Estero Council of Community Leaders

Minutes of the 39th Monthly Meeting

March 10, 2006

The meeting was called to order by Chairman Eslick at the Clubhouse at Rapallo at 2:00 p.m. A quorum was present.

Thirty-nine people were in attendance representing eighteen communities and fourteen community-wide organizations.

Guests and New Members were introduced

Minutes

The minutes of the February meeting are available online at www.esterofl.org. The minutes were approved and accepted with no corrections.

Treasurer’s Report

The Treasurer’s report was given by Faie Saunders for Chris Smith. We had dues income of $400 and expenses to Papyrus (the web site) of $175, leaving a balance of $2867.85. The Treasurer’s report was approved as submitted.

Coconut Point/North Point Progress Report

Ned Dewhirst of Oakbrook Properties gave us an update on the progress at Coconut Point. Ned went over the whole of the North and South Village parcels. He detailed office space, financial buildings, small retail, senior housing, condominium units, single family homes and a possible site for a Post Office. Of interest to the participants was the height of buildings. Any multi-story building will be no more than three stories and forty-five feet tall. Many sites are progressing out of the ground. Mentioned was the hundred acres that the Lutgert Company bought from Oakbrook just recently. Lutgert developed the Promenade and has concentrated their efforts in Naples until this project in Estero. They are reducing the commercial and adding more residential.

DRGR reports

The DRGR stands for Density Reduction Groundwater Resource. The area east of I75 in Estero is a large DRGR area. Paul O’Connor, Lee County Director of Planning demonstrated the mapping of land use in the area of our interest in Lee County. In 1985 the state legislature passed a growth management act. By 1989 Lee County had come up with a map showing the growth up to the year 2070. In that planning, they came up with an area that was very important for the recharging of ground water which was shown on the map. Paul was asked about the process for an applicant to propose an amendment to the DRGR. He said they have one possible amendment cycle per year and it starts at the end of September and takes about ten to twelve months to get through the process. The plan is written up and a public hearing is held and announced in the newspaper. To access this information you may go to www.lee-county.com, then departments, then under the Department of Community Development are all the maps, comprehensive plan plus calendars and meeting dates.

Environmental Issues

Nancy Payton stated that environmental organizations have concerns about the area of DRGR. In July of 2003 a white paper was issued stating their environmental and planning concerns. In August of 2003 they issued a white paper about 951. In July of 2005 a similar coalition supported, conditionally the western-most alignment of 951 extension based on their plans for conservation. She further talked about their concern about the Coconut/I75 interchange and also the university looking for more land for affordable housing for their students and staff. Brad Cornell of the Collier County Audubon Society and the Florida Audubon Society spoke also about concerns of the DRGR. All the planning to date has dealt with under the surface resources, i.e., mining and ground water, not with wetlands, habitat or water shed issues. He talked about the endangered wood storks and panthers and water shed for Estero Bay. The Audubon Society runs the 16,000 acre Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary which has the largest nesting colony of Wood Storks in North America; they are dependent on the seasonal wetlands in the DRGR. The Audubon Society will protect these wetlands in every way possible.

Open letter to new Bonita City Council

Chairman Eslick introduced a draft letter to the members of the Bonita City council. The council has three new recently elected members. The letter would be sent to the Mayor and city council to identify common issues that we can work on together. It was suggested that a conclusion be added to the letter initiating some kind of contact to begin this venture. It was moved and seconded that an amended letter would be sent. The word “open” was removed and the conclusion will be added.

Free Standing Emergency Department

Sam Levy asked for more signatures, many communities have not responded.

Arts Development Committee Report

Frann Wagner reported on the Arts in Estero event being planned for April 8 from 9 a.m. to2:00 p.m. at the Coconut Point Hyatt. FGCU, Friends of the Library, Southwest Symphony, Gulfshore Playhouse, Estero Art League, Estero Historical Society, Parks and Recreation, Spirit of the Gulf and the Gulfcoast Symphony will have booths to present their individual programs. A variety of presentations will be going on in the ballroom. The fundraiser for the Gulfshore Playhouse featuring Anna Maria Alberghetti on April 7 was brought up so that anyone in attendance would be aware of this evening. It is important that we support the fundraising that the Playhouse is planning.

Code Enforcement

Lee county code enforcement had a deputy out on Saturday, February 25 and he picked up 174 “stick-up” signs in Estero. Distribution boxes have been looked at by Lee DOT. They can only remove boxes which are a safety issue.

Financial Development Committee

Dan Dronkers wrote a grant application for the high school project. His committee will meet with the Simon Group to establish some contacts for their fund raising. The 401 C3 tax exempt has not been received yet.

Website Development update

Kim Dailey reported that the website is getting more and more visitors. Kim was asked if a “hot topic” site could be put on the front page for quick access to the latest information, for example an amended agenda posted within the last week or so. The traffic is twice what it was two months ago.

Week’s Fish Camp

The foreclosure property is just two acres right on the water. The camp is about ten to twelve acres. The county commissioners would be interested in a joint purchase to insure a certain number of slips and parking spaces for public use.

Membership Issues

Belle Lago would like to replace their alternate with Sam Person. Lee Paul volunteered to be the alternate from Estero River Heights. James Bean has been representing the Rotary at our meetings. It was moved and seconded to accept these new members. A social evening is being planned for a “get to know you and your spouse”. Arnie Rosenthal stated that this evening could be done for $10 a person, $15 a couple at (his club??) with a cash bar. Dates were given. Time would be 5:30-7:30. April 10 was suggested as a good date.

Coconut Road/I-75 interchange

A meeting will be held on March 17 at 9:00 a.m. at 1926 Victoria Avenue in Fort Myers with this issue coming before the MPO. Ray Judah’s compromise issue will be addressed. In order to get the $10 million, the Coconut Road extension from Three Oaks to the interstate and secondly the interchange itself have to be put back into the 2030 plan. He suggest $1million be put toward an IJR/ Interstate Justification Report which would address the NEED for the interchange and where would it be needed. Don did an Excel study inputting road information and found that the interchange at Coconut Road would have very little impact on Bonita Beach road. It had more impact on the Estero Flyway and Corkscrew. Florida DOT has been pushed to get them to work on the bridge at Corkscrew because it cannot take six lanes of traffic under the bridge. The MPO’s Coconut Road 2030 traffic analysis is on their website at www.swfrpc.org/MPO/PDF/CoconutRoadStudy.pdf.

US41/Corkscrew North

Public meeting will be held on April 4. It will be a walk-through meeting with surveys etc., not the type of meeting where we have much, if any, impact. FDOT did respond to our petition to accept any overrun if Lee DOT did build, design, finance this portion of the road, but would not be responsible for any overruns. They said that if the project was done sooner, their projections would be that there would likely be no overrun. Bill Brown from Breckenridge attends the Methodist Church on the south-east corner at Broadway and feels that the church might have the property available for the retention pond. It was suggested that talks resume clarifying this possibility.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:15. The next meeting will be April 7 at 2:00 at the Rapallo Clubhouse.

Respectfully submitted,
Faie Saunders