PRINCIPAL’S HONOR ROLL
Students making the St. Agnes Academy Principal’s Honor Roll for the fourth nine weeks are, top row from left, Valentina Rodriguez and Jessica Nasser; middle, Cristina Ulvert, Carolina Portela and Katie Stickney; and bottom row, Vanessa Frances, Megan Tague, Eugenia Santaella and Jenna Portela.
Council agrees to swale vote but makes clear they oppose it
The Village Council made it clear how it wants residents to vote Oct. 5, when they decide the fate of a charter amendment that would rewrite the Village laws regarding swales, the strip of land between a homeowners front property line and the street.
The Council passed an ordinance to allow for the referendum during their meeting but added a key clause that the Council questioned the “wisdom and the legality” of the proposed amendment. The amendment would prohibit the Village from altering homeowners landscaping and improvements in the swale without the written consent of the majority of the property owners on the affected street. Village staff have firmly opposed the amendment, saying it could make any improvements in public rights-of-way like sidewalks or utility repair work impractical.
Councilmember Alan Fein was the only Councilmember who voted against letting the referendum go forward. Scott Bass was absent.
The Council had hoped a new swale landscaping ordinance passed last month would spur petitioners to withdraw the request for a referendum. The new Village right-of-way landscaping ordinance passed last month gives homeowners more leeway in landscaping their swales than the previous county laws. It also gives the Village the option to replant any landscaping that has to be moved during improvements.
Former Councilmember Raul Llorente said it is unlikely that the vote will not go forward.
Under the Village Charter, 80 percent of the petitioners who called for the referendum would have to request that the petition be withdrawn.
“As far as I know there is no effort being made to stop the referendum,” said Llorente, who is among the petitioners.
Councilmembers spelled out their intentions by adding a clause to the ordinance. The clause stated that the “Council has stated reservations about both the wisdom and the legality of the proposed amendment but wishes to submit it to the electorate of Key Biscayne in the spirit of the Village Charter.”
“It’s unwise to have a law on the books that basically says that only those few who live on West Heather who don’t like (having a sidewalk on their street) can override the view of the majority,” Fein said.
Mayor Joe Rasco, who lives on West Heather, cast the lone vote against adding the clause.
“I don’t think it’s necessary,” said Rasco. “I think it’s already pretty clear on the reasons why we’re doing this.”
Resident Jim Taintor tried to convince the Council to amend the ordinance further to make it clear to voters what impact the proposed Charter Amendment would have on plans for sidewalks on the Key.
“We all know that the petition was sold on the basis that ‘oh no, this doesn’t affect sidewalks, but it has everything to do with sidewalks,” said Taintor. “I think the majority of the people on the Key want sidewalks. West Heather and West Wood are obviously two streets where I think most residents want it.”
Llorente said the issue at hand was more than just sidewalks.
“This is about democracy,” he said. “The Village wants to be able to do whatever it wants to. This gives the people the chance to decide.”
Expanded Key Biscayne Community School gets high marks from teachers, parents
Students, teachers and parents alike are finishing up the first year of the Key Biscayne Community School middle-school program with a smile.
“We lucked out,” said Key resident Maureen Jauregui, who has a daughter in the seventh grade at KBCS. “We are really lucky to have this school here. The community school, the principal and the teachers have really done an excellent job.”
Key Biscayne Community School added three sixth-grade classes and two seventh-grade classes to the elementary school at the beginning of the 1998-99 school year. There are 80 sixth-grade students and 58 seventh-grade students at the community school. The Key Biscayne middle school and elementary school combination program is the first program of its type in the Miami-Dade County School District.
Key Biscayne Community School Principal Darlene Mooney credits the adaptability of new teachers and the students for a successful first year.
“We were able to get excellent teachers and they adapted very well,” Mooney said.
The school agreed to bring in students from off-island in order to start a middle school program on Key Biscayne. This year, KBCS raised the student body percentage of black students from 3 percent to 5 percent, bringing in students from Overtown and Coconut Grove. Twenty percent of all of KBCS’s students live off-island.
