Already briefed on a critical development in the Shands Key takings lawsuit, the Marathon City Council turned to updates on its deep wastewater well installation and debates over truck purchases on Dec. 9.
Construction is scheduled to start in January on two of the five phases of the pipeline and deep well project. The well is set to be installed at the city’s Area 6 wastewater treatment plant on Avenue I in Coco Plum, after a 2023 settlement with Friends of the Lower Keys (FOLKs) over Marathon’s disposal of its wastewater effluent.
Originally ballparked at a total cost of $40 million to 60 million, updated estimates now say the project will come closer to $60 million, primarily due to rising material costs, engineer Steve Suggs of Weiler Engineering told the council.
Of that $60 million, $5.3 million will be funded by the Statewide Water Quality Restoration Grant, along with $8.7 million from the State Revolving Fund (SRF) loan program. An initial $10 million bank line of credit will likely be rolled into the SRF loan program due to lower interest rates, Suggs said.
The city has also submitted for $9.2 million in grant funding through the Resilient Florida Grant Program for fiscal year 2026-27, Suggs said, and hopes to receive $17 million in state funding through the Florida Keys Stewardship Act, though City Manager George Garrett recognized the actual funding through the Stewardship Act would likely be less.
Even if both requests are fully funded, roughly $10.4 million of the current projected cost remains unfunded. The city plans to pursue an independent appropriation in the state budget for the project, Garrett said.
Work to install the new pipeline parallel to U.S. 1 will require temporary single-lane closures on the highway, Suggs said. Councilman Kenny Matlock asked the company to pursue night work when possible due to traffic concerns during the height of the Keys’ tourist seasons.
Suggs and City Manager George Garrett acknowledged that construction on the project is due to start five months later than initially planned – of particular concern as Marathon is required by its federal settlement to complete the deep well project by 2028. Suggs said the delay would be addressed by adding extra machinery to drill for the pipeline in two directions.
“Are we behind where we would like to be at this point? Yes. Are we behind schedule to the point where it would impact the settlement agreement? No,” Suggs said. “The contractor is going to use two drill rigs – they’re going to start at the center (of each pipeline phase) and drill away from each other, so that should put us back on schedule.”
In other action, Matlock and Vice Mayor Debbie Struyf questioned city Public Works staff’s plan to purchase two new Chevrolet Silverado work trucks for $121,412. While the purchase was eventually unanimously approved, the pair questioned what they viewed as optional upgrades on the trucks, including four wheel drive, and asked for maintenance reports or descriptions of fleet issues before future six-figure votes for equipment replacement.
