A change in city leadership highlighted an otherwise quiet night for the Marathon City Council in its first post-election season on Nov. 18.
Fresh off her win as the top finisher in the Nov. 4 election, councilwoman Debbie Struyf took her seat on the dais to start the evening. Struyf was sworn in by her campaign manager Kimberly Matlock, while city clerk Diane Clavier administered the oath of office to re-elected councilwoman Robyn Still and councilman Lynn Landry was sworn in by his family.
Struyf replaces councilman Jeff Smith, who won his first term in 2022 before finishing fifth in voting earlier this month. Landry and city manager George Garrett praised Smith’s service on both the council and city planning commission, along with numerous community organization boards throughout the Middle Keys.
“I think we’ve accomplished a lot over the last three years, and there’s still work to be done,” said Smith. “I will continue to be a voice of reason when it comes to fiscal responsibility and capital projects, but I’m confident with the leadership we have up here.”
Councilman Kenny Matlock respectfully declined a motion by Struyf to serve as the city’s mayor in 2025-26, instead nominating councilwoman Lynny Del Gaizo for the post. Del Gaizo took the gavel without dissent, before a second motion by Matlock nominated Struyf as the city’s vice mayor.
Garrett outlined proposed city priorities for the 2026 Florida legislative session, headlined by preserving ad valorem taxes and the use of TDC tax dollars for tourism-related purposes, pursuing funding for Marathon’s deep wastewater well project, and supporting revisions to Florida’s Senate Bill 180.
Signed into law in 2025, the bill granted up to 900 new building rights for the Keys, but restricted the rights to one per vacant buildable lot. As proposed, the city’s initiatives would pursue allowing multiple units on one property for the purpose of workforce housing.
Marathon will also look to distance itself from recent legal challenges to SB 180, revolving around a wide-ranging part of the bill that prohibits municipalities from adopting “more restrictive” development regulations in the wake of storms.
Deep wastewater well moves forward
Resolution 2025-107, unanimously approved, authorized a $2.45 million contract for Marathon-based Coral Construction Company to complete phase IIIA of Marathon’s deep wastewater injection well project.
The phase includes installing just over 5,000 linear feet of 16-inch piping via directional drilling from the Robert Dopps Bridge on Coco Plum Drive to Marathon’s Area 6 wastewater treatment plant. The majority of the drilling will be completed by subcontractor ITG, engineer Yanay Ferral of Weiler Engineering told the council.
The injection well must be completed by the end of 2028, per the city’s federal settlement agreement with Friends of the Lower Keys (FOLKs) over water quality and waste disposal issues.
In light of potential delays and rising costs, Landry asked Garrett to provide updated estimates for the project’s total cost in December. He also asked city attorney Steve Williams to ensure that penalties for per-day construction delays assessed to contractors will match or exceed those faced by the city should it fail to meet the 2028 deadline.
In other news:
- While council workshop sessions for November and December 2025 were canceled due to holiday schedules, Matlock and Del Gaizo asked for workshop sessions in 2026 to return to a more open, conversational format for citizens to address the council off the dais.
- Ordinance 2025-07, unanimously approved, will allow Marathon to take a tertiary loan priority in select instances for its first time homebuyer program. In doing so, Marathon’s homebuyers will be able to use both the city program and funds offered by the State Housing Initiatives Partnership program (SHIP), as the city will cede loan priority to the program that frequently offers more money to new homeowners.
- Resolution 2025-111, unanimously approved, awarded a $459,982 contract to Discount Rock and Sand Inc. for installation of pickleball courts in Marathon’s Oceanfront Park. Public Works and Engineering Director Carlos Solis told the council that roughly $193,000 in the contract was reserved for electrical installation and lighting for the courts, which he believed could be completed in-house at a much lower cost after the contract was awarded.
Photos by ALEX RICKERT/Keys Weekly