Mashta Bridge dedication
Councilmembers Alan Fein, Bob Oldakowski and Mort Fried, Vice Mayor Gregory Han, Mayor Joe Rasco, Councilmember Martha Fernandez-Leon Broucek and former Councilmember Betty Sime at the Mashta Bridge dedication.
The Council’s decision to include a list of Councilmembers, past and present, on a Mashta Island Bridge plaque is drawing fire from past Councilmembers who say they don’t want their names on the plaque.
The $840,000 bridge is the island’s first public works project to have a plaque recognizing Key Biscayne’s elected officials. Former Mayor John Festa and former Councilmember Michele Padovan both asked the Council not to install the plaque with their names on it.
“I don’t think it is appropriate to put my name on Village projects,” Festa said. “When the Village does capital improvements, we’re doing it for the people of Key Biscayne.”
Padovan was firm about having her name omitted from the list.
“I was not asked if I wanted my name on the plaque and I don’t,” Padovan said. “That bridge should be dedicated to the people of Key Biscayne. I didn’t build it. I didn’t pay for it. They did.”
At least two Councilmembers said they didn’t know they had approved the plaque, although it was clearly stated in the information packet provided to Councilmembers by the Village staff. The Council unanimously approved the $375 plaque, along with other final changes to the bridge, as an item on the consent agenda during the May 11 Council meeting. Vice Mayor Greg Han defended the decision, although he said he was unaware that he had voted to approve the plaque until he read about it in The Islander News.
“None of us knew our names were on the plaque,” he said.
Summer Shorts
Key Biscayners attended the opening night of City Theatre’s Summer Shorts at the Ring Theater at the University of Miami. The festival is produced by Key Biscayne residents Susi Westfall and Stephanie Norman. Pictured are Gail Garrisan, Susi Westfall and Stephanie Norman.
Button Sales
Whether it’s at home attaching raffle slips or in the streets, Fourth of July Committee members work for two months to make the Independence Day buttons sales a success. Pictured are Mike Rice, Ed Stone and Fran Vacarro.
Key ranked 137th in richest places to live
The total assessed value of non-exempt properties on Key Biscayne has seen its biggest jump in a decade due primarily to new construction at the Grand Bay and Ocean Club developments.
According to Miami-Dade County’s preliminary assessment roll for 1999, the taxable value of non-exempt properties (those properties not covered by homestead exemptions) is $2.2 billion. The figure is $206 million more than the previous year, a jump only surpassed in 1989 when assessed values rose $220 million, from $1.04 billion to $1.26 billion.
In the homeowners’ market, Key Biscayne once again made Worth magazine’s annual listing of the 250 richest places to live, ranking No. 137 this year. The ranking is based on median home prices for 1997 and 1998.
According to Worth’s May issue, the median home price on the Key is $484,000, making it the seventh most expensive place to live in the state. Jupiter Island topped both the national and state list with a median home price of $1.7 million.
The article says the luxury home market remains one of the hottest markets in many regions of the country. According to the National Association of Realtors a record 4.78 million homes changed hands in 1998. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, new home construction nationally has reached its highest level since 1977 and the nation’s home-ownership rate jumped to a new high of 66.3 percent.
ST. AGNES CLASS OF ’99
Members of the St. Agnes Academy class of 1999 are listed below: Charlie Aguirre, Travis Aldridge, Michael Brattain, Elaine Canelon, David Cardenas, Tania Carpenter, Alberto Cespedes, Carolina Correa, Aileen Garcia, Domenick Greco, Jualiana Maldonado, Carolina Martinez, Chiara Mecozzi, Ryan Morris, Lucia Ojeda, Estefania Ortega, Federico Padovan, Sofia Pagano, Laura Rose Pearson, Piero Porcari, Sophia Prevolis, Mariana Rego, Nicholas Reyes, Christian Rizk, Daniel Sabido, Guilherme Simoes, Andres Tano, Manuel Vidal and Jimena Zubiria.
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