Council votes yes on improvements to stormwater ordinance, sidewalks
A pleasing stormwater ordinance, a new sidewalk plan, and more mini-reefs.
Last week’s council meeting was full of good news for the Town of Fort Myers Beach.
The first hearing on a long-contested stormwater ordinance was met with great support from the community.
Residents from Bay Beach Lane turned out in droves to celebrate the new ordinance – many forced to sit in the hallway outside council chambers.
“I believe the majority of people are here today to celebrate the ordinance’s moving along and passage,” said Pete Yateman.
The residents, most of whom live in a condo building on Bay Beach Lane that paid for its own stormwater system, were pleased to be exempt from paying stormwater fees to the town in the new ordinance.
“For all of us, that was a big dent to our pockets. That’s money that would have gone to my grandchildren’s college fund that I had to pay to retain this system,” said Jean Allen.
“We want this thing to move forward, we’re tired,” said Charlie Eck, citing 1,500 other addresses like theirs who would also be exempt.
Councilmember Anita Cereceda shared in the room’s sigh of relief.
“If I never hear the word ‘stormwater’ again, it’ll be too soon. This has been a three-year discussion,” she said.
The ordinance will be scheduled for a second hearing at the next council meeting.
Council approved the allocation of $1,110,036 in road impact fees to provide pedestrian lighting and construct new sidewalks in the downtown zoning district, which would include First, Second, Third, Fifth, and Crescent Streets.
“I’m so enthusiastic about this, I’m jumping up and down,” said Vice Mayor Joanne Shamp, who recalled the vision of the Old San Carlos Master Plan from 1999.
“It’s a lot of years, but we’re getting to it,” she said.
Council also approved the selection of DRMP, Inc. to conduct further improvements to Times Square, and discussed coordinating the design with Bayfront Park.
“It has always been a vision for that corridor. If our downtown area is a mall, the pier is one anchor and Snug Harbor is the other, and it is that continuous movement of people from bay to beach that has always been contemplated,” said Cereceda.
In heartwarming news, council accepted a donation from the sisters of Kelly Leary, who left behind a $900 legacy for the town.
Ceel Spuhler requested that the donation purchase as many mini-reefs as it can buy, to be placed under the dock at the Mound House in Leary’s honor.
She said it would fulfill Leary’s “love of the creatures and the estuary.”
In Other Business:
– Council denied a $67,200 lien reduction request from International Capital Investment Company for work done without a permit at 1300 Estero Boulevard
– At recommendation of town staff, council voted to extend their streetsweeper lease for one more year for $43,079, instead of buying a new vehicle.
– A series of projects the town plans to submit for Tourist Development Council funding was approved by council. The projects include beach and shoreline maintenance, funding for the Mound House and Newton Beach park, new beach access signs along Estero Boulevard, three new dune walkovers, and a project to monitor mid-island beach erosion.