The Marathon City Council breezed through its July 11 agenda with an ease befitting the mere 14-day gap since its last meeting.
With June’s regular meeting pushed to the final week of the month due to hurricane evacuation modeling meetings a few weeks prior, Tuesday’s 28-minute agenda saw no hefty discussion items as the council solidified topics for future workshop discussions, heard a brief update on beach and boat ramp parking, and approved a new lighting ordinance to protect sea turtles throughout Marathon.
Councilman Jeff Smith renewed his request to clarify topics for the council’s second monthly meeting, adding that discussion of the city’s code, land development regulations and affordable housing initiatives were next on the docket as well as a quarterly update on the city’s progress with vacation rental enforcement.
With some residents unaware of the timelines and steps required to build a code case, councilman Lynn Landry additionally asked Code Director Ted Lozier to add a full explanation of his department’s process to an upcoming meeting.
Following a significant discussion of parking issues along right-of-ways on Marathon’s 25th Street Ocean at June’s council meeting, Councilman Kenny Matlock also added a request for discussion of a citywide parking ordinance – one that may possibly only allow residents and businesses with property immediately adjacent to a right-of-way to use that right-of-way for parking.
Discussion items will presumably need to wait until August’s workshop, as the council’s July 25 session is already earmarked for a special call budget meeting, according to Finance Director Jennifer Johnson. This meeting will serve to adopt the city’s preliminary millage rate – dollars assessed per $1,000 in home value – for Marathon’s 2023-24 budget, and will establish the dates for two public budget hearings in September.
Public Works Director Carlos Solis reported that the month of June saw additional beach parking and boat ramp use revenues of more than $121,000, bringing the city’s total above $348,000 since Marathon’s new fees were implemented in early April. The intended use of this money has yet to be identified, and should find a place in the city’s September budget discussions.
Solis said parking enforcement cameras set for installment by management company Pave Mobility, a subject of council ire at its June meeting, have been installed at the Quay and 33rd Street boat ramps, with the goal of having them energized and fully operational before lobster mini-season. He said that while the city hopes to rely on electronic enforcement at boat ramps while continuing manual enforcement at Sombrero Beach when the tourist influx comes to Marathon, Pave Mobility will provide additional staff members to work boat ramp shifts if additional enforcement is necessary.
Ordinance 2023-10, unanimously approved at its second public hearing, brings Marathon’s standards for exterior artificial lighting in line with Florida’s model sea turtle lighting ordinance. Language in the new ordinance is designed to prevent adult female turtles from being deterred from nesting due to artificial lighting and promote a safe return to the water for nesting turtles and hatchlings. Among several items, it contains provisions to ensure that light fixtures installed near a beach are not visible from the beach, are downward-directed, and are long-wavelength – items designed to reduce interference with the turtles’ reliance on the moon and stars for safe navigation.
Speaking as a public commenter, the National Wildlife Foundation’s Paige Lansky applauded the move, which she said changed Marathon’s turtle protection language from “somewhat ideal” to “most ideal,” joining the top 15% of protective local governments throughout Florida.
City Manager George Garrett also praised the move, as a lighting issue on Sombrero Beach Road prompted a rescue effort by Marathon’s Turtle Hospital and others that very morning. Following a nonconforming light, misguided hatchlings from a nest that hatched on Monday night were found throughout the beach park, storm drains and surrounding roads, causing multiple fatalities.
Garrett said the city will visit homes and commercial operations in critical areas like Sombrero Beach, Coco Plum Beach and Grassy Key with correspondence informing residents and businesses of the changes.
