The Middle Keys Community Land Trust Board of Directors met November 14th at Marathon City Hall Conference Room.

President Debbie Love reminded everyone about the special call City Council meeting November 29th on Land Development Regulations. She encouraged all Land Trust members to attend and comment.

Administrator Rick Casey included the Seacrest Apartments hurricane recovery status in his report.

Treasurer Josh Mothner had a discussion about the preliminary results of the financial audit come up during his report. Everything is looking good in the audit. The final report should be available to Land Trust members and partners very soon.

Director Larry Shaffer gave a hurricane recovery report on the status of the Overseas Village. Home owner association President Derrick Johnson and Vice President Gina Hipson lead the community in those efforts.

Larry’s report also included the status of the computer systems upgrades. Systems are up and running. Minor action items to include programming automated maintenance and system tasks remain.

Possible funding sources were outlined. The meeting closed with discussions on various building and acquisition projects.

The Marathon City Council had a special call meeting for three items of discussion. The meeting was held on November 15th at the Sheriff’s Aviation Hanger training room. That room was filled to overflowing with citizens, most opposed to the idea of FEMA temporary housing being situated on the city’s Events Field. FEMA stands for Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The first item on the agenda before the controversy was a general discussion on the commercial fishing industry’s condition. After several hurricanes the industry is in severe trouble. Industry leaders described the problems as people not able to make any income, since they have lost everything including their livelihood. The scope of the problem is so big, that industry leaders were perplexed as what to do to make the situation better even in the short term.

A number of suggestions from using the city’s federal lobbyist to partnering with all local governments were discussed at length. City Council expects some staff input at the next meeting.

Florida Department of Transportation representatives asked city council for input on what to do with the old seven-mile bridge connecting to Pigeon Key. Before the representatives go back to the county commission, they wanted the city’s recommendations. They presented several options from refurbishing the bridge, replacing it, to a small pedestrian path. In any case, a ferry system will be needed temporarily at least.

The cost of the options ranged from $34 to $17 million. Something must be done quickly, though, as the bridge most likely needs closed very soon due to heavy corrosion. City Council talked about this national historic treasure, and voted to recommend that the commission do everything possible to fix the bridge to Pigeon Key.

The most controversial and unlikely topic came last. Possibly siting FEMA trailers at the Events Field was meant to be an exploration of options available. A long line of Marathon citizens spoke against allowing trailers at the Events Field. City Council assured everyone that this was only a discussion of possibilities. Council also directed staff to search for more sites and come back to the next meeting with more information.

The Marathon City Council met November 22, 2005 at the government center.

Mike Puto, the city manager, had Jimmy Morales report on the city’s legal efforts to intervene in the case involving the Federal Emergency Management Agency or FEMA. This case could cause many lots throughout the city to be useless. The maps to identify these lots need updated.

Land Acquisition Board members were announced as Stacey Kidwell, Frank Greenman, Steve Williams, Derrick Johnson, and Kevin Woodland.

Susie Thomas gave an update on wastewater and community pool issues. She reported that the Park and Recreation Committee met last Thursday night. Recreational Design presented information on several different options. The committee recommended option three that includes items that will keep the overhead down. The price is estimated at a little over 3 million.

Thomas addressed staff wastewater questions. One question was right of way consideration. Staff recommended a complete application and payment of a fee. The bidder should agree through a development agreement or other legal document to certain parameters to accomplish the project. Council agreed to the staff recommendation.

Mike Puto reported on the continuing city efforts to clear out hurricane debris. This removal process continues with another pickup cycle after Thanksgiving. Puto wanted citizens to separate piles into tree debris and white goods, etc. Mulching is done on site to save money. Then the material goes to Homestead. Hazardous material will be last thing to be picked up. There is a possibility that debris removal might go right up to Christmas or beyond, if necessary. Abuses are being addressed on a case-by-case basis.

Community Park Christmas lighting will be done Sunday at 5 PM. Lions Club will be selling Christmas trees in the KMart lot. Tomorrow will be the last day for extended city hall hours. If needed, those hours can be reinstituted

George Garrett, Monroe County Director of Marine Resources, spoke on the commercial fishing industry hurricane recovery efforts. Clean up of trap debris from Hurricane Rita, which will now include Hurricane Wilma trap debris, has been funded.

Captain Bob Peryam announced that the Sheriff’s department would still be doing the Toys for Tots drive. For questions, you can call 289-2430 or drop by substation to drop off toys.

Gail Kenson, Director of the Planning Department, made a presentation about her department to the council. First, she announced that Bill Smith from the Planning Commission resigned due to relocation out of the Keys. 6 employees. Kenson outlined the department’s mission, identified the six employees, and discussed their jobs.

Ordinance 2005-22 was approved. It amended the Future Land Use Map from Mixed Use Commercial to Residential High for Farrugia Tract property on 71st Street. MMM Development LLC requested the small-scale amendment for affordable housing issues. This property is part of the Falcon Pass Affordable Housing project. The affordable housing location would be nearer US1 instead of in the central part of property.

Council approved a preliminary plat approval for John Lakes II LLC project on what would be 104th Street, in the subdivision known at The Palms. This approval was mostly a configuration issue with the lots to enhance their location and size.

City attorney, Jimmy Morales, reported on a discussion that he had the Supervisor of Elections office about early voting options. The statue would allow the city to either opt out or designate different times and locations. City Council voted to eliminate Saturday early voting, but keep weekday early voting.

Mayor John Bartus reported on the city’s federal lobbying efforts. He went on to suggest that a prioritized lobby list be developed soon.

The meeting was adjourned after each council member made some brief closing comments.