EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT’S MASS NOTIFICATION SYSTEM ‘ALERT! MONROE’ LAUNCHES FOR HURRICANE SEASON

Alert!Monroe is an Everbridge mass notification system used by Monroe County Emergency Management to share emergency notifications with residents quickly. Notifications can include severe weather, evacuation information, fires, and other emergencies, as w...

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PARTICIPATES IN HURRICANE CONFERENCE AND RAPID INTENSIFICATION DISCUSSION

Monroe County Director of Emergency Management Marty Senterfitt and Monroe County Administrator Roman Gastesi participated in a panel discussion on “Rapid Hurricane Intensification.” Both are part of the five-person Emergency Managemen...

MONROE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE WILL HOST SECOND ‘HOT SHOTS’ TRAINING PROGRAM FOR LOCAL RESIDENTS

The Monroe County Board of County Commissioners has approved a second Monroe County Fire Rescue “Hot Shots” program. The program is a free firefighting and first responder training for qualified Monroe County residents in exchange for ...

MONROE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE RESPONDS TO SHRIMP BOAT FIRE ON STOCK ISLAND

Monroe County Fire Rescue was dispatched to a shrimp boat fire at Robby’s Marina on Stock Island on Tuesday, July 23 at 4:38 p.m. The area was cleared at 9:28 p.m. There were no injuries. The steel-hulled boat was in the process of being salvage...

MONROE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE INSTALLS ‘STOP THE BLEED’ KITS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTY

Monroe County Fire Rescue mounted “Stop The Bleed” boxes at 13 locations throughout Monroe County this week in areas close to schools and parks

The boxes are mounted to utility poles located just outside of the “hot zone&r...

MONROE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE ADDS NEW LIFE SUPPORT EQUIPMENT AT KEY WEST INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Monroe County Fire Rescue Fire Station 7 added new Advanced Life Support equipment to its rapid response emergency vehicle at Key West International Airport. The new lifesaving equipment is on the Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) vehicle 207 that ...

MONROE COUNTY FIREFIGHTER/PARAMEDICS ARE RECOGNIZED AT FLORIDA KEYS EMS AWARD CEREMONY

THREE COMMUNITY ORIENTATION MEETINGS SCHEDULED FOR 2020 CENSUS ‘THE KEYS COUNT’

Monroe County has scheduled three community orientation meetings for the 2020 Census. The dates and locations are:

Sept 3: Key Largo at the Murray Nelson Government Center from 1 to 3 p.m.

Sept 4: Marathon Government Center from 10 a.m. to noon

Sept 5: Key W...

KEY WEST INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT IN-LINE TO BREAK ONE MILLION PASSENGERS THIS YEAR

Richard Strickland, Monroe County Director of Airports, presented the Board of County Commissioners an airport update at the July meeting. The presentation detailed the County's continuing projects at the airport in order to meet the growing number of pas...

JETHON WILLIAMS NAMED MONROE COUNTY EMPLOYEE OF THE SECOND QUARTER

Jethon Williams, Monroe County’s TV and Multimedia Manager in Information Technology, was named Monroe County’s 2019 Employee of the Second Quarter for his noteworthy performance that exceeds normal job expectations.

Williams was nominated for the award du...

KEY LARGO II ROADWAY AND DRAINAGE PROJECT COMPLETE, ON TIME AND UNDER BUDGET

The Key Largo II Roadway and Drainage Improvement Project (Bay Harbor, Sunset Point, Sunrise Point, Lime Grove Estates and Rays Cuda Canal subdivisions) is complete and under budget. The project included the installation of 36 drainage structures and reco...

FEMA REACHES NEXT STEP IN COASTAL RE-MAPPING STUDY: DRAFT MAP INFORMATION

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) multi-year study of Monroe County’s coastal flood risks has reached its next step.

FEMA will release new DRAFT Coastal Flood Maps on Aug. 22 to County staff, which will provide the first look at how flood risk...

CITIZENS ADVISORY TASK FORCE GIVES GO AHEAD TO PRESENT PROJECT FOR GRANT FUNDING

The Monroe County Climate Change Committee acting as the Citizens Advisory Task Force voted last week to move a project forward for funding from an $85 million Community Development Block Grant for Disaster Recovery being used for Hurricane Irma infrastru...

