Good. All right. Good morning, everyone. We're going to call this meeting to order. Today is Monday, April 21st, 2025. It is 9:00 a.m. All council members are present, including the town attorney, town manager, and town clerk. Please rise for the pledge of allegiance or invitation followed by the pledge of
allegiance. We ask that you bless us with your presence here today. Grant us the wisdom to see all things in true perspective. Grant to us the patience to hear one another with open minds and hearts. Grant us the strength to meet all present challenges. May all that we do
this day bring us honor and credit to ourselves. Amen. Amen. Aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice
for all. All right. Next is the approval of the final agenda. We do have a couple of changes. Nancy, do you want to lead off or you want me? Sure. No, I'm happy to. Um, we would be uh requesting a continuence of the uh first public
hearing that you have, which is a request for a re lean reduction at 8124 Eststerero Boulevard. I believe the attorney for the property owner is present. Um I would just ask that we open the hearing and then we close the
hearing continuing it to um May the 5th. Um we think that we found a resolution to this matter that would not require um town council uh action. So give us a little bit of time. Okay. And item B. So item B um is an
appeal of the building official uh decision issued for a building permit at uh 213191 Oigan Terrace. Um unfortunately our building official is not able to be with us today um to answer questions uh
regarding this matter. Um so when we come to this item, you have two choices. You could um continue the item to uh a date certain, which we would say uh May the 5th, your next meeting, or um you
could open your um hearing and take testimony from the parties that are present. Um I will add too that there was u omission in the agenda materials of some information that I think is relevant to this uh appeal. Um if we
were to continue the item, then we'd have the opportunity to um supplement your agenda as well. Okay. Anything else, Nancy? For me. All right. Are there any other discussions or changes to the uh final agenda? Is there a motion to approve the
final agenda? So move. Motion by councelor King. Second. Second by councelor Zafford. Any further discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed. Hearing none, that carries unanimously. Public comment.
I have two signed up this morning. Tom Brady. Tom will be followed by uh James Bowen. Morning. Hi, I'm Tom Brady. I'm a resident and president of Protect FM. And uh I I wish I weren't here, but some
of the rhetoric rhetoric that goes on, I think I need to answer some of the things been said about us. Um a little bit about me. I I've never introduced myself. Um, I have been a public servant. I've been in the United States Army. I worked at the CIA. I hold top
secret FCI clearances with Polygraph. So, I pick a polygraph on anything that I say. Um, I transitioned into the IT world in the engineering IT world as a as an executive. And I've worked for Fortune One and Fortune 25 companies uh with up to
240,000 employees. Um, I managed myself over 3,000 employees globally distributed with $300 million in revenue. So, I I ran a significant chunk of business. Um, and HR, finance, legal, marketing, all reported to me in the capacity of doing that globally. Um, and
I lived in Tokyo and ran operations and I lived in Munich, Germany and ran operations also. So, I've done this on a global level with diverse cultures. I want to say that and maybe the operative statement is was but um I understand that leadership process and accountability I'm not new to this on
the Seagate appeal. Um it's an appeal. It isn't a lawsuit and so people that are saying it's a lawsuit is simply not true. What we ask for is a review of your decision and that's part of the democratic process. I the analogy is a football coach gets to drop a red flag
when he doesn't agree with what the referees ruled on a play. So, we're dropping the red flag saying we think this thing deserves another look. There's evidence that wasn't presented. Uh there's opinions that weren't correct. So, we just asking for this.
It's not just loyalty to the town. Every judge has a ruling overruled in once in their career. It's not a big deal to have something come back and somebody say, "Okay, so we should have done this one a little bit differently." It doesn't make you bad people. We don't see it that way. Um, if questioning a
decision is biased, then if it comes back to you, then we start to question, can you be unbiased if you have to look at this again? And the answer has to be yes or you need to recuse yourself also. Not just LPA members that have supported us. But if you can't be, you know, free
to make a free decision, then you need to recuse yourself also. I mean, we don't attack whistleblowers in the organization. We don't attack people in the organization that don't necessarily believe everything that we see. Now, as for these uh people that say that we're
against all development projects, we list on our website, read it, says projects of concern. We haven't come out against any of those projects. So, somebody that supports us is not saying they're they're against and they may just don't like Seagate, but we don't even have a position on those yet. Just
like you wouldn't have a position because we don't have the data on them. We do don't support Seagate because it's 17 stories. We see very little public benefit and it did not get LPA approval. We're not anti-growth. We're process. So, on
wrap it up, Tom. So on optics and credibility, I think there's a lot of different optics that could be seen on this on both sides. The optics aren't good all the way around, but we trust you. We even though the optics may not be good, we trust you to make a good decision. We'll trust you to make a good decision if it's Brock bad again. So
please stop mischaracterizing protect FMB from your bully pulpit. Stop bismerching those that support us. Thanks, Tom. All right, James Bowen. That's all I have signed up after him.
Morning. Morning. Morning, town council. My name is James Horn. I reside at 211067 St. Peters Drive in Mantaza Point subdivision. Mantazanza Point consists of seven or 19 single family homes
located on St. Peter's Drive. I'm on the HOA board. At the annual meeting this year, the members voted to authorize me to approach the town about taking ownership and jurisdiction of St. Peter's Drive. After the meeting, I sent
Vice Mayor Alter Holtz a note asking for direction on the matter. He suggested I come before the council to make this request. Since I purchased my home, there have been two opinions concerning the status of the road. One position was that the road was
public. The other is that it was private. The latter position is based on when Lee County approved the plat subdivision. The road is was intended to be a gated community and therefore it was to be privately owned. Subsequently,
either a newly incorporated town or the fire department denied the installation of a gate. Nothing more was done and thus it remained private. The other opinion is that because it's open to the public, the town has repaved it,
repaired it, um, and on occasion regraded the drainage swailes um, and maintained the rightway. Either way, nothing was done to investigate the status of the quote uh of the status quo and the residents didn't think much
about it. However, after Ian, Elaine, and Milton, after each event, there was muck on the road and the drainage uh swailes were silted in. It was clear that these drainage issues needed to be addressed.
