Council takes first step in Seafarer’s bid
The Fort Myers Beach Town Council unanimously approved a motion to submit a proposed letter of intent to indicate the desire of ownership of the Seafarer’s Mall property at its regular meeting Monday evening. The action serves as a negotiating response to the Lee County Board of County Commissioners about the town’s interest in the county-owned property before the designated Oct. 28 deadline.
The crux of the letter centered on the town’s interest of acquiring the property from the county and its wish to engage in negotiations in terms of such an acquisition.
Before the final motion was made and the letter was edited with changed language to their liking, the council members asked Town Attorney Marilyn Miller for her legal input. Her main concern involved implications of the Sunshine Law (public meetings law) in the legal document, specifically the designation of Mayor Larry Kiker and Town Manager Terry Stewart serving as a negotiation team.
“Those negotiations sessions would have to be accessible to the public,” said Miller. “It’s much easier to do it in the Sunshine.”
Kiker sees the letter as a first step in the negotiations.
“I think this is going to be a continuum,” he said before the motion was finalized. “Once we build whatever basis we come up with, that’s when we can come back to the council and ask where you want to go with this.”
Councilman Alan Mandel cautioned his fellow council members on the negotiations process.
“The whole negotiation may be one that you can’t create to their terms, and you walk away from it,” he said.
The draft letter was created after the council and Stewart held a work session Monday morning. One of the agenda items at that session focused on the matter.
“The recommendation is to indicate you are interested in acquiring ownership and control of that property and wish to negotiate that issue with (Lee County Board of County Commissioners),” said Stewart. The majority of the council did not approve of the word ‘control,’ and it was, thus, removed from the document.
During the morning work session on the subject, the five council members and Stewart discussed the different scenarios if the town was to acquire the property. The county purchased it with Tourist Development Council funds and, if it kept ownership of it, the only obligation states the building would have to be demolished or the TDC would be reimbursed $1 million. The cost of demolition was reported to be $175,000.
Meanwhile, the proposed county park on the Gulf front property across the street is inching closer to being worked on.
“As far as the park goes, one understanding is they are going to put in 60,000 square feet of grass,” said Kiker. “December is still the time frame that I heard that we should anticipate having the park safe, secure and looking pretty good for season.”
Estero Boulevard resurfacing
Council unanimously approved the action of repaving the main road of the Beach from Jefferson to Mound Road, beginning in early November and to be completed during a 7-10 day night schedule. The county will pay for the resurfacing through its gas taxes. The process will not interrupt the American Sand Sculpting Championships, slated for Nov. 10-14.
Mound House landscape bid award
Council unanimously approved to award Wright Construction with the bid to complete the Mound House landscaping for roughly $460,000. Due to a grant, the town will pay some $46,000 for the whole project, which will enable the underground exhibit at the Mound House to be open within the next six months. The Town’s Public Works Department has taken over project management duties.