Estero Council of Community Leaders

Minutes of the 65th Monthly Meeting

June 20, 2008

1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Estero Community Park

The meeting was called to order by Chairman Eslick at 1:00 p.m. at the Estero Community Park.  A quorum was present.

Thirty people were present representing eighteen communities.  Five guests were in attendance.

Guests were introduced.

Minutes

Sam Levy announced that the May minutes were available on the website, www.esterofl.org.  It was moved and seconded to accept the minutes as presented.  All approved. 

Treasurer’s Report

In Chris Smith’s absence, Sam Levy gave the Treasurer’s report.  An income of $200 was reported for 2008 dues paid.  $103.93 was paid to Papyrus, our webmaster.  $349.15 was transferred to the ECIF account that was social income.  A balance of $10,443.81 is reported for the ECCL. The ECIF has a balance of $23,562.01 with no expenses showing this month.  Sam listed the organizations that have not yet paid their 2008 dues and encouraged them to pay as soon as possible. 

Legislative Report by Senator Burt Saunders

Senator Saunders has served in the Florida Senate for the last ten years.  He is running for Congress when he finishes his Florida senate term.  Senator Saunders chairs the Environmental Preservation and Conservation committee that has oversight of the mining controversies of Lee County.  Senator Saunders thanked Don Eslick and Nick Batos and many others for their advocacy for Estero and Lee County regarding the mining issues.

The Taxation and Budget Reform commission meets every 20 years.  They have several items that will come up on the November ballot:

1.    65% of school funding must be used in the classroom.

2.    It is the state’s duty to educate our children.

3.    A 1 cent sales tax may be implemented for junior colleges

4.    Taxation for working waterfront property will be based on the income of that property

5.    Provide that spending to make our homes more hurricane safe and energy efficient would not increase our taxable property assessments

6.    Property tax exemption for perpetually conserved lands

7.    Eliminate up to 25% of your tax bill and replacing it with a sales tax.

This past legislature dealt mainly with energy and the environment.  Senator Saunders was very concerned with the polluted water that flows down the Caloosahatchee River and cause incredible environmental problems in the Caloosahatchee River Basin such as red tide blooms on the beaches.  The Army Corps of Engineers modified the flow of the waters from Orlando going south to the Atlantic Ocean instead of flowing slowly to the Everglades.  The Kissimmee River was changed into a canal that flows quickly and directly into Lake Okeechobee; this is being changed back into the meandering river that it was and during the rainy season it will flood the wetlands and cleanse itself and then flow into Lake Okeechobee.  Polluted soil and mud has been removed from Lake Okeechobee during this time of drought.  The 1.7 billion gallons of water that has been going into the Atlantic Ocean will once again flow into the Everglades, saving water for the environment, for agriculture and fresh water for the increasing population.  The restoration of the Everglades is a 50/50 partnership with the federal government.  The state of Florida has spent over $2.4 billion on this project; the feds have only contributed $363 million, only 13-14% of where the state is.

Senator Saunders talked about drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico.  This would take place 100-150 miles offshore.  He pointed out that the technology is more advanced and the danger of spills is slight.  The Florida Energy Commission was formed in 2006.  This Commission is concerned with global warming.  The Senator talked about ethanol and the high cost of corn production going into this product.  In Florida the residue from the orange and grapefruit crops can be used as an additive to fuel and is a non-useful product being put to a good use. Alternate uses of energy were discussed.  FPL is going to build a solar plant for some of its energy production.  FGCU will build a solar field that will make it the only university to be totally energy independent.  By 2010 all suppliers of automobile fuel will be required to provide 10% ethanol products. Improvements to our building codes will bring down the energy requirements by 50%.  The Senator was asked his opinion of nuclear power and he stated that 80% of  French electrical power is generated by nuclear.   Florida is aggressively seeking to build nuclear power plants and the senator sees a “hook-up” to the desalinization of salt water and hydro electrical power.  He envisions this happening in the next ten years.

County DR/GR Planning Progress Report

Cullum Hasty, Co-chair of the County DR/GR Advisory Committee spoke before the group today.  Their next meeting will be June 25.   Mr. Hasty reported who had presented at their past meetings. On July 1 there will be two studies completed on the DR/GR. One is the scenario options for the planning of the DR/GR done by Dover Kohl.  There also will be a truck traffic study that will be available at the same time.  There will be some meetings after July 1 to discuss these two reports and our direction going forward.  The BOCC will get into this subject the 1st of August and start to make some decisions very quickly because the mining moratorium ends September 10.  

Bonita Springs DR/GR study and hearings

The Bonita Springs Local Planning Agency will be meeting on June 25 at 1:30 to discuss a plan for the 4,000 acres of DR/GR that are within their boundaries. 

