Lynn Landry, Marathon City Council Member, joined Good Morning Keys on Keys Talk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about what’s going on in the city.
The dry conditions are presenting some hazards for fires.
Landry said, “I believe we did have a small brush fire here in the city of Marathon. I’m not sure how big it was. I think it was something minor that fire rescue did run out to. I think it was a couple days ago. It’s starting to affect the city of Marathon. I believe if you have an outdoor fire, it needs to be contained at least within a fire pit or something to that effect.”
The city council meeting was canceled for tonight due to people feeling under the weather.
Landry said, “Our doctor was warning us, we take care of some elderly family members to be very careful this year, because the flu is rampant here in the city of Marathon, so we’re trying to be diligent. We went to Tallahassee, some of the people that went to Tallahassee with us are sick as well, but also some staff internally that did not make that trip are also sick. So I’m not sure where it’s coming from, but we’re trying to have a better part of valor here and just reschedule a meeting until the 24th.”
How was Florida Keys Day in Tallahassee?
Landry said, “We had a great time in Tallahassee. It’s amazing. You go up there and you see more people in the Keys than you would normally see here in the Keys. But we had great, fruitful meetings up in Tallahassee. We met with our state senator, Jim Mooney. We had great meetings with him. We also did get to meet with the governor’s chief of staff, FDOT, Commerce, DEP. Our main focus and priority on this trip were two prong, mainly our deep well that we’re having to put in and we have asked for a special appropriation over the next three years, from the House side and from Jim Mooney’s office, it has been ranked pretty high. We’re just hoping that it’s going to continue to stay up in a higher ranking position that maybe gets some special appropriations over the next three years for that deep well, which we are moving along on here in the city of Marathon and meeting with Commerce to talk a little bit more about our MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the building department. Very fruitful meeting. We’re hoping that that’s going to move a little bit more and try to get a few more things off of that plate. One of the concerns was, we are building pickleball courts behind city hall, and all we need to do is pour concrete slab, put the nets up, put some lighting up. It’s an internal project on the property. Water management’s in place, yet it still has to go to Commerce for the 45 day review window. So we were discussing all that, trying to figure out how we can get some of those things like that off that MOU back to more of a normal new construction or development agreements and those kinds of things. Department of Commerce is our direct oversight for our planning in the city of Marathon. So we work closely with those guys on the state of Florida level, so they have a lot of say and input on a lot of things that we do here in the city of Marathon.”
What progress has been made on the deep water well?
Landry said, “I think we have about close to $12 million through grants and also loans that we’ve taken out. It looks like it’s going to be somewhere around 65 million to this point, it could go up a little bit more. We are releasing contracts on a step by step basis. We have to connect all five plants in the city of Marathon that will lead out to Coco Plum, which is where the deep well is going to be. So we released a couple of those contracts out on Coco Plum and also the south end of town, and we’re starting to see that what the estimate was and what the contracts actually are going to be are up. So the deep well price is up a little bit, but we’re moving along, and we’re under a five year court order from a federal judge settling a lawsuit with FOLKS to have all this infrastructure and a deep well in by end of 2028 so that’s why it’s a big push to get all this in and try to find as much funding as we can to relieve a lot of the taxpayer burden here in the city of Marathon.”
Another food truck event is planned for Marathon.
Landry said, “The first food truck event was so successful that I think the next one we’re going to do coming up shortly is going to be at the Community Park because we had a huge parking issue. It was a lot bigger event than we thought it was going to be, but it was a great community event for the city of Marathon, trying to bring this community together and have a sense of family in this community, which is, I believe it’s still here. We might have lost a little bit, but it’s coming back, and our community events committee is doing a great job bringing the community together.”
There’s a code compliance hearing at two o’clock on the 19th and the Planning Commission will meet at 5:30 on the 23rd.
Landry said, “Every meeting we have in the city of Marathon that’s publicly noticed, it is open to the public. We encourage people, if they don’t understand or they want to learn a little bit more about the city, to please attend those meetings. They’re very informational, and sometimes especially the code. It’s very interesting. Just keep an eye on the agenda for the 24th, a couple of big items on there. We’re looking at vacation rental fees and maybe adjusting those. Also, the building department has a new resolution coming forward for allocations for the new BPAS affordable and owner occupied dwelling units from the units that we have just received from the state of Florida. The administration commission released 135 units to the city of Marathon that were made available on January 1 of this year. So we’re looking at some of that language in the allocations. So pay attention to that. If you have any input on that, please reach out to us as city Council or the city. That’s something that’s going to be moving forward as well on the 24th.”
The property tax reduction or elimination seems to be off the table at the state, but it’s not totally certain.
Landry said, “There’s still some session left. I know the House is pushing really hard and the Senate is dragging their feet, just a little bit on taking any of these up. We had some great meetings up there about this, and not sure where it’s going to go. But also, always remember, if they put something forward, it will go on the ballot, and it will be voted on by the state of Florida. So everybody will have a say in this one when it comes out, if it does this year.”
For more information, click here: https://www.ci.marathon.fl.us/