Estero Council of Community Leaders

                                                Minutes of the 50th Monthly Meeting
                                                            March 16, 2007
                                                            1:00 – 3:00 p.m.

 The meeting was called to order by Chairman Eslick at 1:00 p.m. at the Estero Community Park.  A quorum was present.
 
Thirty five people were in attendance representing nineteen communities and four community wide organizations.  There were five guests. 

Guests were introduced.

Minutes

The minutes of the December, January and February meetings were approved as found on the website.  These minutes and those of former meetings may be found on the website at www.esterofl.org. 

Treasurer’s Report

Sam Levy read the report for Treasurer, Chris Smith.  A balance of $5,055.96 was reported with income of $1,950 and expenses of $70. The Estero Community Improvement Foundation shows a balance of $3,471.17.  A motion was made to accept the report; it   was seconded and approved by all.  

Announcements

Mr. Eslick announced that Kris Cella, consultant for the Southwest Florida Expressway Authority will give a presentation at the April 20 ECCL meeting about tolling the 5th and 6th lanes of I-75 and financing of widening that road to 10 lanes.

Agenda Items

The group was encouraged to contact new neighborhoods and encourage them to select a member and alternate to join the ECCL. Several members have turned in their e-mail lists of their Community Board members so that they may be kept up to date on what is happening in the Estero community that ECCL is working on in their behalf.  Those members will receive the Estero Development Report, the ECCL monthly agenda and meeting minutes.
 
The All Work and No Play party will be held on March 19 at the Country Creek club house.  Tickets are still available.

Policy Coordination with the City of Bonita Springs

Sam Levy reported that a meeting was held with NCH hospital personnel on February 20.  Don Eslick and Sam attended along with Dr. Weiss, President of Naples Community Healthcare, Kevin Cooper,  General Counsel for NCH,  Mike Riley, administrator of the Bonita Springs Community Health Center and John Joyce of the Bonita Springs City Council.  The discussion of a 100 bed hospital for the Estero, Bonita and San Carlos Park area would take five to seven years to build and at an estimated cost of $150 million.
 
Sam also reported that he is a part of the Lee Memorial Health Systems’ 2017 Visions committee.  This committee is discussing and planning the future of health care in Lee County for the next 10 years.  They expect to  finalize their report in September.

The Sandy Lane extension going through Bonita Springs to Old US 41 needs design money first and foremost. ECCL is working with Comm. Judah in order to have the County include some funding for this project in the 2007-2012 Capital Improvement Plan to be adopted later this year.

The Conservancy of Southwest Florida

Andrew Carter came to speak before the group regarding the Conservancy’s quest to stop the Agripartners Ditch which the South Florida Water Management District has approved.  This ditch should be classified as a canal or waterway as it will be about 60 feet wide, 5 feet deep and 4 miles long.  Not only would the ditch drain the Agripartners land, but the land north and east of the property affecting water quality, wildlife habitat, flooding into the Estero River and Estero Bay.  The Conservancy is asking for the support of the ECCL.  They are about $47,000 short of their goal necessary to contest the district’s decision through the Hearing process.  Don Rowe reported that the Shadow Wood community had donated $5,000 to the Conservancy and has received $15,000 in donations over and above that.  Jack Meeker reported that he took 50 applications for membership in the Conservancy to the Copperleaf community  and all were filled out and more were needed.  An application to join the Conservancy may be found on the website, www.esterofl.org. A motion was made that the ECCL become a corporate member of the Conservancy at the level of $250.  This was seconded and unanimously approved. 

DR/GR Planning

Jack Lienesch reported on the ECCL’s grant application to the E.O. Dunn Foundation.  It consists of a 16 page proposal plus a cover letter.  We are requesting $40,000 to pay for a planning study of the 150 square miles in the DR/GR area.  This report will review the ongoing report that is compiling all the previous DRGR reports and identify areas that have been missed or are obsolete.
 
 Four specific tasks were itemized.
 1. Review the ongoing County DR/GR Study,
 2. Evaluate recent rural lands planning programs in other Florida counties,
 3. Review current Lee county planning and Land Development Code provisions to
 determine what needs to be retained and those that need to be changed, and
 4. Seek a permanent BOCC advisory committee on growth and environment.
 
 We should learn about approval of the grant application in May.

