Last Stand disappointed by City’s Discussion of Water Quality Monitoring
Apr 1, 2026
To: Mayor and Key West City Commissioners
Good afternoon, Mayor and Commissioners,
Last Stand is disappointed and disturbed by this morning's discussion regarding the water quality monitoring contract.
The City Commission specifically approved a resolution, contract, and scope of work that deferred the cost of harbor water quality monitoring to a later task order. Last Stand urged the City to include that cost in the original contract to avoid exactly this situation, but the Commission declined. That was the Commission's decision to make. What is incomprehensible is that the structure the Commission chose is now being used to justify not carrying out the monitoring at all.
It is unclear why the City Attorney asserted (1) that approving this task order may be tantamount to "contract manipulation," and (2) that the contract contains no provisions for adding subsequent task orders to accomplish harbor monitoring.
The contract scope explicitly included harbor monitoring and recognized that additional funding would be required. This is evident from the allocated budget alone: the contract set aside less than $50,000 for both bi-weekly beach testing and harbor monitoring combined — an amount that could not possibly cover the full cost of resuming harbor monitoring.
Rather than include that full cost upfront, the contract established a specific process: Stantec was first required to identify the technology needed to conduct the monitoring, then estimate its cost, and then present that plan and budget to the City for approval. The contract states explicitly: "Based on the estimated costs associated with the recommended monitoring technology and related services, and if additional funding is required, the City shall determine and obtain the appropriate level of approval — whether at the City Manager or City Commission level, as applicable — prior to implementation."
The contract even specified that deliverables would only be provided "Once Plan and Budget approved" — making clear that a separate budget approval was not a surprise add-on, but a required step built into the contract from the start.
Even if harbor testing were not specifically called out, Article 10 of the contract independently allows the City to add additional services through written amendments.
Resolution 26-023, approved by this Commission, further states:
"WHEREAS the scope of work includes, among other things: Resumption of Key West Harbor Water Quality Monitoring."
"WHEREAS, approval of the scope of work will allow the City Manager to proceed with implementation, subject to applicable budgetary limits and any additional approvals required for funding adjustments"
"The City Manager, or designee, is hereby authorized to execute and implement any agreements, task orders, or related documents consistent with the approved Scope of Work, subject to compliance with applicable procurement requirements and budgetary approvals."
The January 6 cover memo accompanying the resolution states that "additional funding requirements will be brought forward for Commission consideration as appropriate."
This was not an unanticipated event. The contract structure, the resolution, and the cover memo all reflect a deliberate, Commission-approved framework for exactly this kind of subsequent task order.
Last Stand respectfully asks: how does the City intend to comply with Resolution 26-023, which explicitly includes resumption of Key West Harbor water quality monitoring as an approved component of this contract? And will the record be corrected?
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Jordan Mannix-Lachner
Executive Director
Last Stand of the Florida Keys
