Tied vote blocks amendments to noise ordinance
Fort Myers Beach’s noise ordinance will not change for now.
An amendment that would have allowed for noise to be judged based on a 1000-foot rule died in council chambers this week with a vote tied 2-2.
The addition to the ordinance stated that if a police officer or Town code enforcement officer could hear a noise in excess of 1000 feet from the property line from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., it could be considered a disturbance.
At the last hearing, council requested input from the Lee County Sheriff’s Department.
Sheriff Carmine Marceno wrote a letter confirming that the new ordinance would be enforceable.
Residents have criticized the amendment for being too subjective.
Vice Mayor Joanne Shamp said that she felt there were already subjective ways of defining noise disturbance in the ordinance and that adding the 1000-foot clause was actually a lesser standard.
“The problem is enforcement, I don’t think adding this increases enforcement,” she said.
Councilmember Anita Cereceda agreed and said she would not support the ordinance.
“I was surprised to read the Sheriff’s note that this change would make it enforceable,” she said.
Mayor Tracey Gore and Councilmember Dennis Boback were in support of the ordinance.
“I support it simply because the decibel meters don’t work…the fact of the matter is they don’t have them 99 percent of the time when they show up with a noise complaint,” Boback said.
Gore reminded council that the last time this ordinance passed, it was with a 3-2 vote.
“The noise issue on Fort Myers Beach has always been contentious. We need to have a stronger noise ordinance to protect the citizens of this town,” Gore said.
The vote failed 2-2 with Councilmember Bruce Butcher absent.
The council members all agreed, however, that an emergency resurfacing of the kiddie pool and replacement of its play structure at Bay Oaks Recreational Center was necessary enough to waive the bidding process for contractors.
Boback questioned how it became an emergency, and Town Manager Roger Hernstadt explained that somehow the project got left behind when the former Parks and Recreation director resigned in December.
He said that he felt the combined $130,000 cost for the two projects was fair, and a bidding process would not necessarily make it any cheaper.
“For me, this is an easy decision, we budgeted for this, it’s in capital projects, whether the ball was dropped is not what we’re here to debate today… if we don’t do this now, we will not have a pool or kiddie structure this summer for our children,” said Gore.
Shamp pointed out that nine additional companies were contacted and were not available.
“The structure itself is a danger to the children and it has to be raised. They want to get this done before school is out…If we don’t get this done…that’s a lot of lost revenue for the pool,” said Public Safety Committee member Dan Allers during public comment.
He told council that the company they chose to replace the play structure, Vortex Aquatic Structures, had previously installed two similar structures at DisneyWorld.
“If it’s good enough for Mickey Mouse, it should be good enough for Fort Myers Beach,” he said.
In other business:
– During council’s performance review of the Town Manager, his contract was renegotiated to include a salary increase from $162,750 to $170,887 per year for the next 5 years, and 20 weeks of severance pay.
– Seats are available on several committees, including BORCAB, CRAB, Public Safety, and Historic Preservation. Anyone interested must fill out an application and submit it to the Town Clerk.
– Council approved two variances and a special exception that would allow Lee County to construct dune walkovers wider than 6 feet and less than 2 feet above the dune in the Environmentally Critical zone in Lynn Hall Park.