Estero Council of Community Leaders

                               Minutes of the 63rd Monthly Meeting

                                     Friday, April 18, 2008

                                       12:00 to 2:00 p.m.

                                     Estero Community Park

The meeting was called to order by Chairman Eslick at 12:00 p.m. at the Estero Community Park.  A quorum was present.

Twenty five people were in attendance representing seventeen communities and

three community wide organizations.  There was one guest.

Guests were introduced.

Minutes

The minutes of prior meetings are available on the website, www.esterofl.org.  The March minutes will be approved next month.   

Treasurer’s Report

Chris Smith reported a balance of $11,154.88 in the ECCL account.  $3,499.48 was transferred from the Thomas Hart law firm to the ECCL account.  This money represents unused funds from the annexation procedures a few years ago and now returned to our account.  Total income for the month was $5,994.  Expenses were $2,793.85.  Twenty-three communities have paid their 2008 dues of $200.

The Estero Community Improvement Foundation (ECIF) had income of $527 and expenses of $2,028.06 for the month, leaving a balance of $20,642.60.  The treasurer’s report may be found online at www.esterofl.org.  The treasurer’s report was approved as presented.

Announcements

On April 24 a meeting of the Charter Review Committee will be held at 6 p.m. at the Estero Community Park. This committee reviews the County charter every four years. There are three new proposals put forth as a result of this study and that information will be presented at this meeting.  It is then up to the BOCC to adopt, amend or turn down these charter change proposals. If this committee were a commission, new proposals would be up for a vote at the November General Election, but as a committee, the BOCC has first glance at the items and then makes a decision as to whether they wish to present them to the public for a vote.

Transportation Committee Report

The committee met recently with Dave Loveland of FDOT and discussed possibly thirty different projects. The Expressway Authority seems to be revitalized after some down time.  The economy has affected the urgency of the toll financed ten laning proposal. Collier County does not support tolling of any lanes at this time. The Expressway Authority’s focus is the area between the airport and Immokalee Road because of its high use and greater need for expansion. The interest of the ECCL is enhanced by the fact that the expressway could raise funds that might be used for the improvement of the Bonita Springs Road and Corkscrew Road I-75 interchanges.

Widening of US 41 from Corkscrew Road to San Carlos Park will most likely not happen until the scheduled 2010.  The County has considered lending the state the money to move up the start-up date, but this would, at this time, only gain a year.  It’s has been discussed for three years, but nothing has happened due to the problems in finding a location for a needed detention pond, thus it is back to the original date of July 2010.

However, the Estero Parkway Flyover will be completed in November 2009 and the need for a stop light at US 41 and Estero Parkway is a priority.  A motion was made to approve the recommendation of the transportation committee to support a County loan in order to complete this traffic signal at the same time that the Estero Flyover is completed in late 2009.  It was moved, seconded and voted on unanimously.

The traffic congestion on the west side of the Williams Road and US 41 intersection was discussed but no solution seems to be available due to a shortage of funds. Miromar Outlets traffic was discussed. It is said that this Center attracts 8 million visitors a year, but the present traffic configuration and signals are totally inadequate. Miromar shows no interest in helping solve the problem at present nor is funding available at this time.

It looks like the U.S. House will also move the $10 million from the Coconut Road-I 75 interchange back to the widening and improvement of I-75.

County DR/GR Planning Progress

A charette took place on April 17th to discuss the mining, conservation and higher density residential uses of the property within the DR/GR; this was set up by the county’s consultants, Dover Kohl & Partners. During this meeting, those present split into groups and discussed the alternative potential uses of the DR/GR. Neal Noethlich pointed out that he felt that the dialog that went on at the tables was important and that the maps that were then handed in by each group should not be the end product. He felt that many of the participants, while interested in the end result, did not have the expertise to know how all the land should be used. This week, Dover Kohl will have on display at the Harborside Center the results of the charette. The gathering of all the information in the end result will reflect the public, The Conservancy and mining input.

In relation to mining in the DR/GR, a thank you needs to be sent to Senator Burt Saunders and those who helped him stop the state preemption of mining approvals legislation that would have taken the authority away from the county. Nick Batos reported that there are 1500-1700 people registered on the www.brooksconcernedcitizens.com website to send email about issues of concern to Estero. Between 200 and 800 people e-mailed the key legislators on each of the four mailings during the legislative session, resulting in a total of about 20,000 emails.  

Sending out a “blast” that an e-mail was ready to be sent really helped. Even though many people just send the pre-written e-mail, the campaign was successful because of the number of emails sent. The legislator’s staff tallies these e-mails and the more the better. The Estero Group application to mine was rejected by the Hearing Examiner and will go before the BOCC in June. 

Expansion of Culverts under I-75

Nick Batos reported that during the last two and one-half months the County and SFWMD staffs have worked with the Estero and Bonita Springs communities to develop a scope of work for an updated South Lee County Watershed study acceptable to all parties. The Estero Community, the City of Bonita Springs and The Conservancy insisted that there be at least three opportunities for public input during the study. This provision has been added to the scope of work. That scope of work has now been completed and the BOCC and the SFWMD staff have approved it. The ECCL, The Conservancy and Bonita Springs representatives were able to get their input listened to. A kick-off meeting with the interested parties to explain the project will be held on Thursday, May 8, at 9 a.m. in Bonita Springs. The study must be completed by May 9, 2009. Nick stated that they continue to be concerned about completing this work prior to this deadline, and are seeking a copy of the detailed study schedule and will be monitoring its progress very closely. 

Estero Fire Rescue Report

Susan Lindenmuth reported that Marsh Landing and Rapallo have expressed an interest in holding a CERT training meeting to learn about the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). Anyone interested in joining a CERT training session may look at the District’s website, www.esterofire.org.  The Administration building on Three Oaks Parkway is nearing completion and when completed an open house will be held. 

Fire District Consolidation Update

Sam Levy, fire district commissioner announced that Fire Chief Jeff Lindsey will be leaving his position in July. On April 29 at 5:30 p.m. a meeting will be held with the commissioners to discuss filling this vacancy.

On the morning of April 29 at the Bonita Springs Fire Department a meeting will be held to discuss consolidation/merger. Sam is the designated commissioner for the Estero Fire Rescue for this process and will keep the ECCL informed.

Health Care

Sam Levy mentioned that the Federal Health and Human Services Department has a website where you can put in the name of a hospital and compare its performance with all others in the country. The website can be found at http://www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov/Hospital/Search/Welcome.asp?version=default&browser=IE%7C7%7CWinXP&language=English&defaultstatus=0&pagelist=Home .

ECCL Issues

The All Play No Work evening was discussed.  Everyone enjoyed it.  The food was excellent and Dillard’s manager was very generous, making the raffle a great success. 

Voter Registration

There are five precincts entirely in Estero.  As of November, 2006, 15,100 were registered, but this number is now 14,500.  Members are encouraged to request that your neighbors get registered and vote.   See www.leeelections.com/voterreg.htm and www.leeelections.com/absballot.pdf.

A fund raiser will be held at Shadow Wood Country Club at 4 p.m. on Monday for Commissioner Frank Mann.  Please come and bring a friend.  He was a great help with the legislation regarding the mining issue and a strong advocate of other Estero issues.

The meeting was adjourned.  Next meeting will be on May 16th from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. at the Estero Community Park.

Respectfully submitted,

Faie Saunders, Secretary