That ‘sinking feeling' spreads
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By STEVE SANOSKI Keys Sunday reporter ssanoski@keynoter.com |
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Monroe mayor eyes aircraft carrier
as the next reef
The
controversial Vandenberg artificial reef project has apparently garnered
support in some very high places, according to Key West Mayor Morgan McPherson.
And, the next target being eyed just might turn out to be
a surplus aircraft carrier for waters off Marathon.
At Tuesday's meeting of the Monroe County Tourist
Development Council (TDC) in Key West, McPherson shared a recent call from Gov.
Jeb Bush offering personal support of the Vandenberg project.
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Then, McPherson said, the Gov. went
on to list his brother - President George W. Bush - as another supporter for
sinking the retired naval ship as a dive site and artificial reef.
Monroe County Mayor Mario Di Gennaro, attending his first
TDC meeting as mayor, chimed in with more news on the artificial reef front -
alerting the TDC about plans to sink an aircraft carrier.
Di Gennaro said he and Vandenberg Project founder Joe
Weatherby have already begun research on another artificial reef they'd like to
see created in the Keys.
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“We are in the process of
researching the sinking of an aircraft carrier off Marathon,” Di Gennaro said.
“It looks like it would be a lower cost project than the Vandenberg.”
The Vandenberg Project has a price tag of $5.7 million.
Project organizers recently met a deadline to prevent losing a federal grant
and keep the USS Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg from being reduced to a scrap pile.
The majority of project funding consists of a $2 million
pledge from the Monroe County Commission, as well as a $1.3 million promise
from the Key West City Commission. The U.S. Maritime Administration will kick
in $1.25 million, while the TDC commits another $1 million.
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Patti Stanley, TDC District
Advisory Committee 4 Chair, raised lingering concerns about where the TDC's
funding commitment to the Vandenberg Project will come from.
“We're facing a major budget crunch, and we're already
concerned about funding over the next few years,” Stanley said. “We want to
help, but it's kind of a scary picture when you look at the big numbers the
Vandenberg Project requires and the little numbers we're dealing with in our
budgets.”
The Key West City Commission meets in special session
today to approve an agreement with the county to hand over the county's $2 million
commitment to Artificial Reefs of the Keys. The Monroe County Commission
approved the interlocal agreement between the city and county last Friday.
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Under terms of the agreement, the county will not actually hand over its money until the 520-foot ship is on the bottom of the ocean. The special City Commission meeting convenes at 5:30 p.m. tonight at Old City Hall.