In an article entitled "Sewer work scaled back" reporter Ryan McCarthy of the Keynoter wrote that Monroe County and the Florida Keys Aquaduct Authority will now focus on sewering Duck Key.
In an effort to show tangible results to the State of Florida, the County and the FKAA will scale back work on the regional Cudjoe Key sewer system and instead work on getting bids on for sewering the Duck Key system which is will cost an $16.2 million.
The Keynoter reported.
"The Duck Key system is designed and ready to build; the treatment plant at Hawks Cay Resort will be expanded to accommodate the island. Mayor George Neugent said having it online would be a gesture to the state that progress is 'being made as the July 1, 2010, state deadline approaches to meet advanced wastewater standards.
"Why would we not gather up the most money we can and put Cudjoe on hold and move forward with Duck Key? It achieves the objective of getting something online that's removing nutrients form the nearshore waters," he said. "
In another article the Keynoter reported that the final property tax rate will be set Sept. 23. Earlier the County Commission set a rate of roughly $388 a year per $100,000 of property value.
As part of that tax rate, Commissioners "approved levying taxes in much of unincorporated Monroe County for wastewater service. The county will levy a tax for municipal service taxing units (MSTUs) for Big Coppitt Key, Cudjoe Key, Sugarloaf Key, Big Pine Key and Duck Key. The additional tax will cost property owners in those areas $70 per $100,000 of taxable property value."