Mining and Truck Traffic in Estero

In Neal Noethlich’s absence, Mr. Eslick gave a report for him.  There are four new mine applications pending in East Estero.  The first of these is scheduled to come up for hearing the first part of July.  After meeting with the County Commissioners it is believed that the county is considering initiating another study of mining. 
 
The traffic counts of truck traffic on Corkscrew and Alico roads will soon take place.  Don Vilnius stated that Lee County is slowly, but surely becoming the rock mining center of Southwest Florida and this is an “assault” on Lee County.

South Florida Water Management District

Bill Hillemeyer is the ECCL’s liaison to the SFWMD.  He gave a thorough report on a meeting he, and other ECCL and Brooks Members, had with the SFWMD on March 5, 2007.  He started the report by discussing the "permitted" Agripartner’s Ditch to the East of I-75, and its effects on the Estero streams, rivers and bay it would flow into. If the ditch is built, it would impact Halfway Creek, the Estero River and the Estero Bay.
 
Questioning about the amount of water that might flow through, Bill was told from 25 to 35 cubic feet per second (cfs) during the dry season, BUT during a heavy rain the flow could increase to 60 cfs or more.  After the Imperial River flood of 1996 the old Citrus Park ditch, which carries flood waters south to the Imperial River east of I-75 was walled off, forcing that water, during flood conditions, to Estero and Halfway Creek.   Also of great importance is the prospect that the ditch would drain much of the wetlands to the east of I-75 for potentially intensive development. The wetlands provide a "filter" to remove pollutants and agricultural run off before the water arrives in our flow ways. The quality of the water in our Estero River and Half Way Creek could be polluted causing algae growth and further decline in the quality of water in Estero Bay. 
 
The wetlands also provide a source of recharge to our water supply. There was no discussion of the Argripartners Ditch with SFWMD because there is pending litigation concerning the validity of the permit which would allow the ditch to be built.
 
However, one very important item about this subject was discussed by Bill Foley, Director of Planning for SFWMD. He said that permit applications were expected to arriving soon for the 6 lane widening of I-75. He assured those present that he would REQUIRE that any culverts under I-75 (which flow from the Agripartners land) would be "restricted" to a maximum flow rate of 640 cfs so long as there continue to be restrictions to the West of I-75 which would not allow the water to exit at the flow rates shown in the original permit for the Brooks. This is an important promise and we hope Bill Foley, or his successor, will be able to deliver on this promise.
 
The rest of the meeting was spent on discussing the "downstream" restrictions.
160 cfs of flood water was supposed to flow to the South to Spring Creek in Bonita Springs. The culverts and ditches leading to Spring Creek continue to be inadequate to ever accept this flow, and no solution is currently on the horizon.
 
The 160 cfs which was to flow to the north during flood conditions continue to be somewhat below that capacity. Mark White, SFWMD compliance officer, is going to look into trying to get the Lee County Dept of Transportation to clean out the drainage ditch along Three Oaks Parkway to the North of a fixed weir near the fire station.
 
The main discussion was about a restriction in Half Way Creek to the West of US 41.  The restriction is due to a narrow channel (about 30 ft wide) that can not be widened without lowering an existing force sewer main at the west side of the Fountain Lakes development. Andy Tilton, a water engineer with Johnson Engineering, was in attendance. He suggested a modestly priced correction using directional drilling that might be used which could bring the cost to the range of $60,000 to $75,000 to widen the channel to about 80 ft which should be adequate to prevent upstream flooding to the East. The private utility that owns the force main has no economic motivation to expend this money, but the many communities to the East of this restriction have ample incentive to see that it gets fixed. Ned Dewhirst, VP with Oakbrook Partners, the developer of Coconut Point volunteered to head this effort. Ned attended the meeting by speaker phone.
 
Bill Foley observed that he had no responsibility on this private utility force sewer main item, but he would attempt to see who at the State Department of Environmental Protection might have jurisdiction.

Natural Resources Preservation Council Development Task

John Goodrich spoke to the group about forming a countywide Natural Resources Preservation Council modeled after the existing Horizon Council.  The benefits were listed by John and the group encouraged him to pursue this further.  There are 12 community planning boards in Lee County, Estero being one of them and they would be invited to be a part of the Council along with other affected organizations.

FGCU Presidential Research Report

Phil Douglas was not present to give any updates but it was noted that in a public comment from the Chairman of their Presidential Search Committee that one of their requirements in the presidential search was being sensitive to the environmental aspects of the University’s development. Better communications with the community was also mentioned, as noted by Barb Akins.

