you don’t.
Lisa Galjanic
Nice letter. Thank you. I don’t know why the county/FKAA thought it necessary to take such a belligerent tone in their public statement. If they can make a case based on fact and law, why don’t they just make it? Why the intimidation tactics?
Sick of it.
Why did Comissioners Neugeant, Rice, & Murphy Mandate grinder pumps for certain individual homeowners/taxpayers??? The primary and realistic reason for the grinder pumps to be placed in private property is MONEY. It would cost Monroe County taxpayers more money to pay the $1600.00 each for a traffic bearing lid and then the cost of electricity to run THEIR pumps and later on the maintenance costs, Like what was done on Grassy Key in the DOT ROW. As an example of how corrupt these officials are consder this–on Big Pine Key, the first two streets south of US1/SR5 on Newfound Blvd. are Pine Channel Rd. A Private Road in a Private Subdivision and Pelican Lane a public road in a public subdivision. Now. Let’s take Pelican Ln. There are X number of houses on it and one belongs to T- A department Director of the FKAA. All those X houses including D.D. T are getting gravity connections with those connections taking place in the ROW abutting their property lines as required by County Ordnance. So far so good. Now let’s look at Pine Channel Rd. A Private road in a Private subdivision. Pine Channel Rd has X-1 house than Pelican Ln BUT Pine Channel road does NOT have an FKAA Department Director living on their Rd. So the LOOSERS as coined by Their County Wide elected official George Neugeant, in street X-1 got grinder pumps mandated to be installed on their private property and supply electricity to run the counties pump. Needless to say 99.9 % of the remaining homes on or off of Newfound Blvd are LOOSERS also. So what’s behind the grinder pumps?? MONEY. With the savings the county realizes from using all these Plastic lidded grinders bought in bulk mysteriously, the BOCC NOW has a SLUSH-FUND to use contrary to what the vote by 70% ORDERED by ballot to spend the monies collected by the $0.01 infrastructure sales tax for the SEWERS. Why did the BOCC vote to take $2.7MILLION of our Sewer fund and GIVE it to the State of Florida to repair the State of Florida’s infrastructure?? With the pledge of MILLIONS OF DOLLARS more to come. Hay homeowners/taxpayers in Key West and Ocean Reef your taxes are also subject to increase in taxes. Why does Monroe County REFUSE to answer to the Voters. People tend to put the blame on the shoulders of FKAA, not that they’re Lilly White, but they’re only a CONTRACTOR doing what they get paid to do, while the PUPPET MASTER , the BOCC, is standing by the wayside pulling the strings. Isn’t this misappropriation of Taxpayers funds. How come no one is being indited , no one going to JAIL?? Does enyone care how our tax money is being spent?? So far it doesn’t seem like anyone sives a s•••
It’s hard to say who’s puppeting who, but ultimately it’s the BOCC who is responsible for how the wastewater projects turned out. They’ve squandered tens of millions of dollars. They’ve been grossly, negligently unfair to some and inexplicably generous to others.
It’s a horrible situation. Murphy has a challenger. I’m hoping against hope that she’s on her way out. Kolhage and Carruthers need to go, too. No challengers yet though.
I know we already had this discussion over on my blog, but I do want to repeat one point. You are correct when you say FKAA is a contractor. But the BOCC does not treat them like one. They constantly refer to the FKAA as their “partner”. It’s totally inappropriate because the county needs to be in an oversight role. How seriously are they taking that role?
Their first obligation should be to the taxpayers (ALL TAXPAYERS) not to their “partner”.
So, now that We’ve identified the problem step #2 is bounce about possible solutions. We, Us Voters, need to Vote them out of office. Inisuate Term Limits, Be Very skeptical when considering reelecting the incumbent. Now that brings to light another glitch in the solution and that is County wide voting. The Machine controls the vote and if they sence a threat they martial their forces-county wide to crush their opponents. Example Comissioner of Dist. #2-Legally he lives in jeremandered Dist. #2, But he actually lives in The city of marathon and has had business interests over many years. Where does his loyalty lie. His district(on the POOR side of the Bridge) or the city that he has lived, worked, and made long term relationships in??? That’s why the incumbents(the machine), using their Media Propaganda machine, Distort, Distract, and Delete to smother any opposition. I grew up in Chicago under Richard J. Daily Sr. It follows a pattern. Control the Media, Control the money, control the people.
On Big Pine Ave the available right of way is quite wide, leaving plenty of room for grinder pumps to be placed where they are by law supposed to be located – on public property adjacent to property lines.
Many of us support the challenge to FKAA’s “land grab”. If they want some of our land for $1.00, why not instead trade us for some of the unused right of way? I don’t want your dollar, but I am willing to trade my land for yours…
Or even better use your own land, and leave ours alone!
I really do wonder why the county/FKAA chose this hill to die on. Even if they “win” in court, they just come off looking worse than ever. The county created a PR position a year or two ago. Then they put out that awful, bullying statement? Either the PR person is giving them terrible advice or they are not listening.
If you do enough low pressure, you’re going to run into property owners who just don’t want you on their property – end of story. This is a foreseeable problem. The county/FKAA compounded it with their own poor public outreach.
Now the taxpayers are the hook for needless, expensive legal battles?