Kudos to Councilors Rola and Folley

A big win for water quality. AND potential savings of $17,000,000 in otherwise wasted public funds. Talk about being proactive on water quality and good stewards of public funds. Way to go!

At the October 2, 2023, City Council meeting, Councilor Joe Rola presented a white paper stating that the Marco Island Alternate Water Quality Plan (4e) submitted to FDEP was premature.

This plan as submitted to FDEP maintained that the city waterways are impaired for total nitrogen and the millions of $ in projects in the plan would “… bring (Marco Island) into compliance … for total nitrogen.”

Rola stated that the Marco waterbody already “in the 3rd year of un-impairment” and if the trend continues the impairment status should be removed after 2023.

Councilor Rola further suggested that Marco city staff should issue a letter to FDEP withdrawing the previous 4e plan from consideration.

The projects in the 4e plan are costly, “with current project estimates ranging from $1,400,000 to $8,000,000 (San Marco Road Culverts) and other projects with a total as high as $17,000,000”.

Chair Folley said “I like this idea. I think it is good. It might be slightly premature. If we are 4 months away maybe we write the (FDEP) letter and when we get there, we have it ready. This gives us additional discretion. Perhaps there are better ways to spend the money.”

Kudos to Councilors Rola and Folley - a big step towards a sound financial stewardship of Marco’s public funds!