To the Editor:

At the Pink Shell workshop on Renourishment, July 16, The Army Corps of Engineers representative said that approximately 90 percent of the easements were needed in order to have a doable project.

That percentage translates into approximately 204 easements being required.

At the last official count released to the public, Lee County had 42 percent total easements of which 28 percent were represented by private property owners. The other 14 percent were government easements.

From that 42 percent point, Renourishment would need approximately 109 more easements to reach that 90 percent mark identified by the Army Corps as required (same as County’s number).

Let’s see what that means..

At the same 42 percent point in time, there were approximately 112 non-easement signers.

Bottom line is that top easement salesmen Commissioner Ray Judah, would have to get 109 of the 112 non easement signers to reverse their position in order to reach 90 percent. A very tall order. Moreover, there are at least 16 non-easement signers with a post office “can’t deliver address.” How will Ray reach them?

Time for Fort Myers Beach Town Council to stop assigning staff to easement gathering, and put them back to work full time on town work.

Those who have signed may now question: How many months or years before county clears out their easement from their deed? For those considering signing: Why bother?

Frank Schilling

Fort Myers Beach