Potential flood insurance increase for 600 homes, where to find budget details, and other items from last week’s meeting

During their last meeting in August, the Village of Key Biscayne Council had a full docket, making decisions on several important aspects, like raising fees at the Community Center for the first time in years.

Among some of the other actions taken by the Council were:

– Jim Davenport, with Thorn Run Partners, a lobbyist in Tallahassee for the Village, has learned that 600 properties on Key Biscayne will be facing higher flood insurance premiums from FEMA, but he will soon discuss that with the federal agency.

– Councilman Brett Moss will be working with BZP Director Jeremy Calleros Gauger in the commercial areas of zoning districts to keep new buildings from becoming "maybe less intrusive" and "keep the characteristics" in line with the rest of the Village.

– The right-hand turn lane on Crandon Boulevard and Harbor Drive is expected to soon be completed after a couple of conflicts and revisions to the plans, according to Public Works Director Cairo Cangas. He said the County has a right to review all permits, even though they were approved. Now, the project is ready for the surface level of work, which was put on hold in case the hurricane changed direction.

– Hoping to achieve the 10,000 monthly ride mark, the Council approved a resolution to accept a Florida Department of Transportation grant of $166,679 to expand the on-demand transit site and unanimously approved a professional services agreement with BeeFree, LLC to provide three additional transit FreeBee vehicles in an amount not to exceed $304,623 annually. In essence, it should decrease the wait time for riders.

– While the impact of then-Tropical Storm Idalia spared the island, it might have knocked out the air-conditioning unit in Village Chambers, while later in the evening, FPL was on the scene trying to quickly restore power to some 600 island customers.

– Village Manager Steve Williamson, in reply to a resident's earlier question about the lack of budgeting plans before the approaching Sept. 12 and 26 budget hearings, said all of the proposed projects, revenues and expenditures can be found on the ClearGov transparency site, on the Village website, or in an Islander News story.