FSNA February Meeting Report

Our February meeting was hosted by Jan Koos Oostdijk and George Rutgers-Oostdijk at their beautiful new Interior Design Studio. George also supplied us with some images from this very well attended meeting.

FSNA February Meeting Report

Dr. Mark Whiteside, an infectious disease specialist, opened the meeting with a discussion on Dengue Fever. He addressed the critical need for everyone to police their own homes and neighborhoods for standing water. He suggested that people should call Mosquito Control for any issues that are observed that could lead to proliferation of mosquitoes. Here is a link to the Dengue Fever Information Flyer.

Officer Steve Torrence of the KWPD said that 2 arrests have been made (both related to burglaries) in this neighborhood in the last month. It was pointed out that another prime burglary suspect has not yet been apprehended and that vigilance is still important. Anyone observing suspicious people or behavior should call the KWPD at 809-1111.
He also told us that he had met with bar owners on lower Duval and pressured them to pick up more security. He also explained that more security would come in the form of off-duty police officers (paid for by the owners).
He also notified us that the police department was starting both a twitter page and a Facebook page.

John Wilkins (the city's new parking manager) joined us to explain his position at the city and the challenges facing the community in terms of parking and traffic.
He told us that many of the departments that had previously been operating separately from each other were now overseen by his department. This included the city parking lots, meter enforcement, etc.
He spoke at length about residential parking permits and different options that the city is reviewing going forward. He explained that simple changes (such as allowing people with vanity plates to be able to apply for a Residential Parking Pass) were being corrected by his department. The possibility of a bike path on Eaton Street was discussed as well as the deferential pricing when it came to getting Residential Parking Passes. We closed out the meeting talking about a parking summit to be held by the city in the next few months where the public would be able to give input to city wide changes.

Meeting notes thanks to Quincy Perkins.



Images of the Meeting



Dr. Mark Whiteside

John Wilkins


City Councilman Jimmy Weekley





Officer Steve Torrance, KWPD Community Affairs

recently, I was awakened (as i often am) by the cockophony (pun intended) of the multitude of roosters residing in the cemetery, and wondered what could be done about it. it is essential to keep the numbers of chickens in the cemetery as low as possible (or better yet, nil) because i think it is from there that they spill out into the surrounding streets. you may recall that a number of years ago the city hired the guy who ran a clip joint on fleming street (the old town barber shop) to catch them, but in the end all he wanted to do was sell t-shirts online.

so i wrote to commissioner lopez with a suggestion:

commissioner

i live right next to the cemetery on grinnell st (on the 5 brothers side), and i am painfully aware of how many more chickens there are in the cemetery now than ever before. (to be honest, everyone i talk with feels that there are way more chickens throughout old town than ever, and i agree.)

i have a suggestion/request: could catching chickens in the cemetery be a part of the sexton's job? he and his assistants could get traps from the wildlife rescue center (next to the bocce courts near higgs beach), bait them and catch the chickens. the wildlife rescue center would gladly receive the trapped chickens and transport them to the mainland as they get the minimum number to justify the trip.

i know the tourists love the chickens, but for the most part we residents don't; yet again, the tourists come first and we residents get the short end of the stick.

i'd love to hear your opinion on this idea.

thanks,

rob sprogell

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[the commissioner's reply]

Mr. Sprogell,

I have nothing to add, as my opinion is EXACTLY the same as yours. I am including the City Manager in on my response to your email as a directive for action. I think your suggestion is a good one. For the benefit of the Sexton and his staff, I want to be clear that I am not asking them to engage in running around after or collecting chickens. However, your traps idea is an excellent one. Let's see how it works!

Thanks for your suggestion!

Clayton

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i believe that it would be helpful if others contacted commissioner lopez (and jimmy weekly, too) and asked that this plan be implemented. if you don't already know, their email addresses are as follows:

clopez@keywestcity.com

jweekley@keywestcity.com

thanks for any encouragement FSNA members can provide to these commissioners,

rob sprogell