Actually, the town has uh did take care of both degrading and cleaning the muck off the road. There was another issue that was caused by residents on Anchorage that got a bobcat and excavated a pit in the rightway
uh to retain water. The town also took care of that. Last April, Frankie met with some of the residents and myself. We discussed the drainage issues and I asked him about the status of the ownership of the road. Under the tier
one grant, the build the the town regraded the rightway coming off of a stero and a swale along the north sides of the home. The swale around the homes on the culdeac was also regraded. Subsequent to that, Frankie confirmed
that the road is still privately owned. In conclusion, St. Peter's Drive has been continuously open to the public. The road and a rideway have been maintained previously by the town. The
homeowners contribute to the town's road maintenance program through their real estate taxes, and the HOA respectfully requests that the town consider accepting ownership of the road and rideway. On the back of the handout, you
can see where St. Peter's Drive is and you can see that about a I don't know a third of the way in there was a turnaround. That was where the gate was to go just east of that and someone that
was not allowed access would have turned around in that turnaround. Um, so the past practice has been that the city has provided maintenance on the road long before um or since its
incorporation. Jim, I need you to wrap it up for us. We have time. What? I'm all set. All right, that's it. I just wasn't sure. You looked like you were going to continue on. No. Thought we should order lunch or something. Anyway, I'm available for any good idea.
But all right. You look like Well, we're not allowed to ask questions here, Jim, but hopefully we'll be able to bring this matter up later in the meeting and hopefully get you the answers that you're looking for. Thank you. Thanks. Good morning. That's all I have signed up. Anyone else like to speak in public
comment? Bill. Morning everybody. Bill V, um Ster Boulevard. A couple of observations that I I think that are important. Um, one is that, you know, the development agreement with exceptions was was passed and it's in place now and I think it's probably a good idea to go through
review and see if this is doing what it's supposed to do because all the time this is being talked about it was about the development agreements would help the little guys be able to um offset some of the expense and be able to get their projects done without all the expense. All I've seen so far are big projects using the development order.
Now, it seems like there's a couple things that that does, and I didn't really even know we were talking about how this would manifest itself, but it seems like the the developers work with the town to work out the kinks and before it comes to council. An unfortunate, I think, um, side effect of this is it seems to turn some staff into
almost taxpayer paid lobbyists for the developers. And I think that's something that that is probably a good idea to do a review. If you really want this to do as it was intended to help the little person, maybe put a cap on what you can ask for in a development order and make it so it does work for the little people and it's not just another tool to push
through development and in the in the shadows. Um, another thing is that when in our policies procedures um we have rules about disclosure when you're when you're meeting with someone who has um something in front of the the council.
Now, that'll be a lobbyist. Now, back before Ian, most of the things people came in front of council were for things like their pool. They wanted a little setback variance in their pool or their house was non-conforming for something. Now, you have a lot of big money coming in. I would encourage the
town to look at adopting the lead county lobbyist rules where it's a lot more rigid because the way things seem to be working now is that the developers have your ear through prolong meetings and negotiations outside the public eye and then there's not a lot of public input
outside of what happens in council. I would encourage you in addition to um maybe looking at the development order is have some town halls. Sit down with con your constituents yourself personally. Not necessarily through that. You don't have to have the town run it, but you can sit down and talk with your constituents. You can get it
out there and find out what people in different neighborhoods really think about the way the town is going. Thank you. Thanks, Bill. Is there anyone else who'd like to speak public comment? Seeing none, we'll close public comment. Local achievements and
recognitions. Coach Safford. Um, nothing today. Okay, Woodson. I'm good. Yes, mayor. I just wanted to mention that uh this coming Sunday at Bayside Park, Bayside Veterans Park, the
uh the cruiser appreciation day, uh, again, that's April 20, April 17th from 1:00 to 3:30. Uh this is an event that's really uh uh been generated and hosted by the Anchorage Advisory Committee which I'm a lison to but the Anchorage
Advisory Committee has done the heavy lift along with our harbor master and it's to basically initially to to thank and to and to support those who have patronized our Moringfield all those folks who who visit our island and and and support our community uh and pay
fees to do so. uh we want to recognize them and and sort of uh engage with them and get a sense as to what the what we can do better and how how how we could make their experience here uh uh even more pleasant and uh and just to thank them for their for their their support.
