Robyn Still, member of Marathon City Council, joined Good Morning Keys on KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about what’s been going on in the city.
What were some takeaways from Florida Keys Day?
Still said, “I think we were effective. We were seen, and I think we were heard. We obviously had meetings with a lot of our partners up there. We met with Jim Mooney, our representative, and also our senator, Ana Maria Rodriguez and they both have bills that they’ve proposed, that are going to address the ROGO or BPAS situation that we all know that we have. Those are a little bit differing, in some ways, pretty for the most part, differing in the number of units that each think that we need to ask for. We’re going to kind of have to wait it out and see what happens with that, to see which duration that goes however, that’s going to be a really important issue, because what we keep talking about is that Shands case, that’s a takings case. For people who thought takings was not a real thing, they only have to look at that case to see that it is. Our attorney, along with the county attorney, met with the Attorney General’s office while there to talk about that case and about, obviously, we’re appealing it, and the Attorney General’s Office is going to give us support with that, thank goodness, because I think everybody realizes the far reaching implications, not just in the city, but the county and the state and possibly even nationwide, with that particular case. So we’re just all kind of watching that. I can’t talk about the case a lot because it is pending litigation, but it’s serious, and we definitely need building allocations. I know a lot of people are really concerned about the number that we might get and are worried that they’ll all be handed out at one time. But that is not the city’s intention, nor is it the county’s intention. We all had meetings about that and passed resolutions that distribution would be over a long period of years. We mentioned 40 years. If it passes and goes through the state, I don’t know what time frame they would put on that, but I could never imagine it would be everything given out immediately. Also, we have some meetings about the Stewardship money that does a lot of good for the Keys, and trying to see where we stand with that, and we obviously will be working with the other municipalities and other agencies and organizations in the Keys. I think in the past, we have had memorandums of understanding for how that money is distributed, and I think that’s probably the intention going forward for any funds that we receive. But those monies do a whole lot of good. We met with the Florida Commerce, I think we had a good meeting with them, and just made the rounds in Tallahassee. It was, thank goodness, beautiful weather. It rained on actual Florida Keys Day that evening. But other than that, the weather was beautiful and I think it’s important for us to go up there and people put your face to your name, and you can thank people for what they’ve done, and thank them for keeping the Keys in their mind and representing us.”
Takings cases could be potentially be a huge liability for municipalities.
Still said, “That’s true. This case with appeals, this could go for years down the road, and what you have to look at is our children, our children’s children, and what kind of bill is that going to leave them with if we don’t win an appeal, or if there are further takings cases, we may not bear that financial burden, but who we leave behind may, and we have to think about the future as far as that goes, too.”
Funding has been a big issue throughout the country this year.
Still said, “I think that tight was the terminology we heard a couple times of that funding for various things, and that just means that we’re just going to have to think outside the box and maybe look at some other grants and other funding sources as well. But it doesn’t mean that we’re not going to move forward and keep doing the things that we’re doing. We’re just going to have to take a harder look at it and decide what’s a larger priority and what other ways can we use to achieve our goals?”
What about the funding for the deep injection wells in Marathon?
Still said, “I think we’re working on some grants for that, and we’re still working on all that. That’s going to cost a lot of money. We’re having to move forward. We’re on a timeline for it, and we’re moving forward with it.”
Marathon City Council will meet on March 25 and the tiki hut is in the works.
Still said, “If you go to the city of marathon’s web page, our city manager did a Facebook live right underneath that tiki hut that’s being constructed. I think that was on Monday. They anticipate having that finished pretty soon, a lot sooner than I thought. So they’re like, really working hard on it, I think by the end of the month, which is next week, hard to believe, but that’s going to be, I think it’s 4,500 to 5,000 square feet for the tiki hut. I think the first event is going to be the Baptist fundraiser that’s always held back there and normally they have to bring in tents. But I think that’s going to be the first event, but then it’s going to be available for other parties, birthday parties, wedding receptions, things like that. I would assume that you would go through City Hall to book it. I don’t know what that procedure will be. I haven’t heard that yet, but that’s going to be finished. One other thing is, everybody’s talked about the Quay. Everybody’s waiting on development there. Well, the restrooms are finally almost finished. The first flush is on Monday, the 24th at 11am so we’ll be cutting the ribbon. Those are going to be open. I think a lot of people have waited for that. That just shows that there’s progress being made on that property as well. People have questioned that in the past, but those are going to be open on Monday. There’s going to be pickleball courts behind city hall, also. That’s coming as well. So just a lot of new additions for the community. We’re kind of in the middle of all of our spring break weeks in the Keys. So just be patient when you’re out traveling, be patient at the grocery store. We all know what that’s like and just realize that we’ll have our town back a little bit soon, but right now, traffic’s crowded. Just drive safe and just be patient.”