If you’re in Key West and interested in protecting the reefs, try to attend this public workshop at City Hall on Wednesday, July 13th at 6pm. Speak out against this proposal. DeeVon
From: Mark Songer
Sent: Jul 10, 2011 3:52 PM
To: mark_songer@comcast.net
Subject: Wednesday July 13 – 6pm
Dear Last Stand members and supporters:
This Wednesday at 6:00pm at Old City Hall, 510 Greene Street there is a workshop to consider whether the mayor and city commissioners should support efforts to dredge the Key West Harbor Channel to allow larger cruise ships.
Last Stand opposes the proposal for new dredging to widen the Key West Harbor Channel.
I am expecting that there will be a number of Chamber of Commerce and Harbor Pilot speakers to support this effort. The commission needs to hear your opinion. I urge you to come to the meeting or call/write your commissioner to let them know your thoughts.
Last Stand has developed a few talking points below that may help you express how you feel. Thanks!
Public Law 101-605 established the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. This law allows maintenance dredging but prohibits a number of activities including new dredging. In order to fund a study of the environmental impacts and feasibility of new dredging, the United States House and Senate will need to pass a waiver to this law.
The proposed area to be dredged currently has live coral and sponge colonies, many of which are threatened or endangered. Last Stand feels the preservation of this marine life is important to our tourist based economy, in particular the dive destination visitors to Key West and the Florida Keys.
The Army Corps of Engineers Reconnissance Study justifies the next steps towards a $35 million dredging project based on forecasting between 134,000 and 1.1 million incremental visitors annually. If this forecast is correct, it will increase congestion on Old Town streets. Preliminary findings from the traffic carrying capacity study point to less than optimum function of Southard Street. Any incremental cruise ship visits docking at the Outer Mole pier will increase the congestion on Southard as trolleys and trains move passengers to and from the pier.
A significant number of incremental visitors would also use Pier B. The City of Key West only receives 25% of the disembarkation fee from this pier as it is privately owned. Because this pier is privately owned, it is difficult for the City of Key West to regulate the number of daily cruise ship visits. The City cannot say no to a Pier B docking when reservations have already been accepted for the Outer Mole and Mallory.
Last Stand expects that a majority of the incremental cruise ship visits would use Pier B. Because this pier is privately owned, it is not required to provide the same security measures that Homeland Security regulations require at publicly owned Mallory and Outer Mole piers. The cruise lines prefer this convenience for their passengers. So we expect that the increase in passengers will not be a financial boom for the City of Key West budget.
We understand that tourism is essential to the economy of Key West. However, not all tourists are equally desirable. Inn keepers report that their guests stay off Duval Street and away from other old town attractions during the hours that cruise ships are in town. These long term tourists spend 16 times as much per visit as cruise ship passengers who generally are on the island between 4 and 8 hours. When the “Key West Experience” of long term visitors is negatively impacted by cruise ship visitors, that is the time to look for the reasons why and solutions.
Passengers on “boutique” ships may be the type of visitor we should try to attract for longer visits. These ships are smaller than the newest vessels being constructed and will be able to call on Key West without any modification to the channel width. Generally these ships are 750 feet or less and will dock at Mallory. Although these visitors may be better customers, city staff reports that the costs associated with security at Mallory often exceed the disembarkation revenues from the smaller number of passengers. Longer stays can also interfere with the sunset celebrations. So even though desirable for our tourism dollars, the net result to the city needs to be carefully considered.
If the channel width is not increased, the cruise ship industry will continue to be able to call on Key West for years to come. The useful life of a cruise ship is at least 20 years. Of the major cruise lines with calls to Key West during the 2011 winter season, most of their existing fleet could navigate safely in the existing channel width. Carnival has 22 ships in their fleet and 21 fit in the Key West Channel. Of the 15 Carnival ships operating in the Caribbean, 7 did call on Key West. Norwegian and Costa cruise lines are similarly situated. Royal Caribbean has the largest ships, with 13 of their 22 vessels available to safely enter the Key West Harbor. Six of the 15 ships operating in the Caribbean could call on Key West, but only two of these are actually scheduled to visit Key West.
Cruise ships under construction today will not fit in Key West Channel. Although some of these ships have similar number of passengers to ships calling today, they will carry significantly more passengers. Carnival’s fleet calling on Key West during winter 2011 averaged 3,179 passenger capacity. Carnival’s two ships under construction will have a maximum of 3,646 and 3,690 passengers. The Costa Atlantica called on Key West with a maximum of 2,680 passengers. Costa’s two ships under construction will carry 3,780 passengers. Disney’s two ships calling on Key West carry a maximum of 2,700 passengers, but the Disney Fantasy scheduled for 2012 delivery will carry 4,000. Although the justification for the channel dredging may be to maintain the number of passengers visiting Key West, Last Stand expects that the impact of new ship visits will be an increase in the number of passengers.
The reason that the channel is not wide enough to safely accommodate the new ships is not because the ship is too wide. Instead the currents and wind in the channel require the boats to travel at an angle. As the forward speed of the ship decreases to stop at the pier, the angle often increases. Safety concerns dictate that a margin of 25 feet on each side of the channel be maintained. That reduces the 350 foot channel to a useable 300 feet. Using publicly available information, Last Stand has estimated that at a 6 degree angle, the newest ships would require the Key West channel to be six to 23 feet wider than it currently is to maintain the 50 foot safety margin. The dredging proposal is to add 75 feet to each side of the channel for an increase in width of 150 feet. Last Stand believes the proposed solution is way out of proportion to the problem.
The next steps for studying the impacts of channel dredging are estimated at $5.5 million. At most 50% of this will come from the Federal government. The City of Key West does not have funds available to pay the other half, and state sources of funding are also strained with other projects. Last Stand objects to reliance on the cruise ship industry for funding as this would increase pressures to find a particular result. Likewise, if found feasible, the $35 million (measured in 2010 dollars but several years into the future before spending could start) cost will need a 50% match from local sources. Last Stand does not believe that the positive impacts to a limited number of tourist businesses justifies this amount of federal and local taxpayer support.
Mark E. Songer
mark_songer@comcast.net