Uh we also will have about 15 not forprofits there. Many of the environmental and marine uh uh groups uh many of the other not forprofits like the women's group women's club that you all know will all be there with tents to get information from it. There'll be a lunch for the for the for the Boers and
just sort of a thank you if you will, but a great community gathering if for folks who want to learn more about the Moringfield, meet some of these Boers who travel all over the world uh and have really interesting backgrounds and sort of welcome them to Fort Myers Beach. Uh it's a great it's a great
operation that we have and there's a aside from and it's self- sustaining. We the fees take care of the costs. At least that's our goal, but it also allows these boats then to have pumpout facilities which prevents folks from dumping into in into the bay uh water
that we wouldn't uh want dumped into the bay, if you know what I mean. And so it's really worked out well from an environmental standpoint. So encourage folks to come out on April 17th, this coming Sunday from 1 to 3:30. And then at 4:00, uh, there will be a band that's
not part of this envy, but it's a regular tradition at the park. Uh, and the band is Riverside, and they'll start at 4:00. So, so come out and make an afternoon of it, and we hope to see it. Thanks, Counc. Um, I'll try to be brief. There's a couple things that, uh, quickly just
wanted to thank town staff for, uh, all the efforts they put into u, uh, on Friday with the, uh, town management, town manager hiring process. I think they did a great job, especially after I read over the weekend a larger town to the north of us uh had all kinds of
trouble and they even hired an outside search firm. So, that was that's very telling there. So, I think that says about a lot about our staff and a lot about the folks we have here. Um, also I wanted to briefly thank Joe Anzac. Uh, this is the last time probably to in public to be able to do that. I know
he's not feeling well today, but I did want to thank him for all he's done for the town in the time he was here. And um it was an act of God that uh brought in into place. But God's grace has kept good people in place and brought others where we needed them. And Joe uh and a
lot of the folks sitting out here today have uh uh been part of that. And I know I used to kid Joe about not sleeping at nights when he first got here because of budget concerns. uh towards the end he's sleeping a little better and I hope he has a lot better sleep in his new
position and thank you Joe. All right, you guys don't mind the benefits of going last but go ahead. No, I I have nothing to add to that. Well, I do want to echo what what councelor King said. Um we did meet a lot about this process. We we
wanted to make sure that it was seamless, that it was, you know, effortless. Uh but it wasn't effortless. It was a lot of effort on the part of staff to get it ready, to get it set up to flow. And I read the same article, I believe, about the town north of us, a much larger town who did invest a lot of
money in a consulting group and it was a it's a disaster. Just an absolute disaster, not being critical of any other community, just proud of how this process went and and it, you know, and thank you too. You were part of the process as well. So that that made the
whole part fit together um just like we would all want our processes to be. So that was just a good example and I I appreciate all all staff's efforts and yours as well. All right. Next we have a couple of presentations. The first one's going to be uh from Restore Fort Myers
Beach Arches. Steve McDonald and Earl Morgan are here to present the painting. Come on up guys. Introduce yourselves and let everybody know a little bit what those that may not know what you've been working on. We also have Jackie Leisak is here from the chamber as well as Commissioner Mlea.
I appreciate you guys being here to support us. Commissioner and Jackie, I uh I just want to say that uh you know the arches were torn down in 1979, but they were the uh identity of our town. Uh, a lot of us uh were
picking up pieces on the side of the road when we saw them destroyed on the side of the road in 79. And uh, you know, our first mayor, the one that uh, helped write the 1999 comp plan, which
said you were going to build the Arches on School Street, commissioned that beautiful mural that you guys sat in front of in the old town hall. And it was painted by uh Jan Ellen as Alilski. Jan Allen uh lost her home, lost her
studio, and uh she's just now back to painting. She was uh actually invited to be part of that tower project, but wasn't able to do murals anymore. So, this a way to put the arches and Jan
Allen back in the town hall. And uh uh it's uh I can go ahead and say it now. It was made possible by a donation by the Freeland family to our group uh to replace uh the
Achiea raffle that we were going to have and give us something for the asset that Jen painted for us. But we're glad to make it part of uh the town hall. Make Jen Ellen part of the town hall. Make
the arches part of the town hall. So Ray, before you walk off, for those that may not know where they can actually go see still some of the arches that remain today, can you tell everybody where they can go to see those if they wanted to see what's left of the arches only uh
exist in a field in out in Buckingham right now. We we recovered the remains of the arches and prepared them for our new project. But there's a stone monument down at the end of Main Street on the uh west side of
Main Street that was built at the exact same time frame that the archers were built back in 1924. It's some of Fort Myers Beach's earliest history. And uh when you walk into the historical society down there, you'll see it
honored in in that respect. Uh Tom Phillips built Crescent Street, First Street, Primo, and those canals. You know, that was an annex to San Carlos on the Gulf, not Fort Myers Beach at the time. So, um, it's a way to keep history
close, keep history, uh, uh, in our hearts and, uh, you guys continue to do that with projects like Moundhouse and Sterile Historical Society, and I'm I'm proud of what you guys are doing in that respect. So, we're here to present this to you.
Could we come on up, Andy? Before we do that, Ray, a couple things. Uh, if I could, Mr. Mayor the uh I just want to remind folks in the in the old town hall which was completely destroyed after Hurricane Ian the back mural literally encompassed the whole back wall. It was
massive and it was beautiful and after the storm sadly the material that the that the mural was painted on uh was a material that absorbed moisture and sadly we had some really bad black mold that had infiltrated that that mural so it could not be saved. We did look at
trying to save it. Uh and unfortunately that was not the case. We we're unable to do that. But it's a beautiful continuation of history what you're doing here, Ry. And I you and your organization. I I thank you very much. And I would if I could, Ray, I don't want to steal your thunder, but we do have a county commissioner here who's got some history with the arches. And
I'd love to have our county commissioner a a a tell us what your history is with the arches and then b give us an update as to the arches being built on Bowage Park, which is a long-term plan that we're all supportive of supportive of. Thank you for being here this morning, by the way. Well, thank you. This is an
unexpected surprise to get to speak before you today. Um, I'm learning not to be shy in front of a microphone these days. So, thank you. Um, no, I I I uh I'm I'm honored to be here. I came here to support these gentlemen in this project. Um, I did want you to know that I I when I spoke
with them for the first time, I told them that I remember being on the swing bridge and enjoying Fort Myers Beach as as a young uh pup around here and um then going to the Hickory Barbecue afterwards when it still had sand floors and bare feet were allowed to be in the restaurant. So, it's a lot of fond
memories of growing up down here. Proud to support this project from the from the county side. We're going to help them build and and locate their new Arches memorial structure at Bowage Park. So, we're we're finalizing the exact site location. We we know the
site, but the exact position to make sure it doesn't interfere with the rebuilding of the park and and our our team stands ready as soon as they're ready with their submittals and and updated uh design plans for this, we're ready to support it in every way we can at Lee County to expedite it with your
with your help here at the town. So, proud to be here this morning. Thank you. Thank you very much. Earl, Jackie, either of you have anything you want to add? No. Okay. You want to tell us about your party? Yes. Involves tacos.
