MARATHON CITY COUNCIL DIGS FOR ANSWERS ON PARK AND MARINA PROGRESS, BOAT RAMP ENFORCEMENT

Having Fun in the Middle Keys

ALEX RICKERT alex@keysweekly.com

The Marathon City Council wasted no time after a five-week break extended by hurricane evacuation modeling meetings earlier this month, diving into updates on ongoing projects of great interest to residents and a controversial building permit refund request at its June 27 meeting.

Following an extensive presentation briefing the council on the upcoming hurricane season and emergency preparedness efforts by Monroe County Emergency Management Director Shannon Weiner and National Weather Service warning coordination meteorologist Jon Rizzo, the council turned to an extended update by Public Works Director Carlos Solis.

Among several other items, including ongoing processes to replace the bridges at 112th, 116th and 117th streets as well as the air conditioning system at City Hall, Solis said the city recently received a report analyzing the seawall and shoreline at the Quay property, now slated for redevelopment for upwards of three years. He called the condition of both “better than anticipated,” likely providing significant cost savings as the area is rehabilitated, and said consultants are in the process of assembling plans for the partial repair of the shoreline and redevelopment of the park.

Solis also said plans for the redevelopment of Seven Mile Marina, acquired in late 2021 by the city, are in review by city staff and will be put out to bid following final revisions.

With the city receiving little response to its last few projects put out to bid, Solis also said the department will seek a Construction Manager at Risk for oversight of several upcoming projects, including bathrooms at the Quay property, part of the work at Seven Mile Marina and an office renovation at city hall that will create a secured reception area re-opened to the public. Such a system will allow the city greater ability to negotiate with contractors outside of an all-encompassing bid price.

Mayor Luis Gonzalez pressed Solis for greater clarity in each property’s timeline, saying there have been “very little to no upgrades” at the Quay property while the Seven Mile Marina still looks largely like “a fenced-off piece of abandoned property.”

“We’ve made the investment, and there’s not much return coming in on it now,” he said. “We need a better time frame, so that way we have answers for our constituents. … It’s just, ‘it’s coming, it’s coming,’ and we sound like a broken record.”

Solis attributed the delays to extensive permit processing times with the Army Corps of Engineers – some of the city’s applications were submitted more than seven months ago – and a lack of realistic bids by contractors for the projects, many of which more than doubled the city’s budget for individual initiatives as the sole respondent. He and City Manager George Garrett also pointed to overlaps and conflicts between the Florida Department of Transportation and Florida Department of Environmental Protection as the permits make their way through state systems.

Parking Fee Enforcement Draws Council’s Ire

An update on the city’s continued struggle to fully implement and enforce newly-enacted parking and usage fees at Sombrero Beach and Marathon’s public boat ramps left multiple council members frustrated with extended delays. While the fees officially took effect April 1, enforcement cameras provided by contracted parking compliance service Pave Mobility are still not installed or operational. Though Solis reported beach and boat ramp revenues at $91,154 for the month of May, with 150 citations issued at the time of his update, city staff have thus far been left to personally ensure compliance at each site, otherwise relying on an honor system for non-resident vehicles.

Addressing the council, Pave Mobility’s municipal division president Isaiah Mouw said the company has committed to provide a full-time employee for enforcement at Sombrero Beach given challenges with traffic in and out of numerous residential side streets in the area. He said that while the company expects to have enforcement cameras installed by July 15, he could not provide a definite timeline for when the cameras would be energized by local power utilities.

Vice Mayor Robyn Still and Gonzalez panned the months-long delay, stressing the system’s importance with lobster mini-season approaching and criticizing unnecessary hours spent by city staff at boat ramps.

“What (the monthly revenue) doesn’t show is the amount this doesn’t reflect because of lack of enforcement,” said Gonzalez, who asked for additional manpower provided by continued on page 12