Big Pine Key Publix Deal Dies

Publix walks away from Big Pine deal. Flea Market land owner reportedly wanted more. The hope for a new Publix on Big Pine Key has been dashed.

County Commissioner George Neugent reported he received a call from David Horan, who is representing the company that was going to develop the property for Publix, indicating the purchase wasn't going to happen. Horan said that his group wanted more time to conduct due diligence on the property, but when they approached owner James Young they were told that he wanted more money.

The site for the new supermarket was to be at the property now used for the popular Big Pine Key Flea Market. Young, owner of the 11.6-acre property near mile marker 30, wanted an additional $2 million, according to Neugent, adding that Publix decided to walk away from the deal at that point. The original price was said to have been $6 million.

When the story first appeared, Publix denied the rumors. However, Monroe County Growth Management Director Ty Symroski had said that he and his staff had been in discussions with Publix officials. Neugent said he was disappointed by the news, but added that a segment of the population on Big Pine and elsewhere didn't want to see the Flea Market disappear.

Young had been quoted as saying that the Flea Market has about 147,000 square feet of retail space and Publix was asking for 50,000 square feet for its store. Neugent, who represents Big Pine, said the majority of residents would have supported a Publix, although maybe not at the cost of losing the flea market.

FWC approves no-anchor zone for Pine Channel

It's designed to keep energy from being cut. By the time the 2007 hurricane season rolls around, a no-anchor zone for sailboats could be in place for Pine Channel, just off Big Pine Key. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, during a three-day meeting in St. Petersburg last week, voted unanimously to develop a rule to create a no-anchor zone for masted vessels between Big Pine and Little Torch Key.

Both the County Commission and Keys Energy Services, the Lower Keys electric company, have sought the rule. “The workshops have already been done,” FWC Maj. Paul Ouellette said. “Now staff is preparing the language and we anticipate the final public hearing in the commission's December meeting in Key Largo.”

Power lines over Pine Channel are particularly vulnerable to errant masts. Since 1998, at least seven boats have broken loose from their moorings and crashed into power lines, resulting in power outages for the Lower Keys. “This should be implemented by the next hurricane season,” said Rich Jones, chief planner in Monroe County Marine Resources. Jones was in St. Petersburg last week to present the county's request for rulemaking.

“There was a lot of confusion and concern as to who has jurisdiction regarding anchorage and illegal mooring,” Ouellette said. “Commission Chairman Rodney Barreto asked staff to help clarify the issue and lay out who has specific authority." “Barreto asked what happens when other areas ask for the same thing,” Jones said.

The new rule will keep boat owners from what has been a preferred anchorage during heavy storms, but the tradeoff will be less likelihood for downed power lines. The last incident occurred last August as Hurricane Katrina tracked just north of the Keys. Because crews cannot repair lines until winds have died down, most of the Lower Keys were left in the dark long after the storm passed.

Two storms - Rita and Wilma - did not drag boats into the lines because the U.S. Coast Guard stopped people from mooring in Pine Channel as the storms approached, according to Julio Barroso, spokesman for Key Energy.

Big Pine Key Youth Injured - Visitor Killed in Boating Accident

A collision between a personal watercraft and a 19-foot boat in North Pine Channel Sunday ended with the boater's death and an investigation into the cause the crash. According to officer Steve Acton of the Florid Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the collision occurred shortly after 7 p.m. in waters just off Big Pine Key. Acton said the shallow-water bass-type boat, driven by 41-year-old Harry Germain of Okeechobee, was traveling at a high rate of speed and struck the WaveRunner-type personal watercraft driven by 19-year-old Christopher Bouchard of Big Pine Key.

Both were ejected from the crafts, Acton said. When FWC officers arrived, Bouchard was found yelling for help in chest-deep water and Germain was found dead in the water. “The man in the boat died pretty much instantly,” Acton said. “They are always looking if alcohol was involved. They'll do the blood test and analysis and make sure it was, or it wasn't. That may take two to three weeks to get back.”

Officer David DiPre said Bouchard was apparently wearing the required life jacket, which may have helped save his life. “It's a miracle, but he's alive and he's not doing too badly,” DiPre said. “Usually in a Jet Ski accident, the Jet Ski operator is the one killed.”

Acton and DiPre said no charges against Bouchard have been filed, and the two vessels are being examined to determine how exactly the crash happened. Several residents also apparently witnessed the crash and are being questioned.

Big Pine Key Fire Station Falling Apart

The conditions are poor for the crews at the Big Pine, Stock Island and Tavernier stations. All were built decades ago when the Florida Keys' fire departments were staffed solely by volunteers and not by full-time professionals who live in them every third day during 24-hour shifts.

"In the 1960s, '70s and '80s, this station served its purpose -- a place where the volunteers would meet Wednesdays, eat pizza and train," said Cab Bentley, a veteran firefighter/paramedic at Station No. 13 on Big Pine Key. "But times have changed. We don't want to whine, but we've waited years. Enough is enough."

It took an hour for a reporter to be shown all the things that were wrong with the station erected in 1961 by the Big Pine Key Lions Club. There is mold on the ceilings. An ancient septic system forces washing machine wastewater to be dumped into the parking lot. There's a huge crack in the support structure, where bricks can be pulled out like Legos. The electric system probably wouldn't pass code.

In 2003, Monroe County officials recognized that about half of the then 12 stations run by the county in unincorporated areas were grossly antiquated and voted for the $20 million bond that's funded by a one-cent infrastructure sales tax.

"I've been here four years and it's just a little frustrating that only one has gotten under way, North Key Largo, and only one is completed, Ocean Reef," Monroe County Fire Chief Clark O. Martin Jr. said Wednesday on a conference call that included county engineer David Koppel.

"I would hate to wait another four years to get stations done," Martin added. "But what I'm hearing from Dave, I'm confident they are going to get going on them." While little ground has been turned, Koppel said much work has been done behind the scenes.

"Within two years, I expect to see all the projects finished," Koppel said. "The money is there. It's safe. It has the support of the County Commission. Nobody is against the projects. Everything's a go. We just need to get the bids in line [with] the budget."