Keys residents might hope for a low flyover by U.S. Navy jets to help make their point.U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson is coming to Key West for a town-hall meeting Jan. 15, and much of the session will likely revolve around noise from Naval Air Station Key West aircraft. The session is at 1 p.m. at Old City Hall on Greene Street.Laura Fatovic, Nelson's South Florida regional office director, said there's no fixed agenda.

“The topics will be picked by the residents,” she said, “though we are aware of the noise issue and happy to talk about it.”Residents who live around the air station have been in an uproar since April, when the Navy released its revised Air Installation Compatible Use Zone maps that broadened the noise and safety contours surrounding the base.“The biggest item is the noise factor,” Monroe County Mayor Sonny McCoy of Nelson's meeting. “And let's face it, the only people that can make the difference in this issue is the federal government.”

Paul Caruso, a vocal critic of the jet noise emanating from the air base, said he's been working closely with Nelson to share his and other residents' concerns about the decibel levels created by the F-18 Super Hornets.
“I've been working with folks in the senator's office since back in August,” he said. “They've been very very helpful in getting my requests to the correct military personnel.”Caruso and several Stock Island residents who have been fighting the noise issue were the first on Fatovic's e-mail list for the town-hall meeting.

“I am reaching out to you because you are all an integral part of the Key West and Monroe County community and I wanted you to be the first to be invited to this event,” she wrote.NAS Key West Commanding Officer Capt. J.R. Brown asked the County Commission in December to sanction the so-called AICUZ as part of its planning process, but the county has yet to make a move.He said the AICUZ is designed to provide the county with a guideline for development and redevelopment around the base. But county officials say that by adopting it, they could be held liable for land-takings lawsuits by people who would claim the jet noise disallows use of their homes.