VETERANS AFFAIRS REMINDS VETERANS TO GET DRIVER'S LICENSE OR ID DESIGNATION

Monroe County Mayor Pro Tem Danny Kolhage, Monroe County Veterans Affairs Director Cathy Crane, and City of Key West officials joined Monroe County Tax Collector Danise Henriquez at the grand opening of the new driver’s license office today on N...

SUSTAINABILITY PRESENTS ON LOCAL CANAL RESTORATION AND CLIMATE CHANGE EFFORTS AT CONFERENCE

The annual American Water Resources Association conference was held last week in Key West. Rhonda Haag, Monroe County Director of Sustainability, presented at the conference on Thursday on County adaptation efforts regarding climate change and sea-level r...

MONROE COUNTY DISCUSSES WATER QUALITY ISSUES WITH SOUTH FLORIDA WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT

Monroe County Administrator Roman Gastesi met at the end of July with members of the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) at the headquarters in West Palm Beach. The event was organized by Gastesi to discuss the district’s big picture...

TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE WILL ASSEMBLE TO RECOMMEND FLORIDA KEYS TRAFFIC SOLUTIONS

The Monroe County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) approved a resolution at July’s meeting to create the Florida Keys Transportation Coordination Committee. The committee will study and research traffic issues and create formal recommendatio...

MONROE COUNTY SOCIAL SERVICES OFFERS NEW SENIOR LUNCH PROGRAM WITH SOS AT KEY WEST SENIOR CENTER

The Monroe County Board of County Commissioners approved a contract with Star of the Sea Foundation (SOS) to prepare fresh lunches at the Key West Senior Center, located at 1400 Kennedy Blvd.

“SOS kitchen provides fresh lunches, prepared daily fo...

MONROE COUNTY ESTABLISHES A CENSUS COORDINATOR FOR THE 2020 CENSUS TAKING PLACE APRIL 1

The Monroe County Board of County Commissioners adopted a resolution to support the decennial census and establish a Complete Count Coordinator (CCC) to ensure an accurate census count in Monroe County.

In order to support the approaching 2020 census, the ...

SHOVELS IN THE GROUND: MONROE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY MARATHON BRANCH GROUNDBREAKING

On July 17, the Monroe County Board of County Commissioners, staff, and Monroe County School Board members broke ground on the Monroe County Public Library Marathon branch. The construction on the state of the art, user-centric legacy building is funded t...

76 NEW CANALS APPROVED FOR MARINE DEBRIS REMOVAL IN COUNTY-LED PROGRAM

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) approved 76 additional Monroe County canals for Hurricane Irma marine debris removal. The newly approved canals fall under the same Emergency Watershed Protection grant use...

MONROE COUNTY HOSTS HURRICANE IRMA BUSINESS RECOVERY WORKSHOP TO IDENTIFY ADDITIONAL ACTIONS

Monroe County, in partnership with the Chambers of Commerce in Key Largo, Islamorada, Marathon, and the Lower Keys, invited business owners and community members to help identify additional actions needed to support the recovery of businesses and economic...

MONROE COUNTY-LED HURRICANE IRMA SEDIMENT REMOVAL PROJECT UNDERWAY

The first of the 10-canal Hurricane Irma sediment removal projects in the Florida Keys are underway. Tavernier-based Adventure Environmental, Inc. began the sediment removal project in three Marathon canals. The two Islamorada canal projects are anticipat...

FIREFIGHTER/PARAMEDICS RECOGNIZED AT FLORIDA KEYS EMS AWARD CEREMONY

Florida Keys Emergency Medical Service (EMS) paramedics and firefighters were recognized at the annual Florida Keys EMS Awards that took place Tuesday at Florida Keys Country Club in Marathon. Monroe County Firefighter/Paramedics of the Year include Andre...

MONROE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ADOPT 2020 STRATEGIC PLAN AT THE MARCH BOCC MEETING

At the Monroe County Board of County Commissioners monthly meeting Thursday, the Commission adopted the 2020 Monroe County Strategic Plan. This five-year Plan guides priorities and direction of County services through the annual budget process.

The updated...