Tacos. We want to invite all you to Erikson Jensen Seafood Docks who were also act advocating for you know they lost everything during Ian over there. Um the remaining thousand foot of dock is now 400 ft and there's now 10 boats
12 boats fishing out of Ericson Jensen. Before Ian there were 42 but when I was growing up there was 200 down there and the docks were 2,000 ft long. So, we're trying to keep them alive and uh come
out and support us May 3rd over at Ericson Jensen at the seafood docks. Uh we're putting on a a fiesta. It's a Cinco de Mayo event and there's music all day long, raffles all day long. We have Mound
House out there. We have uh the uh uh Fort Myers Beach Strong nonprofit out there. So, it's not just us. It's uh the shrimp industry, US moundhouse and Fort Myers Beach Strong that we're trying to pump up out there. So, come on out, have
fun, and uh be a part of our raffles. The community's giving up over $8,000 worth of giveaways to us. Taco. You going to be there having tacos? Unfortunately, I'm not. I was honored to be asked to be a judge, but
got I've got two granddaughters having their first communion, so I'm gonna be out of town. Yeah, I heard free shrimp. Oh, wait. Jackie's coming. You should be over here front and center. Oh jeez.
I'm trying to just be a guest here behind you. How's that? How's that going for you? So, two of course that way it gets to the Thank you, sir. Great job. Appreciate it.
Thanks, Jackie. Dave, for coming. Now's the Commissioner. Now's the time to run if you have to. Words on the street as you're in town. You might All right. I don't see the presenters. Are they here from FDOT? Is F. Oh, you
guys are here. Come on up. here to give us an update on the uh the the bridge and the roundabout and San Carlos Island. I'm sorry, I don't know the project number off the top of my head, but that whole area. Morning everyone. My name is Ethan
Pervvis. Um unlike the presentation says, I am not Caitlyn Carmona. I'm going to be representing her today. Okay. Um, I am here on behalf of Florida Department of Transportation to explain what is currently going on on the San Carlos Boulevard State Road 865 project. Now, for those that are unaware, the
projects um uh uh project limits, I apologize. The project limits for the San Carlos Boulevard State Road 865 is north of Crescent Street to the north of Hurricane Pass Bridge. And this is what we'll be talking about today. The goal of this presentation is to explain what has been completed so far, the goals we
have for the project, and what we're looking at for the projected uh finished timeline of this. What was your first name? Ethan. Ethan, welcome, Ethan. And what what's your exact role with this particular project? I'm the community outreach specialist. Um, I work with Caitlyn. Uh, right now she's the one that is mainly over this project, but
I've been assisting her on a couple things here and there. Is there anybody with you that actually sort of an engineer from the project or? Yes, my associate Edgar is here to answer any technical questions you have. Excellent. And Edgar Edgar's role is what? Project administrator. Great to have you here. Thank you. Yep.
All right. So, uh to continue where I left off, um currently some of the improvements that we've already made, we have um worked on milling and resurfacing. We have winding to include an 8-oot shared use path. And we have updated signalization, lighting, and
signage. The current goals of the project is to provide additional travel options for bicyclists. We want to enhance mobility and safety for pedestrians and everyone alike. And we want to increase accessibility and connections. Now, as I mentioned, some of the completed work that we've already
finished is we have widened the road. Um we have completed paving the sidewalk widening along Mantan uh Matanzas Pass. Sorry, that's a very difficult word to say. Um we have uh improved the drainage. We have um included new sign new sidewalks, a new median islands and
three bus bays have been constructed that will be um worked on more and they'll be and Edgar will be able to answer more about those as we continue. Now some of the upcoming work that we're either starting now or will be starting very soon is we'll be working on the lighting. Um we're going to be working
on the signals for the fifth and main street and for San Carlos. Uh we want to implement an intelligent transportation system its also Edgar will be able to explain more about that I believe and uh we will be having uh we will be improving the traffic railing along Man
Matan's pass I apologize say Josh can you this is not advancing on the screen it was there it is okay I apologize for that but this is yes where we are looking and um we aren't expecting to uh have the project completed by fall of
2025. This might be a question for Edgar, but since we're on the the signals, it's my understanding at least throughout this process that the San Carlos uh Main Street light, the light at the base of the bridge on Fifth, the crescent light,
and the light that's old San Carlos are all going to communicate together. They're all going to work in concert. You've got two of them listed up there, and I know that we have an interlocal agreement with the county. And I don't know where we're at about getting the old San Carlos light fixed, but Edgar, are are you working with the county to
coordinate getting that signal back online at the same time as the other ones? You need to step to the microphone. Sorry. Intro introduce yourself. How you doing? I'm Edgar Gonzalez, the project administrator for this uh for this project. Um, so yes, once once everything is completed, we
are working with Lee County in order to get all the timing the timing phases together so that it can work a lot smoother than what it's working now. So you said when when it's completed. So are you going to complete your scope of work here and then start working or and then we're and then we're working with
with Lee County to get the the phasing down um for all the signals on the on the project. So, have you is the county aware of your timeline as to when I'm guessing you aren't under contract with the county to fix that light at Old St. Carlos? Are they aware of your timeline for I'm
sorry. It's so when you come down the bridge and you take a right. Yes, sir. That light right there that's hasn't worked since Ian. Yes. No, that's out of our project limits. So, that's that would be a Lee County question. But that light is going to be in coordination to work together to work together with the new with the new light uh signals that
we're putting up. Yes, sir. But it appears there hasn't been any conversation between F DOT and the county as to timing when you're going to be online with the two lights that you've got on the screen. Not at this time, sir, because we got to complete our work. Well, I'll I'll I'll fill in
the commissioner later today about what is going on because I you probably don't know you. This has been going on for a long time, but those four lights are supposed to work together and we have an interlocal agreement with the county to be able to get that light operation all San Carlos and it's I know it's going
through the FEMA process to get the funding and all that, but I think it's important that all four when they go live are working in concert at the same time as opposed to Yeah. Go ahead. If you if you have more information, please come up. But for trying not to be in the middle of Yeah.
