Marathon will press forward with expanding an existing wastewater treatment plant to service Area 5 despite one councilman's talk of starting over at a new location.

Councilman Dick Ramsay said at Tuesday's general council meeting -- and the morning staff briefing -- that he would like to explore building a new plant on city-owned property at 104th Street rather than expanding the plant housed at the Marathon Airport.

The city pays about $22,000 per year in rent to Monroe County -- which owns the airport -- for the existing wastewater plant. The location at 104th Street was slated to be used for an affordable housing project until developer Ed Swift told the council at its last meeting that he would not be able to get financing for the project in the current economy. Swift asked the council to keep the land set aside for a future affordable housing project rather than use it for something else.

"What I would hope is ... when we go to do these kind of projects we look at all kinds of alternatives," Ramsay said of the sewer plant.

Even Ramsay distanced himself from the notion of exploring alternatives when City Manager Roger Hernstadt informed council that the plant would be part of the bill submitted to the Army Corps of Engineers for reimbursement for yet another round of funding expected to be doled out for wastewater projects in the Keys.

"I was informed today that they believe there's a 75 percent chance that an additional $8 million will be coming down provided we continue to provide invoices," Hernstadt said.

Expedited work and met deadlines on the city's central sewer system under Hernstadt's management have been cited as prime factors in the city getting a windfall of multi-million dollar grants recently -- often left over from other municipalities which have not met schedules for completion.

"Based on the time frame, the odds being 75 percent we're going to receive this money and the amount of money that might be at risk, it would appear we're locked into probably approving this," Ramsay said. "I wish we had more time. I brought up a subject that I thought was worth looking into; To relocate this plant over to the 104th Street property. ... We would relive ourselves of $22,000 of rent we pay to the county on a continuous basis."

Other members of the council, surprised by Ramsay's proposal and chastisement of staff for forcing a quick decision, saw it differently.

"We've been working on [sewers] quite a long time," Vice Mayor Mike Cinque said. "One other problem is conditional use on that [104th Street] property. ... I've found in the three years I've been working on this that delays are deadly."

"This is the first I've even heard of the concept," of using 104th Street property, said Councilman Pete Worthington. "I think we need to go forward on" the present location.

The council voted unanimously to approve spending up to $4.2 million to expand the current plant for service Area 5, and spend another $2.5 million on the equipment that will go in the newly refurbished location.

In other business:

• Council ordered staff to perform temporary maintenance on the road at Fisherman's Point, which was torn up by a dismissed contractor in the city's central sewer project. Cinque said he has heard from many fishermen that they have not been able to get their traps out of the area due to the road's condition.

Staff will lay down millings and do other temporary repair work until the road is resurfaced at the end of the sewer installation.

"We will keep those roads passable," Hernstadt said.

• Marathon Fire Chief William Wagner will present council with preliminary requirements for a new fire station on Grassy Key at the council's next meeting. Cinque asked that staff move forward as soon as possible with planning and implementing the new station -- to be housed at the Jolly Roger RV park along with a sewer plant for the area.

"We'll try to keep it as minimal as possible," Wagner said. "We need to shelter equipment and our firemen in a hurricane."

• Councilman Ramsay was rebuffed in an attempt to modify the council's rules for responding to citizen comments during a meeting. Current policy is to listen to comments but not respond or ask questions. The policy was set after heated debates in years past, and is intended to also shelter staff from having to answer questions on the spot without being able to research a subject.

Cinque said he believed the current policy was fine, coupled with the council members' availability outside of meetings.

"Don't ever be afraid to talk to or to call any of us. That's what we're here for," Cinque said.

Staff was directed to clarify the current rules and distribute them at the next meeting.

• No action was taken after a council discussion of incorporating the city's height limit of 37 feet into the city charter. The limit is currently in the Land Development Regulations and Comprehensive Plan, but the group Citizens Not Serfs was advocating the change to make it more difficult for future councils to waive the restriction.

Such a change would take up to 10 months to process in order to get a resolution on the ballot for the next election, in November 2011, according to City Attorney John Herin.

"I don't see any reason why this presentation was made other than more red tape," said resident and real estate agent Karen Farley-Wilkinson. "We've already got it covered."

John November, of Citizens Not Serfs, said he wanted to present the idea to give the community time to gather and support the change.

"We have a special community charm that your community is working hard to revitalize," November said.

• Ramsay was given the council's support to draft a letter to Monroe County expressing concerns about a plan to move the runway at the Marathon Airport 40 feet to the north in advance of a meeting on the subject on Aug. 24.

"I want to express to Monroe County not only our concerns, but possible solutions," Ramsay said. "We don't want to see this happen. It not happening will not deprive us of commercial service in the future."

Council will review the letter at its next meeting, Aug. 10.

• Florida Department of Transportation Project Manager Charlie Phinizy told council the U.S. 1 resurfacing project -- following the city's central sewer installation and a Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority pipe replacement project -- is expected to start in January, 2011, and finish in September of the same year.

The project left out a portion of roadway between the newly-resurfaced Grassy Key area and Coco Plum Drive, as well as a portion of road that narrows from two lanes to one before the Seven Mile Bridge. Council will ask FDOT to include those portions.

The project will also encompass the replacement of five traffic signals and 40 lights in Marathon.

• Council will review its sewer rate structure after speaking with FKAA's Jim Reynolds about irrigation meters, which allow the utility to charge for water that will not be rolled into the city's sewer bill since it will not be run back through the system. The meters cost $1,000, with other associated costs, and Reynolds suggested adding a standard cushion into each person's bill expecting that some water will be used for irrigation -- rather than requiring the costly meter.

Council will discuss the matter with contracted rate consultants.

• The Marathon Chamber of Commerce's CEO Daniel Samess told council the Red Carpet Tours -- jointly funded by the chamber and the city -- has successfully found its first business relocating to Marathon, and is working with a host of others. The project utilizes the internet and a planned booth for trade shows and other gatherings to entice businesses to expand in or relocate to Marathon.

• Council approved the renewal of two contracts for city services. EssentialNet Solutions will receive $40,440 per year to provide the city with IT services. Bishop, Rosasco And Company was given a $362,736 contract to provide financial services. Finance director Peter Rosasco said his company has not raised its fee for the past two years, and this contract will keep the fee the same for the next two years.