Robyn Still, City Council Member for the city of Marathon, joined Good Morning Keys on Keys Talk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about what’s going on in the city.
A barbecue competition is coming up in Marathon.
Still said, “Hopefully the weather’s going to be good. I know it’s going to be cold. I’ve heard it’s going to get windy in the afternoon, but still going to be worth going out. That’s tomorrow at community park, it’s free to get in. There’s music, food, fun, games. The event time is three to 6pm and if you are a connoisseur of barbecue and you want to get a voting ticket and a chance to cast your vote, you can purchase one. It’s cash only, $10 and also Marathon High School Dolphin Bistro are selling sides and soft drinks, and if you’ve never had their food, you are missing out. Those students do an excellent job.”
The skate park is moving along, also.
Still said, “I know that sometimes you don’t see work happening, but as with everything, things are going on in the background, there are certain things that have to happen before you maybe can see physical work going on. Just because you’re not seeing it doesn’t mean that projects are not moving forward. I mean, you have things, permitting and design work, waiting for delivery of supplies. So just because you don’t see it happening doesn’t mean that that project is not moving forward.”
There was an open topic workshop held in Marathon recently.
Still said, “We’ve not done that in a long time, and it was suggested that for our first workshop of the year, we leave it open so we would let residents come and bring their topics of concern. We did that knowing that depending on what that topic was, we may not be prepared for a comprehensive, maybe that’s not a good word, but a full answer to questions, but it would give staff time to know what the concerns were, know what the questions were, and be able to interact with our residents and then get back to them if they didn’t answer certain questions. Our workshop was a little bit different. We did have people come who did talk about some issues they had in the city, one being our bike paths needing cleaning. I think that was a good topic to be brought up. A lot of people use those bike paths to travel to and from work and just for leisure activities. And one local bike shop was there to talk about the repairs that they’ve had to do because of debris on those bike paths, and he came talking about it, knowing that if that debris was cleaned up, he would lose some business for repairs. But he was concerned about people who needed to use those bike paths and couldn’t really afford continuous repairs on tires. But one of the more interesting things is we had people who came who wanted to talk about ICE and what’s going on in our community, and as a city council, we listened to them. There’s not a lot that we could do in response to that, but we could listen and hear their concerns and be an open forum for them to come and talk about that. Everybody was very peaceful. Everybody was very polite and respectful, and we had a room full of people. It was nice to see that. And I hope, going forward with workshops, we continue to see that kind of involvement. That’s the whole intent of the workshop.”
The splash pad is also seeing some progress.
Still said, “There have been some rumors that there was some delay in that, but that is moving forward. It’s moving forward right along their advertised timeline, or what we’ve been told is a timeline, so barring anything unforeseen, that is continuing to move forward as well. Sometimes you may not see things happening, but things are happening in the background. The same as I’ve heard comments about code enforcement and code cases and that people think that nothing is happening, but sometimes there are things that are happening in the background with code complaints and code cases that even I don’t see, and if I were to follow up, there are actually things that are happening. And if anybody wants to see code cases and how that’s handled, those meetings and those code hearings are open to the public. They’re also live streamed and they’re also recorded, so you can always go back and see that.”
Officials from Marathon will head up to Tallahassee on Tuesday.
Still said, “Part of the reason we go up there is to sit down in front of different departments to see our representative and our senator, and to also ask for funding for projects that are going on in our city. That’s been very productive for us in the past, and we think it’s going to be productive this year too. That funding is extremely important. It alleviates some burden on taxpayers. So I’ve seen some posts on Facebook, some negativity about us going to Tallahassee, but that trip is a working trip, and that trip does pay off for us in the long run. We do get funding for things from the state, and it’s very important that we go up there to ask for that, and that we meet the people who are making those decisions, because otherwise we’re just a name. If we go, we become a person to them. We become a city to them. And it’s easier to give us funding if we form relationships.”
The Odd Couple is playing at Marathon Community Theater.
Still said, “It was amazing. This is the final weekend, so you still have an opportunity to go. I urge you to go. We laughed the entire time. The talent that we have in our community is amazing. So I urge you to do that. Also, if you have not signed up for the newsletter for the city of Marathon, please do that. That lets you know what’s happening in your city, in your city government. You can go to the city of Marathon’s website. There’s a tab that has a drop down where it’ll say, sign up for the newsletter. It’s free. Also follow us on social media. We have a great public information officer that is putting out frequent videos talking about what’s going on in the city. The latest one, it’s called Marathon Connect. The latest one is talking about Tallahassee and what’s going on when we go up there. So there are lots of ways to find out what’s happening in our city. And also, we have an events committee that are putting on amazing events. We’re going to have another food truck event. We had one behind city hall. I think our next one is going to be a community park, I believe. So that tells me that’s going to be much bigger. And if you went to the one behind city hall, you know how amazing that was. And I’m looking forward to the next one. So lots of good things happening in the city. The city is trying to be more transparent. Please follow us on social media. Please sign up for that newsletter, the agenda city council meeting is listed in the newsletter as well. It’s just a great way to find out what’s happening in the city and to stay connected.”
For more information, click here: https://www.ci.marathon.fl.us/