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.
Lobster mini season is upon us.
Still said, “If you are launching your boat anywhere in the city of Marathon, I think it’s starting this weekend and definitely carrying through the mini season, city staff is going to be manning and womaning, all of us will be out there on our boat ramps, and primarily, we’re there to kind of make sure traffic is flowing good, but also to help people with the meters. Boat ramps are open, there was a rumor that we closed them. We have not. They are open. Boat launch fees still apply, so if you don’t live here, if you’re not eligible to launch your boat for free, you still have to pay. So we’re going to be there, kind of assisting with that, to try to keep the flow going. Also, we’ll be handing out pamphlets with information about the rules and regulations of lobster season, so you’ll have it in your hand. There’s not an excuse to not know what those rules are. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of people who don’t want to follow the rules. But our sheriff’s office and law enforcement partners, FWC, they are on top of this. You do not want to meet them in that way.”
There was a budget special call meeting in Marathon on Tuesday.
Still said, “We set our millage rate, and when we set that, some people get very, very stressed, because sometimes that millage rate is set a little high, but at that meeting, when we set that rate, it cannot go higher. So the goal is to set it to cover everything that we think we might want covered in our budget. And then at our next few meetings, we go back and we do a deep dive through that budget to see what we can adjust to get that millage rate lower. So the millage rate that was set, I expect to go lower. I don’t think it’s going to stay at that. It was set at 2.3434 and basically that is 2.3434 per $1,000 of assessed property value. So to find out what the taxes would be just for that, you would multiply your assessed value of your property times that number and divide by 1,000 and that gives you your general idea. However, that is higher than last year, but with property values going up, that is obviously going to increase. But once we start doing a deeper look into the budget, I expect that number to come down some. I don’t know to what extent, but I don’t expect it to stay at that. Right now we’re looking pretty good. We have six days over a year worth of money in reserves, which is very important. That’s money that we use in case something happens and we have to put the city back together, in case we have a storm, that money is there. Of course, everybody knows we’re not really sure what the federal government is doing, what’s going to be happening with FEMA, and where we’re all going to be as cities and counties in our state with that kind of funding. It’s really important that you make sure that we have that funding in place, or money in place to kind of keep things running in case of some sort of emergency.”
Have any of the state cutbacks affected Marathon?
Still said, “Not as far as the city is concerned. I asked for a raise for staff above what was in the budget. I don’t know if we’re going to get that, but I think our employees, it’s hard to make a living here. It’s hard to pay for things. Our cost of living is so much higher than other places, but we also have to be fair with the budget all the way around. Right now, I think we’re looking okay, but there are tough times.”
There are two more budget workshops coming up.
Still said, “The next one will be September 16, and it’s at 5:30 and it’s at City Hall. Then the final meeting will be September 23 at 5:30. So I would just urge people, if you have concerns about the budget, concerns about items in the budget, please attend. Please reach out to us. That is your chance to let us know how you feel about certain things.”
The Food Truck Jamboree is coming up on August 27.
Still said, “We are going to have what we’re calling a Food Truck Jamboree on Wednesday. It’s an odd day, but Wednesday, August 27 from 5 to 8. It’s going to be at Oceanfront Park, which is behind city hall. One of the reasons we’re doing that this is something that’s been in the discussion for a while, and it’s finally able to come together, is once the development at the Quay is completed, we’re going to have food trucks there. So this Food Truck Jamboree, is going to serve multi purposes. One is going to be it lets us see what food trucks are out there. It lets us, kind of vet food trucks, in a way, and let the public vet them, to kind of see what kind of food trucks would we like at the Quay. Also, we’ve reinstalled the exercise equipment behind city hall, and it gives the public a chance to come see that, to come see the new Tiki hut back there, and just kind of see some of the improvements and renovations that have happened back there. I think if we had invited people to come, just to see that without food trucks, some people would have come, but it wouldn’t be quite the draw that having the food trucks there. Also schools back in session, so families are back in town, so it’ll be a fun little midweek event to bring your family out and just have a good evening here in The Florida Keys, in Marathon.”
The Turtle Hospital has a ribbon cutting coming up.
Still said, “They have a ribbon cutting on Monday. Actually, it starts at three o’clock. They are going to be having lots of little things happening with that, and I think the ribbon cutting is around five o’clock, but it’s their new gift center, gift store, and I’m excited to go out to see what’s happening there.”
Marathon’s Facebook page has a lot of information about the city.
Still said, “That’s something I pushed for since I was appointed to city council, is to start putting more information out. Social media is where people are, and I said, we need to meet everybody where they are, and social media is where most, including myself, go to find out what’s happening. So our new public information officer Carlos Garcia, is now doing a weekly, sometimes more than weekly, Facebook Lives and videos, and it’s basically a two minute update on what’s happened in the city of Marathon. He has also done a few about mini lobster season, and he’s starting to do some of these in Spanish as well. So to find those, you’d go to the city of Marathon’s Facebook page, and it gives you a chance to, very quickly, kind of catch up on what’s happening in the city and what’s coming up.”