Hey, I gave you a warning. No, no, respectfully, and we've talked about this offline a couple of times. I know Rob Price and and FDOT speak weekly along with your team here. So, we're in constant communication with them. If there's something that I can do to make sure this runs parallel and not not
after uh timing wise, I'll make sure that we do everything in our power to make sure that happens. No problem. Yeah. How about the same thing you do? I think they're two separate contracts, so he's answering the question specifically, but I think we're coordinating on on all fronts. Mayor, if I may, the conversations I've
had with Dave Hner, um, they were working with engineers, I assumed, uh, FDOT engineers, but engineers to to to make sure everything's lifted up to make it, you know, resilient, right? And we're waiting on FEMA money. That was the word that came from the county.
So, I have sent an email actually middle last week to Mr. Herner. So, waiting for a response. Okay. That just wanted to make sure everybody was on the same page. Yes, sir. Continue on, Ethan. Oh, thank you. Um but yes uh the estimated project completion for this state road
should be uh fall of 2025. We are still currently projecting that. Now um we do hold regular updates on our website and everything. So for anyone in the town that may be curious or may even be a little frustrated at some of the construction going on. They can visit our road watch at southwest
floridas.com433726-2. And this is the way that they can get we do weekly updates just to break down what's going on and um if anything has happened or if uh if it seems kind of silent out there, what's really going on behind the scenes. Um you can also talk with our community outreach specialist that will be over this project, Caitlyn
Carmona, who unfortunately couldn't be here today. But um we have her hotline number up there as well and her email which is caitlyn.carmona doot.state.fl us. That's a mouthful. and um she'll be able to answer any questions that anyone has and she can
even get in touch with some of the project leaders in the team to answer any of those hard-hitting questions too. Okay, Edgar, I maybe have another question for you. Now, I see that you've torn up the concrete that was in those little medians across from Fifth there and
you've put the grass in. I thought it was always the big oval area center that is a retention pond now was going to be a level area that was going to have the plantings to keep people from trying to cut across there. I have concerns that it's going to be a severe safety risk having standing water which we know is
going to stand in that pond. We're already seeing people cut across there not using the crosswalks and the idea at least in my recollection was that that was going to be eventually landscaped that was going to be maintained by Margaritavville to keep people from crossing there. Is that still the plan or is it going to stay a retention pond?
The the as far as the landscaping goes, that's a whole different contract that's going to be completed once we're done with our with our contract, but that's a whole different uh it will be a whole different project. Do you do you know who's got that contract or who we could contact to see if what the plans are for that center median? I can research it
for you and I can get back to you. I can get with Caitlyn and she can she can let you know. Okay. But yeah, I I'll research who has it and and when it's going to start and everything, but that's a whole different contract. hours. Okay. And I appreciate you sending the weekly updates from your meeting. It's been helpful. Not a problem. Questions for Edgar, Ethan,
John, real quick. I just got an update the the intersection for that's out for bid with the county right now. Perfect. You working magic, Mr. Mr. Commissioner. Look at you. That actually came that actually came from Amy. Sorry.
Behind the scenes here. Yeah. John, questions for Well, I did u send something to Caitlyn. um so we could have a little more information on the in this presentation and I had asked her at the time is FDOT given any thought to having two lanes of access on the Kansas Pass Bridge heading to Fort Myers Beach
in the morning likewise reversing it for leaving Fort Myers Beach in the afternoon. The the theory behind that being it would help with the flow of traffic at at peak times. Has that been discussed or thought about or Caitlyn did mention something about um finding
out more information about that due to uh unfortunately she wasn't able to be here. So I she just wanted me to run the presentation for her that she was. However, she was in the middle of uh finding that out because I remember her mentioning something about that. Okay. So she can probably get that information back to you probably this week. All right. Thank you,
Vice Mayor. Good morning. Thanks for being here again. So So let's go. There's a lot of folks in this room that live this every day and and are very granular with this project, but there's a lot of folks that see the activity, but they don't really fully have the have the granular detail of what's going
on. Let's from a 10,000 foot standpoint prior to this project, when you approach Fort Myers Beach in a car, bike, or on foot, can you explain the difference from what they would have experienced originally to what will they will now experience uh with this new project
complete? Well, from when I came in, when we started the project, Matanis Pass Bridge was one lane coming in, one lane going out because your your second lane coming into the beach was dedicated bus lane only. Um, so now it's you have two
travel lanes coming in, but you still have a one travel lane leaving the beach side. And the sidewalk on Matanas Pass was widened from 5T to about 8 ft. So it makes it wider, easier for people to walk through, kicks, bicycles, stuff like that. So it made it wider, made it
easier for pedestrians. And now you have two through lanes coming across that bridge. So you've got, so when you're approaching the bridge, you now have two lanes to come over the bridge and one lane to exit. And if you're on a bike or you're a pedestrian, you've got additional sidewalk space. Yes, sir. It
went from 5T to 8t, sir. 5 to 8t. And so then if you're on a bike prior to the to to the project, could you ride your bike over the bridge? Uh, no. Because you have the signs that says walk. Okay. So, so that'll that'll stay the same. You'll continue to walk your bike over the bridge. Yes, sir. You just have more
room to for everybody to walk on the bridge. And and and so this concept of potentially switching lanes like at the end of the day, so two lanes going off, one lane going on. Just from an engineer's perspective, given the fact that you've been so involved in this, is that is that physically is that possible
