Board hears budget pressures, grant wins and new water‑quality sampling plans

The sustainability and adaptation update covered budget constraints, grant activity and water‑quality work. Staff said the recent budget cycle required departments to identify roughly 10% in savings and that some positions (including energy and adaptation coordinator roles) were not refilled; at the same time, staff outlined several active grant prospects and projects intended to advance resilience and housing planning.

"So every department was asked to cut by 10%." the Presenter said, describing the fiscal pressure and how it affected program priorities. Staff noted active grant work includes a housing action plan funded with Department of Defense money, hazard‑mitigation funding submissions for the Duval stormwater project, and state historic grants to assess city‑owned historic buildings.

On water quality, staff confirmed a newly signed contract with Stantec to expand sampling at Key West Harbor and said EPA‑reviewed data from the College of Florida Keys will inform next steps to reduce turbidity. Staff also previewed a Department of Energy ETIP tool that has been adapted to Key West's building types so residents can evaluate energy‑efficiency investments with local ROI estimates.

Board members requested continued updates and a webinar with Keys Energy to review modeling outputs and next steps for grant pipelines.