Restoration in the hundreds of millions

Canal 145, located between Columbus and Cortez drives, on Lower Matecumbe was a public-private partnership that saw an air curtain installed at the canal’s mouth.

long-term plan to improve water quality and reduce sediment buildup in 63 village canals could cost well over $300 million.

That’s according to a recent report that ranks each canal based on restoration needs and identifies technologies recommended to improve water quality.

Backfill and culvert work for a little more than 10 canals within the Port Antigua community on Lower Matecumbe Key, has an estimated cost of $41 million. Identified in the report as canal 150, it’s the project with the highest price tag and No. 23 on the rankings list.

In the report prepared by Wood Environment & Infrastructure Solutions Inc., canals ranked at the top for restoration were based on a number of factors, which include water quality, evidence of nutrient accumulation and likelihood of toxicity. Canals discharging into Florida Bay or the Atlantic Ocean scored higher, and restoration technology, cost, homeowner interest and public benefit were also taken into account.

A canal located on Lower Matecumbe Key scoring the highest is recommended to undergo weedgate, organic removal and backfilling. Estimated restoration costs for canal 147, between Leserra and Atlantic lanes, are around $2.2 million. An injection well and backfilling recommended for canal 132, the second-ranked project located between North and South drives on Plantation Key, shows costs around $2 million.

Peter Frezza, village environmental resources manager, said the rankings list will evolve based on a number of factors.

“It will change a lot based on the updated water quality information we receive,” he said. “We’re going to have changes in technology and homeowner interest,” he said. “These projects won't happen if we don’t have good support from residents.”

Implementation of a canal restoration program started in the village in 2014 to address poor water quality canals. One of the first steps was to objectively and scientifically select canals for water quality improvements.

THE HISTORY

What began as a push to address septics and cesspits through implementation of a central wastewater system has now transitioned to canal restoration. It’s all part of the Florida legislature’s designation of the Keys as an area of critical state concern in the early 1970s. With the intent to protect the natural environment and property rights also came assurance that a Keys population could evacuate 24 hours before a Category 3 or higher storm.

Work plans were adopted for Monroe County and cities with specific tasks for each local government to achieve. Each program was developed in recognition of the fact that these communities contain an important habitat that needs protection.

With a central sewer system in place per a state requirement, and millions spent to get it done, municipalities including Islamorada are shifting focus to canal restoration. In 2011, the state identified the lack of dissolved oxygen in canal systems as a key issue needing to be addressed. A canal master plan was approved, which provided a framework to examine some 500 Keys canals.

By 2014, Keys municipalities initiated a canal demonstration program — funded locally — to identify and implement technologies best suited to improve water quality. Five technologies were identified: organic removal, backfilling, culverts, air curtains and pumping. Meanwhile, Florida International University researchers were measuring water quality and benthic habitat improvements associated with canals within the demonstration project.

CANAL RESTORATION COSTS OVER $300 MILLION

Report ranks projects and technologies to improve water quality

An air curtain and aeration system upgrades within the basin were installed at canal 137 at Treasure Harbor on Plantation Key. VILLAGE OF ISLAMORADA/Contributed

Hurricane Irma shifted restoration to recovery, as municipalities received funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to remove marine debris and sediment from the canals. That was completed toward the late stages of 2020 and early 2021.

“I think we’ve made some great progress over the past few years, but I also feel like we're just getting started with the canal restoration work plan,” Frezza told council members during a recent council meeting.

COMPLETED CANAL PROJECTS

Several canal restoration projects within the village saw completion, including canal 148 located between Ocean and Sea lanes on Lower Matecumbe Key, facing the Atlantic Ocean. Greg Corning, lead engineer with Wood Environmental Solutions, said an air curtain, weed barrier was installed. Diffusers placed along the bottom of the canal’s mouth will prevent seaweed from entering and filling up and causing water degradation.

Canal 145, located between Columbus and Cortez drives, on Lower Matecumbe was a publicprivate partnership that saw an air curtain installed at the canal’s mouth. An air curtain and aeration system upgrades within the basin were installed at canal 137 at Treasure Harbor on Plantation Key.

Canal 114 located at Tropical Atlantic Shores on Plantation Keys saw the installation of a gravity injection well, also known as a vertical culvert.

“Basically what we’re doing is we’re turning those culverts that we’re going to connect horizontally to dead-end canals, and we’re flipping upside down and we’re going to connect to the water below it,” Corning said.

THE FUNDING

“I know you're thinking we have to do $319 million in a 10-year program? No, it’s showing progress,” Frezza told the dais. “It’s all about looking at potential funding availability that the village has to implement projects.”

There hasn’t been specific funds for the canal work plan or sources designated for canal restoration projects. But Frezza said funding from the Florida Keys Stewardship Act could be a major funding source for projects.

“We’re identifying other funding sources. We have a project program with the Army Corps of Engineers where we could get some significant funding for the rest of the projects,” Frezza said. “There are other state and federal grants as well that can fund these projects.”

STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY?

Key West building official wants proof that condo is ‘safe for habitation’

By Mandy Miles and Sara Matthis

ANew Town condo association has until Friday, Sept. 3 to prove its building is "safe for habitation.”

The city of Key West's chief building official, Raj Ramsingh, sent a letter to Santa Clara Condominium Association on Friday, Aug. 27, demanding confirmation from the association’s engineer "that all or part of the building is safe for habitation.”