Estero Civic Association

Barb Akins reported on the March 19 ECA meeting at 2 p.m. at the Estero Community Park.  They will be having two speakers; one is Mike Roeder from Tom Hart’s law firm.  He is a professional planner, he’s done a lot of work for Lee County and he will speak about the mining aspect and the truck traffic impact of increased mining on east Corkscrew Road.  Also speaking will be Kevin Hill, a representative from the East Estero Homeowners group.

Property and Casualty Insurance Reform

Scotty Wood could not be present, but Mr. Eslick announced a 10 a.m. meeting planned for March 28 at the Estero Community Park.  Terry Cerulo and 2 or 3 other members of the Florida Department of Financial Services will be present to speak about the new law as it relates to insurance for condominium associations.  They will give examples of how a condominium association can take advantage of some of the new regulations.  Sending a representative from each community was encouraged.

House Bill Alert!

House Bill #1373 is a 221 page bill with sweeping changes laws pertaining to condominium, cooperatives and homeowners associations.  Local boards should be made aware of this house bill and pay close attention to its progress.  Scotty Wood vigorously opposes this bill. A seven page summary may be found on the website. 

Transportation Committee Report

Mr. Eslick reported for Neal Noethlich about the US 41 widening.  The FDOT stated that they were within 60 days of finalizing the property at the Methodist Church for the detention pond.   Neal has lobbied Senator Aronberg and Representative Williams to weigh in on the project.
 
Don Vilnius reported on Williams Road and US 41 intersection progress, or lack thereof.  They will meet with the developer again soon.  What the developer is proposing is not acceptable.  The Walgreen store appears to be opening soon and will only be allowed a right turn exit onto Williams Road until the intersection is improved. 
 
JED Development is required to reconfigure Coconut Road west of US 41 prior to their developing the property on the northwest corner.
 
Jack Meeker reported that Lee and Collier counties had pledged $775,000 for the formation of the Expressway Authority.  Lee County paid the full amount but Collier County refused to pay more than the $150,000 they had already paid.
 
In the meantime Florida DOT approved widening I-75 to six lanes between Colonial Boulevard and Golden Gate Parkway for $430 million including the interchange improvement at Immokalee Road.  This is 30 miles of highway vs. the original plan of 35 miles up to SR 80. If, any of the six-laned segment is used as tollway, it might be possible to use some of the toll revenues to complete the five miles that is not now being widened because of the increase in construction costs.  The rest of the monies would be used to widen I-75 to 10 lanes.  An area within five miles of the tollway can be improved with toll monies, which opens up the opportunity to improve several roads that connect to I-75 as well using toll revenues.

Estero Fire Rescue

Susan Lindenmuth thanked the community for their sympathy in the loss of their brother fireman, Paul Reynolds.  The five year financial plan is in the works and close to completion and can be assessed on their website www.esterofire.org.

Estero Community Improvement Foundation

Mr. Eslick gave the financial report for the Foundation which has a balance of $13,471.17.  Dan Dronkers reported on the fashion show given by Dillards.  They have received in addition to the above, about $3,000 from Dillards.  Those attending the fashion show received a discount on their shopping in Dillards that day and Dillard’s donated 15% of these sales back to the foundation.  Dillard’s total contribution for this project will be a little under $6,000!  More funds will be picked up at the All Work and No Play party on Monday, March 19 through raffle prizes etc.  A concert with the Spirit of the Gulf will be held in late fall.  Please thank Greg Blackburn, the store manager of Dillards; they have thus far helped the Foundation raise almost $8,000 for the Landscaping Project.

Website Update

Kim Dailey reports that in February, we have had 3,832 visitors making 6,115 visits.  The link provided by the News Press Forum page was the single highest referral page.  The  Estero Community Park search phrase was the second most used link to www.esterofl.org.  Kim is in the process of creating the e-mail list of ALL COMMUNITY BOARD MEMBERS.

Gulf Coast Symphony

At 5 p.m. Sunday evening, the Gulf Coast Symphony will present a concert at the Estero Community Park. 
 
The meeting was adjourned at 3:15 p.m.  Next meeting will be Friday, April 20, at 1:00 p.m. at the Estero Community Park.
 
Respectfully submitted,
Faie Saunders, Secretary