in terms of the setup today? the way you've designed the project. Could we do that? The setup to date, I I wouldn't I wouldn't know how to answer that for you at this time. I have to look into it further. I think I was working with Caitlyn to try to get an answer for you, sir. Um when you sent the email. Um but
when we strike, when it's all to its final configuration, you're only going to have the two lanes going in and the one lane coming out. So I I would have to research more to see how you could would be able to to make that possible to have two lanes leaving the beach side in the afternoon. So as a transportation
engineer, I mean, if you just put your kind of I'm a project administrator. I'm not a transportation. So make that clear, but we have a we have a wonderful enforcement team. If if Tom took his team over there and directed traffic to utilize that lane with with human
involvement in that dynamic, especially during season, with human involvement, I can see how that would work. Um, with just the finished configuration, I don't see how that would that would work. But potentially, if we had a potentially, yes, sir, that that could be something possible. That's what me and Caitlyn was
looking into to answer um Mr. King's email. to to approve such a dynamic. Would that be a fed or a state, county, or local, or all of the above decision to allow us to allow Tom and his team maybe in conjunction with the sheriff's department to set up a dynamic where we could open the valve at the end of the
day so we could let folks off the island? Would that who would make that who would be who would have jurisdictional decision over that? I would have to get back to you on that one and research that one, sir. um as project not project engineer but project manager uh you've been from have
you been this been on this project from the beginning? Yes sir. I've been project administrator from the beginning. So you've seen it all. Yes sir. And you you've watched the traffic you've watched all the challenges. Yes sir. Having having had that perspective and you obviously came from the outside so you didn't have any prejudices going
in. Would you have done anything differently with this project? No sir I wouldn't. Okay. And if if if do you have any advice for the town going forward because when when this was originally uh uh decided, you know, we
all had a lot of input into that. Some of it was taken, some of it was not. There's a lot of crosswalks going on. People are concerned about additional traffic congestion. One of the things that one of the lead engineers told me at the time, and he was being very candid, which I appreciated, he said, "You know, Jim, this is really not going to make much of a difference in terms of
congestion during season, but offseason it'll allow traffic to flow a lot better." Is that a fair characterization given what you've seen being on the front lines of it all? Yes, sir. From what I see, it'll make it flow a lot better coming into the beach side. And also even though you only have one lane
leaving the big side, I believe it'll make it a lot better um with the final configuration from what I see. Can you elaborate on why it will I'm not disputing. I'm just trying what's your expertise why it will get better leaving the island uh after the project's done.
Because the way that they widen the the the area down on the beach side. I I believe I don't like I said I don't have experience from before but from what I see it'll make traffic flow a lot a lot smoother with the way that they widen the road leaving the beach side. Do you
uh either one of you do you do you envision a scenario where a pedestrian bridge uh somewhere in that vicinity vicinity could work and be helpful? And if so, where would you put it? That I couldn't answer for you. So that would have to be an engineer to look into that
and see how that would work. Um anything else being on the front lines of this and seeing how traffic works in Fort Myers Beach, any advice that you'd give us? Not at this time, sir. Okay. Thank you. That's all I got. Maybe you slow down
coming onto the bridge so you stop Dale Earnh hardening your brand new concrete thing there. It's already got the doughnut stripes across it. Karen, questions. Okay, I have a question. Um, how long is that rightand turn on Fifth Street right at the base of the bridge? How long is is
that road is is it going to be closed? Because there a lot of people don't they they think they can turn there and then they end up doing a Uturn. Where exactly? Exiting the island. You can take a right when you exit the island. Yes, sir. There's fifth street right there. It's a left on the fifth.
Right now, you can't go right on the fifth toward Margaritavville. It's back one more. Right. This This is closed right now. Yes, sir. How long is it going to be closed? Or why I guess two questions. Why is it closed and how long is it going to be closed?
Because what's happening what's happening people don't realize they if this is closed they're coming up here and doing an illegal U-turn. I mean Yes sir. I I would look into the schedule regarding when when we when we'll be able to have that that road open. Um I
believe it it was closed because of the paving and everything that was going on. Then they had to fix some valves. Just got uh fixed last week. So I will look into it and I'll get back to you and see when when that will be open. I got to check the plans to see if we got striping that has to be done and that's probably one of the reasons that it's
not open yet. Okay. And my other question, the alternating light up on Buttonwood. Yes, sir. Since you're going to have two lanes going onto the beach, is that no longer ever going to be alternating? That sign per for our contract is no longer alternating since
we have two lanes going up the bridge now. Okay. And then we have the signal going up on Main Street, I believe, right at the base of the bridge. Okay. Thank you. The only question I have, Edgar, is the uh Let me pull that picture back
up. The lights that turn where you can go left onto Fifth Street or go into Time Square. I'm assuming that's closed because there's no light to direct the traffic there at this point. So, right, can you point to it's got right in the middle where you're going to turn left? No. No.
down there up up there right there. That little through right there that's closed currently. That's closed because of the signals. Because the signals when is the time frame for the signals going on? The sign we're currently working on in that area now with the signals. Um we're looking at sometime during the summer and everything up in that area.