The 111-unit Santa Clara complex at 3312 Northside Dr. "is obviously in serious need of repairs, to the extent that I don't think the repairs can be completed safely while the building is occupied," Ramsingh wrote on Aug. 27. "I do not want to condemn this building because doing so would necessarily displace so many residents, but if I have to, I will."

The letter states that on Aug. 25, Ramsingh received an engineering report from JL Sanders that was dated nearly a month earlier, on July 28.

In that report, JL Sanders describes a rapidly deteriorating building and an estimated $8.8 million of repairs that are immediately necessary.

The condo association’s board is holding an emergency meeting on Thursday, Sept. 2 to discuss the city’s latest letter. The board held a previous Zoom meeting with unit owners earlier in August to discuss the building’s deteriorating condition.

“We’ve been acutely aware of issues with our building,” said Travis Doll, a unit owner and vice president of the condo association’s board. “But it’s now gotten to the point where bigger repairs are needed and we’ve started talking with banks about getting an association loan for the $8.8 million.”

In order to repay that loan, condominium owners would have to pay $80,000 to $90,000 per unit, or an additional $600 to $650 per month in condo fees, Doll said.

Those fees currently range between $600 and $860 per month depending on the size of the unit. The fees bring in about $800,000 a year, prompting some owners to question what the property managers have been spending money on each year.

“We’ve reiterated with the ownership at large and with the city that we have completed major projects every year for the last several years,” Doll said. “Those projects and the increasing costs of construction and labor in Key West are where the owners’ money and dues are going.”

One unit owner who asked not to be identified said they are no longer staying at the unit they own.

“I’m afraid we are in dire straits of a building collapse,” the owner told the Keys Weekly, while pointing out a crumbling stairwell, a laundry room ceiling propped up by steel beams and exposed rebar in several places.

“"We've been pressuring our property management company, ICAMCO, to expedite the repairs to our more urgent projects, like those concerns mentioned by the city,” Doll said. "We've recently learned from a few of our main service vendors that ICAMCO has delayed certain projects that the board had already approved. Additionally, just a few days before the city’s visit and the recent letter from the city, we requested updates from ICAMCO on the prioritized projects.”

Property manager Daniel Garcia, who works for ICAMCO property management company, did not return multiple phone calls and text messages from the Keys Weekly.

Doll said on Sept. 1 that Santa Clara had just received notice that ICAMCO was canceling its management contract with Santa Clara.

“Obviously everyone’s really nervous, given the tragedy in Miami,” Doll told the Keys Weekly. “Surfside has spooked everyone, but that is very much not the case with Santa Clara. We have no parking underneath and no pool leaking under the building. The engineers are using some scary language to spur a sense of urgency, and we’re stepping into high gear.

“The city has said they’ll help us with expediting permits,” Doll said. “The last thing the city wants to do is displace so many owners and tenants given the housing situation in Key West.”

Ramsingh acknowledged his reluctance to condemn the building in his Aug. 27 letter to the association.

Ramsingh ended his letter by writing, “Should the engineer recommend an evacuation of all or part of the building, the city will work with the board to help in any way we can in order to find a solution. … We are here to help, and most importantly, keep our citizens and residents safe.

“There is also an immediate safety concern with the access to the roof. I was able to get on the rooftop with ease as there is no locked door at the top of the stairwell. Children, or anyone for that matter, can access the unsecured rooftop and fall 7 stories down. This needs to be addressed immediately.”

The condo board had previously “asked ICAMCO to replace the locking door hardware on the roof. That was not done and we found the door secured with rope,” Doll told the Keys Weekly on Sept. 1.

Santa Clara is not alone

Santa Clara Condominiums is not the only structure in Key West that concerns building officials. Immediately after the Surfside collapse on June 24, city officials conducted cursory inspections of about 38 aging Key West properties. The city’s building department notified the owners of nine of those properties of specific concerns and the need for an engineering report.

In addition to Santa Clara, according to documents received from the city of Key West, the other eight properties whose owners received letters from city building officials include: Ocean Walk apartments, Key Plaza shopping center, 1800 Atlantic Condominiums, La Concha Hotel, the Professional Building on 12th Street, Winn Dixie Plaza, Key Plaza Publix and the city-owned Park ’n’ Ride garage on Grinnell Street.

Engineering assessments are being collected and reviewed for each of those properties.

Marathon takes action as well

The city of Marathon also has taken action in the wake of the Surfside collapse that killed 98 people when most of the building collapsed.

On Aug. 10, the Marathon City Council passed a law requiring inspections of commercial and high-rise buildings erected more than 17 years ago.

Marathon’s law does not apply to residential units that are considered “minor” — occupied by 10 or fewer people, or 2,000 square feet or less.

According to Marathon Planning Director Brian Shea and Building Director Noe Martinez, the city is preparing the groundwork by coming up with form letters and ensuring engineers can sign in to the city’s software that governs building, code and permitting. More than 400 condo units have been targeted, as well as about 200 other commercial buildings in Marathon. Shea said the notices will probably be sent in batches, over a period of time.

Noe said the 17-year age requirement is based on his decades of experience in the building industry.

“If you move into a new home or building, it usually takes an average of 14 to 17 years before the owner begins renovating or fixing it up, and it also takes into account our aggressive climate,” Martinez said, adding that he knows the inspections, findings and fixes may be cumbersome for private owners. “I don’t have the luxury of special enforcement when it comes to health and safety.”

Martinez said he has already observed some older, two-story concrete buildings in Marathon with “bulging” walls that could indicate structural problems.

One condo owner at Santa Clara told the Keys Weekly the ceiling of the fifth-floor laundry room has been ‘propped up’ by metal beams for at least three years.