Sunday, June 14, 2009

More red tape and project delays would result if Monroe County let Marathon review airport planning proposals and then appeal disputes to a state or federal agency, county staff said in recommending against it.

Marathon officials asked the County Commission to review their proposal at its meeting Wednesday, in a bid for more control over the fate of the Middle Keys airport, which is in Marathon city limits but owned and operated by the county.

E-mails from two county attorneys and the Florida Keys Marathon Airport manager, which are included in the commissioners' agenda notes, take a negative view of the proposed interlocal agreement.

"Why do we continue to go looking to create problems for ourselves that we don't already have?" County Attorney Suzanne Hutton wrote.

Assistant County Attorney Pedro Mercado said there is no need for such an interlocal agreement.

"There is already a process for the city of Marathon to become involved on any major projects at that airport," Mercado said. "Any major development projects at the airport would require either an [environmental] impact statement or an [environmental] assessment," two bureaucratic processes that invite input.

Under Marathon's proposal, the county would submit all airport development and redevelopment plans to the city, which would review them and submit comments to the county. Meetings would be called to resolve disputes. If that failed, the appropriate state or federal agency would be called to mediate.

For the better part of the year, Councilman Dick Ramsay has made it his mission to secure a seat at the table as such controversial issues as increased noise from moving the runway loom on the horizon.

"We need, as a city, to have some solid control," said Ramsay, who the council chose to be the county liaison for airport issues. "Sooner or later we have to get something."

The city and county for years have wrestled over which entity has final authority on issues such as planning, zoning and development. Moving the runway may prove to be the issue that galvanizes Marathon residents against total county control of the airport.

The Federal Aviation Admin-istration (FAA) has asked the county to submit plans for moving the runway about 40 feet to the north. The goal is to create more space between it and the taxiway to avoid potential conflicts when two large planes are using the strips at the same time. The result is bringing the runway closer to the adjacent neighborhood off Aviation Boulevard.

Another proposal to extend the runway about 400 feet on each end -- using existing pavement the FAA has not cleared for use -- also could invite larger planes and more noise.

"It is going to be very drastic," Ramsay said, calling early data from a noise study shocking. "There are very negative effects."

Monroe County Airports Di-rector Peter Horton said he was more surprised than shocked.

"If we were to proceed to extend the runway," Horton said, "we would have noise impact issues that we would have to address that we did not believe that we had before."

rbusweiler@keysnews.com