But that's the reason that that turn lane is and then I'm guessing the U-turn to get off Yes, sir. is the same same reason. Yes, sir. Okay. All right. So, Ethan, real quick. Yes, sir. If you look at some of these pictures, and I'm hoping Nicole will be able to post this on her website because there's
some really interesting pictures here that give people an idea of how you guys are going to channel traffic and it's it's rather complex, particularly if you're from out of town and and given the fact that a lot of our people are from out of town, there'll be a lot of confusion. And is there is there an
educational program as part of your contract to help folks better understand the dynamics of this rather complex solution? It it definitely can get complex. Um, that's one of the uh if you look here in our uh regular updates website that I posted there, not only
does it give you updates on what's going on on the road, but it does break down the project and what's happening and um all the nitty-gritty aspects of it. So, I think for education wise, um if people use that, that might be their best. And also calling the community outreach specialist, Caitlyn, she can also go
into more detail, too, on any questions they But we've got we've got somebody driving down from Wisconsin and uh they're not going to be able to channel this granular work. In other words, will there be some simplistic education guides to let people understand where
they go and how they do it? Because it's it's rather complex. I just think there's going to be a really important communication piece to this particularly for those who are visiting Fort Myers Beach and and quite honestly even those who are visiting may live here and they're experiencing this for the first time. Yes. It has potential, but if if
if there's not a good education campaign, we're going to have some real challenges, particularly with people experiencing it. I just Is is there anything in the contract or in the plan that that helps to communicate how best to utilize this new system? Well, Ethan, if I can just jump in, I think you might be able to help out a little bit with
this. You may haven't been involved, but if I remember correctly, back when the shet was going on, they had an automation up there that actually showed the traffic flow with cars and arrows. If we could get that back that we could share through our social media, it actually shows cars and it showed arrows
and how the traffic flow would go as opposed to just a to your point a granular piece of paper that doesn't necessarily show anything. If we could get a copy of that, we could push it out through our social media channels as well. I'll talk to Caitlyn right after this presentation and I'll see if she can send it over to you guys and other
ideas. I can't tell you how important that would be what the mayor just talked about because you need to see even that picture that you have. It's really one of the first times I've seen that picture. If that gets out there, that would really help educate people, particularly in the format that the mayor discussed because to read some
sort of a granular details of the project versus see the how the traffic flows with actual images from a communication standpoint, that's going to be night and day. So, as a communication specialist, encourage you guys to think about how to how to message this in a way that's accessible
and easy for folks, particularly if they're just visiting here. and and and even quite frankly those in Lee County and those those who live on Fort Myers Beach because once you know folks will be following us and and if we don't know what we're doing then it's even going to create even more challenges. So but I do
think that education piece because it is it is different and it is complex but it you know it has potential but if we don't communicate that it's going to create some real challenges. So, as a communications team, really encourage you instead of some very granular
written document to have some, you know, videos and and sort of action item things that people can see and experience visually that would really be helpful. Yes, I will be talking to Kaitlin after the presentation. I think she can get some together for you guys. Great. Great. All right. Thanks, Ethan Edgar. Thank you, guys. Thank you. Thank
you. Thanks. Good luck getting off the island. You guys need Wow. I didn't mean it that way. Were they late? Is there stuff you trying? There's some traffic out there. There might be some traffic. Oh, that was that's probably the greatest timing,
but that's all right. That brings us to our approval of the the approval of the minutes. We have approve April 7th, 2025 and then the management planning session from April 9th, 2025. Is there a motion to approve the minutes? So moved. All
right. Got a motion by councelor King. Second. Second by councelor Safford. Any further discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Opposed. Hearing none. That motion carries unanimously. Next is consent agenda. We have no items on that. So there's nothing to remove from the consent
agenda. Next is our public hearing. The first one is a request for a reduction and forgiveness of code enforcement lean fine for property located at 8124 Boulevard, Fort Myers Beach, Florida by Dennis Pck, represented by attorney Nol Davis. As I mentioned,
council earlier um we would be requesting a continuence of this item to the May 5th um it is May, not May. Okay. um meeting because we think we may have a alternative resolution of this issue.
Um I would invite uh the attorney to give you a little bit more background about his client and why this is here. Sure. Good morning. Uh Mr. Mayor, council, thank you for the opportunity. For the record, null Davies of the law firm of Davies Duke on behalf of the property owner. Um I I think Nancy and I
working with my client and town staff. I think think we've got this worked out. Uh, so rather than going through all of it for you today, hopefully we can just come back on May 5th and report that it's been worked out. Um, but I think that's all I've got. I'm happy to answer questions about it. Okay. John, any
questions for I have no vice mayor? No. Officer, no. Thank you, sir. Good to see you all. Thank you. Thank you. Is there a motion to continue to May 5th day of May 5th? So moved. Second. Motion by councelor Woodson, seconded by councelor King. Any
further discussion? Councelor Woodson. I. Councelor Kane. Hi. Vice Mayor. Hi. Councelor Safford. Hi. And I'm an I as well. That motion carries unanimously. Thank you. Next is item B. It is an administrative appeal of building permit number 242 3333 and
234477. Construction of a swimming pool of pellant uh Himlstein Associates LLC. Property owner Todd R. Plast deadad plastad at the property address of 21391 Wijon Terrace. Um if I may um council members
unfortunately um a couple items have been omitted from your um agenda materials. Um for instance on page 68 there's reference to an approval letter um which I have here. um it probably
didn't make a lot of sense to you as you were going through the materials because in this particular case uh there was a permit that was issued, it was revoked, there was an appeal of that permit, then there was a second appeal and then yet there's another appeal and the final
appeal that material didn't make it into your uh record as well. So I do have some concerns about the adequacy of the record. Um there are several parties that are here today I believe in preparation for it. However, this is an
appeal of your building official decision and unfortunately he is not able to be here today. We do have other staff members that could provide information. Um but you know it is his final decision as far as issuance of the
um the building permit. So, it would be, I think, prudent to go ahead and have him physically here to answer questions and cross-examination as needed. I would I would tend to agree with you. Could we see who's here perhaps
representing the parties? Come on up. I'm here for the Robert Bar attorney for the PL. Okay. I don't see here, so I am concerned with that as well. U Mr. Hemlstein does not appear to be present nor his attorney.
