Estero Council of Community Leaders

Minutes of the Regular Monthly Meeting

Estero Council of Community Leaders
Minutes of the 68th Monthly Meeting
October 17, 2008
1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Estero Fire District Headquarters

The meeting was called to order by Chairman Eslick at l: 00 p.m. at the Estero Fire District Headquarters.  A quorum was present.

Thirty people were in attendance representing fifteen communities and four civic organizations.  There were two guests.

Guests were introduced.

Minutes

The minutes have not been prepared yet for September due to a malfunctioning tape recorder and will follow shortly with the October minutes.  

Treasurer’s Report

Sam Levy gave the Treasurer’s report for Chris Smith and stated that the ECCL is doing better than the nation right now. The balance was reported to be $10,467.88 with expenses paid to Papyrus of $47.75.  The ECIF has a balance of $3,919.87.  The full treasurer’s report may be found online at www.esterofl.org. The treasurer’s report was unanimously approved.

Announcements

Early absentee voting will start on Monday and all were encouraged to vote. 

Agenda

Midtowne Estero Rezoning Proposal

Garrett Bender of Ascot Development spoke to the group today.  The site of 47 acres of property is at the southeast corner of Corkscrew Road and Three Oaks Blvd. and was originally planned for commercial and residential. When they presented their current plans, a big box store was placed on the corner and this was objectionable to the community organizations.  Testimony was given to the zoning board against this proposal. Representatives of Ascot displayed the revised plans for the parcel which include similar buildings built along the street-side with most of the parking inside the development. This is more in line with the Corkscrew Overlay. 90,000 sq. ft. will be commercial use; a Home Depot is 150,000 to 200,000 sq. ft. Entrance and egress locations were discussed. Sam Levy suggested an emergency traffic signal for the fire department be paid for by the developer for the egress of fire equipment since the development borders the fire department. He gave the example of the Coconut Point shopping center paying for an emergency traffic signal for the south fire station.   

Arts Estero 2009

A report was given about the future plans of Arts Estero.  March 28, 2009 is the date for their Arts Estero event.    

ECIF Update

Dan Dronkers reported that there will be a Christmas parade on Saturday, November 29 at 10 a.m. at Coconut Point. Dan is still working on a display case for the Estero Community Park building.  The Dillard’s fashion show with lunch and show at Bice’s will be on November 12 at 12:00 noon.  The Estero High School landscaping project will be the beneficiary of this event. 

Mining Information

Mr. Eslick reported about the Estero Group Mine application for a 400 acre mine.  October 21, in the afternoon a master hearing will take place; testimony from those who previously spoke are eligible to speak again at this meeting. 

Bonita Springs/Estero Leadership meeting

The joint meeting will take place on October 24.  Flooding of Estero and Bonita will be one topic. Secondly, to be discussed is the $10 million federal money to be used for improvement on the Bonita Springs interchange.  The ECCL has agreed to support Bonita and expect them to support us later on the Corkscrew Road interchange plus the completion of Sandy Lane south from Coconut Pointe to Bonita.  About 35 people have formed a joint Estero/Bonita committee to research and encourage a free standing emergency site plus a South Lee County Hospital.  Vote Estero wants to go before the legislation again regarding their push to incorporate Estero and are on this agenda.  Further discussion was held at this time over the pros and cons of annexation/incorporation.  A motion was made and seconded that the ECCL oppose Vote Estero’s efforts until the correct boundaries of Estero are established and the feasibility statement has been studied and discussed.  Discussion followed.  Neal Noethlich stated that he did not think we should have something in writing that appeared that we oppose incorporation now or ever. It was put forth that we are opposing this incorporation effort because of the questions of boundaries and the feasibility study.  The motion was corrected to include our desire to protect the residents of Estero to decide how they wish to be governed and that at this time, the boundaries are unclear and the feasibility study has not been reviewed by the ECCL. The motioned passed unanimously. 

Transportation

Emphasis on the completion of US 41 between Corkscrew Road and San Carlos Park has been tabled for the time being because the county is still behind in obtaining the site for the retention pond.  The ECCL decided, as a result of this slowdown, to work on the installation of a traffic light at Estero Parkway to be in place when the Estero Flyover is completed.  The county felt they could come up with some funds for the FDOT to install this light.  FDOT feels that 2 left turn lanes need to be in place from north to south.  This means more land is needed plus there is a problem with overhead power lines.  A temporary signal is now a possibility.

Wal-Mart will give an update presentation at the November ECCL meeting.  On September 17, Andy D’Jamoos stated that new arms for the signals would be in place in about 30 days at Coconut Road and US 41. This has not happened yet.

The 2030 Long-Range Plan needs some updating.  Some items need to be pulled and others added.  Decisions made by this group affect Estero and it is important for the ECCL membership to be attuned to what is happening.

Estero Voting

In January, 2008 14,600 residents were registered to vote and that number has increased to 16,000. 

Estero River Pollution

Pollution in the North Branch of the Estero River was attributed to construction of Three Oaks Parkway, the new post office and the widening of Interstate 75.  Corrections were made and the ECCL will remain vigilant.  It was suggested that members who see an infraction contact Phil Flood at SWFWM.

The meeting was adjourned.  Next meeting will be on November 21^st at l: 00 at the Estero Community Park.

Respectfully submitted,

Faie Saunders