Marathon residents are strongly encouraged to show up on with “wish lists” in hand on Thursday, Jan. 17 for a special call meeting of the Marathon City Council. On the table is a capital improvement plan for the next five years. Mayor Michael Cinque said he knows what he would like to see happen in the next few years, but more importantly, he wants to know what residents think is important.
“At the top of the list is a new city hall and a building to operate public works out of,” he said, “but that’s the opinion of one. I want the public to show up and say what they think they need.”
The city of Marathon has postponed building a city hall since it was founded. Currently the offices are located in leased trailers on a piece of city-owned land at 96th Street. There are two more years left on the current lease. Cinque said the city has made sufficient progress on other public works such as stormwater, sewage and road repaving that it’s time to consider new quarters.
“I think we can afford a city hall, but I want there to be a discussion with as many people as possible,” Cinque said.
Previously, city councilmember Dick Ramsay has stated the urgent need for a public works headquarters. Currently, much of the city’s equipment — some of it quite costly — is stored outside. While that itself isn’t too problematic, maintaining the equipment is, according to city Public Works Manager Carlos Solis.
“We have no where to do regular maintenance on our equipment. We have to lie down in the grass to change the oil,” he said.
This is the first time a capital improvement plan meeting has been open to the public, according to some city officials. In previous years, the ideas originated with city staff and included ideas for improvements to public facilities.
The special call meeting of the Marathon City Council will be Thursday, Jan. 17 at 5:30 p.m. at the Marathon Fire Station.
