Tackling Fort Myers Beach issues
As we get ready to enter the second year post Ian we need to take a deep breath and exhale. Developers have set their sights on this sliver of an island and are circling like vultures on dead prey. Every week I get from three to four calls asking me if I want to sell my house. The few citizens who remain on Fort Myers Beach need to start paying attention to all this development and whether we just want a town of transient guests.
Our council seems to have sold out to the developers and big-money interests. I was thinking of tossing my hat in the ring until I read the financial disclosure forms. Even though I do not have any financial interests in Fort Myers Beach except my home I am not going to disclose all my investments and business interests. The day before the filing deadline a federal judge issued an injunction against this law. At that point there was no way I could get the paperwork filed by noon so that leaves me with this newspaper as my only voice to address the current crisis on the island.
1. Flooding on our streets due to channeling all rainfall to the canals without adequate backflow preventers. Over and over again the town officials have promised us that they would address this on in the Sterling-Seminole area with no relief.
2. The town has ignored the traffic problems the new light has caused at Margaritaville. If there was a continuous right turn lane at the light much of the congestion could be eliminated.
3. A boardwalk for deep pocketed land owners was prioritized over the protection of the Little Estero Island Critical Wildlife Area.
4. Instead of developing a plan with the county to use off-island parking at the bus terminal and dedicating an express lane for those buses to Times Square, we make them sit in the same lanes as everyone else. How convenient it would be for service workers to park and ride to their workplace.
5. The town charges $5 an hour for parking when lots charge $20 per day. No brainer if you are staying more than four hours. Who is more likely to spend money the group staying two hours or the ones staying six hours?
6. We need to discuss with County and State tolls on bridges on and off island. There is no reason we cannot have a toll sharing agreement with them.
7. Bay Oaks has been a drain on the town finances since the beginning. Either we need to turn it over to a private contractor who can promote it as a destination day venue or shut it down. We take pride in owning it as a town but let us look at its utilization by the public. Pretty dismal.
8. After Ian we could not access the island except by boat, this caused untold thousands of dollars in damages as mold became prevalent and keepsakes were lost forever.
9.The town and fire department seem to be spending large amounts of money on properties that would better be on the public tax rolls instead of tax exempt. Why do prime waterfront and Estero blvd properties need to be in public hands instead of private? Town hall could be off the main throughfare and function just as well.
10. We want a school on the Island yet deny the building of low-cost housing for workers. Does anyone really think that the owners of those multi million dollar mansions are going to send their children to school here? First of all the owners are generally retired, secondly they don’t live here full-time.
11. Our canals need to be cleaned up and dredged after Ian if this requires a surcharge of $100 to $200 a year to homes that are situated on a canal so be it but it needs to done.
Harry Lefferts
Fort Myers Beach