Saint Ann’s Home

The Executive Director of St. Ann’s Home, a home for teenager mothers and their babies who are all in the foster home program, told the ECCL members about the home and its history.  Some of the girls have come to the home as a result of sexual exploitation. All of the mothers are victims of statutory rape, the fathers aging from 25 to 61. The home has started a baby bottle campaign hoping the bottles will be filled with pocket change and contributed. They are not supported by United Way and do need private contributions   

Estero Group Mining Zoning

About 20 Estero residents attended the BOCC meeting dealing with the Estero Group mine application. The Estero Group mine would be located on the north side of Corkscrew Road in the DR/GR.  The BOCC denied the application of the Estero Group “without prejudice”, meaning they can refile the application immediately.  Practically, the BOCC denied the application until they have all the studies that are being prepared for the DR/GR. Each time the mining groups go through this process, they will find that the standards are getting more and more difficult as the area and the impact of mining on the area is being more closely studied.  Applications for more mining are in the works for mine containing another 5,000 to 6,000 acres.  The moratorium on mining applications will be lifted on September 10th.   In the end, there are about 20,000 acres out of 80,000 acres in the entire DR/GR that could be mined, if permitted. 

Joint Water District/South Lee County Watershed Study

The District and the County had an open meeting with their consultants in May; however a contract has not yet been signed. Nick Batos contacted Commissioner Judah yesterday and he called the Water District.  Mr. Judah was told that the Water District has approved the contract, but that the consultants have not yet signed it.  Mr. Judah today sent an e-mail to the chairman of the SWFWD demanding that this contract be finalized as soon as possible.  The study is on a 15 month schedule and now is down to 11 months without any progress. A motion was made, seconded and approved by the attendees to send a letter to the water district urging them to move forward and complete the study within the 15 month period.  Nick Batos will write the letter.

Transportation Issues

An MPO meeting was held this morning.  A motion was made and approved to expand the board to 16 members and provide the City of Bonita Springs with a second member.  The City of Cape Coral representatives were not totally happy with this decision.  This motion must be voted on by all five cities and the County and must carry in jurisdictions containing ¾ of the population of the county.  Cape Coral has a population of 160,000 and would like a 5th seat on the board; 324,000 people live in unincorporated Lee County with five representatives at this time. The new Bonita Springs member would represent the population more fairly and would be a future advantage for Bonita and Estero, i.e., a stronger voice than in the past.

Ray Judah made a motion which was approved unanimously by the MPO board allocating the $10 million formerly associated with the Coconut I-75 Interchange to improvement of the Bonita Beach Road/I75 interchange.   Mayor Ben Nelson stated that once the Bonita Beach Road Interchange is prioritized, he will support improvements to the Corkscrew I-75 Interchange and turn some attention to the Sandy Lane Road design and future completion.

The Expressway Authority is being slowed down somewhat by FDOT.  FDOT is thinking that the possible leasing of Alligator Alley and/or other properties that they own could generate some needed monies that might be used for further widening I-75 without the need for the Expressway Authority.

Joint Meeting of the ECCL and the city of Bonita Springs

These two groups met on May 30.  John Spear reported on this meeting from the Bonita Springs perspective.  

Hearing Examiner Hearing on the Midtowne Estero Rezoning

It is felt that there are several areas where the Midtowne Estero re-zoning application fails the Estero standards, contrary to Lee County zoning staff’s recommendation.  A decision will be made in August and hopefully the BOCC will rule favorably with Estero.  The developer is seeking to overturn the existing zoning approved two years ago that had the full support of the Estero community and add a big box store and less housing instead of 90,000 square feet of retail.   

ECIF Report

Dan Dronkers reported that O’Donnell Landscaping will soon be planting some 70 assorted trees at entrances to the Estero High School property.  There will be 2 more phases to go.  A Dillard’s fashion show will be held on November 12 at a restaurant in Coconut Point for 200 people. 

Health Care Topics

Sam Levy reported that the planning process continues at Lee Memorial Hospital.  They will have a planning board retreat in August to discuss this issue.  Mayor Nelson suggested developing a joint South Lee County Hospital Foundation.  The hospital has indicated that it could not go into building a hospital without local support and this would be a first step in exploring those possible fund raising opportunities. 

Fire District Consolidation Study

Sam Levy reported that all three Fire District Commissions met and unanimously agreed on a consultant to go forward with the study of the possible merger of the three fire districts.  Each district will pay about $43,000 for the study.  TriData from Virginia was chosen as the consultant.  The Estero Fire District will move into the new Administration building the 1st of July.  Sam suggested that the ECCL meetings could be held in the new building. 

Voter Registration and Absentee Voting Campaign

Registration must be completed by July 28 for the August 26th Primary Election.  Three BOCC positions will be voted upon, and probably decided, on August 26th.  We encourage Estero residents to vote.  Some communities are using their websites and newsletters to encourage voter registration. 

ECCL Membership Issues

There is a vacancy for the alternate at Belle Lago.  Frank Messana of Colonial Oaks has been designated as the member and Wendy Morris as the alternate by their board.  It was moved, seconded and the motion carried to accept this recommendation to the board.

There will no ECCL meeting in July.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:08 p.m.  Next meeting will be August 15 at 1 p.m. at the Estero Community Park.

Respectfully submitted,

Faie Saunders, Secretary