Uh and this is their appeal. So it again that's another reason to suggest that a continuence would be appropriate. Any evidence that we put on today they would have to review. Um again we would want to make sure that they have the opportunity to cross-examine um any evidence that's presented to you.
So, um I think an uh continuence would probably be the best um strategy for you at this point or my recommendation. Okay. Did we discuss this before though? The appeal is untimely and it's to the wrong body. So, why would we continue
this? Why not dismiss it and let them take the next step? If they're not here, number one. Number two, the appeal is untimely. It's outside the 30 days. And number three, it was made to the council. Um it's my understanding that it should have been made to the magistrate. Is that correct?
That is correct. However, um council has had not had the opportunity to review supporting documents um regarding that representation. Would it be appropriate to do it now? We've got time. Well, um I'm having
them. So, I do have copies of the approval letter. However, they are printing the actual appeal which is 154 pages and then there's an additional appendix to that. It's the time that we're talking about. It was untimely. Correct. Was outside the 30 days. I
don't I don't want to get into a discussion of the uh substantive arguments regarding procedural issues or substantive issues because the other the appellant is not present to provide their input. And again, in the effort of in the interest of fairness, we want
both parties to be present. Well, let's talk about that first. Well, have we heard any reason why they're not here? Yeah, I find it very disturbing if it's their case and they don't show up. Why we would need to continue this, right? needs to be. Well, it sounds how how
about we ask the council because to me I've just heard two people that are not comfortable with they haven't voted but just in their comments it sounds like they're not comfortable with so you mind if I ask the council what they would like to do. Are you go ahead? Okay,
John, I think I've stated what what I mean. It's their appeal. They're not here. Um, why should we continue to support something if if they don't um and didn't bother to let anybody know that they weren't going to be here
today? Vice Mayor, all I can say is that our town attorney has recommended that this be continued and I I I just would have I I feel like I should support the the recommendation of the town attorney. Well, okay, Karen.
Um, I mean, the people have who are representing the homeowner and they've gone to a lot of trouble and a lot of work, I'm sure, to be here today. Um, I personally agree with you that it should be dismissed.
Staffford, I'm leaning that direction myself. I I I don't understand why they're not here or at least a representative for a representative at least tell us they're not showing and it's just it's very odd. Mhm. So Nancy, based on what you've
heard, do you have any angst with a recommendation for dismissal or if there's a mixup in the communication lines? Um, how can there be a mixup? It's it's public posted. I mean, it's been posted for a week.
Request relief from that. I just clerk is has everything's been posted properly, correct? Yes, it has been. Okay. So again, Nancy, I'll state my question again. U if there were a recommendation for
dismissal, what would be the next steps as far as the town is concerned? Well, as always, my concern is the record. Um, in the event that you do choose to dismiss it, in all likelihood, I would posture that there most likely
would be an appeal. And so the basis of your appeal is we would need a reason for it which should be stated on the record as well. Well, I mean they haven't given me any confidence they would show it for that appeal even if they chose to do it.
They're not here for this one. Okay. So, all right. Which I think we know which direction this is going to go. Would you like to make a someone like to make a motion? I move that we dismiss the ad administrative appeal of building permit number 242333 dash or slash sorry
234477 construction of swimming pool. I'll second. All right. Got a motion by councelor King, seconded by councelor Woodson. May I ask before the vote? Um there is some materials in your um in your packet. Um specifically there is
reference to um our response the town's response. We find that um it is untimely um that the appeal is is untimely u for purposes of the fact that um if you recall your review process did change uh
last year last fall. We went from having building appeals heard by the Lee County Board of Adjustments. We then vested that authority in the special magistrate. Um and this appeal was filed before you as an administrative appeal.
Um and the proper forum would be the um special magistrate and that is uh stated in the town's uh response uh to the appeal that is in your materials. Um the second reason we believe that this item
uh should be denied is the fact that um it appears that their argument is intended to encompass a limited common area or uh as they've characterized it in other uh spots um common area that's owned by
everyone. Um however, looking at the um declaration of condominium, a copy of which is in your record, um it appears that the property owner would have the right, there's no prohibition against using that area for purposes of
calculating um impervious area and speaking with staff in preparation for this meeting, not the building official, but our planning staff um and I believe the surveyor has also been involved. um they are here today and they can um provide
testimony to you that um the calculations do not even include that particular area. Um I do have a copy of the approval rec uh letter that I have copies available if you would like to um
take those. Um and this goes back to the issue of the timeliness of of the filing. Uh the approval letter has the November 15, 2024 date on it. Um the appeal was filed I believe in December.
Um and by December your review process for these matters u was transferred to your special magistrate uh rather than coming to you as an appeal as an administrative appeal which would be an appeal of a decision by the town manager
or any of his um administrative staff. That's a a different process. I just wanted to put that on the record and uh acknowledge that you do have some agenda materials um that I'm assuming you have reviewed because I did get some
questions. May I also comment on that? This case came before you and I have the transcript here. You approved it. We discussed these these same issues at that council meeting. You listened to him then and you heard him and you
denied him. He filed a petition for ridicers in the circuit court. Both the city and myself have responded to that petition. The reason I bring this up is in the law there's something called resjudicata. You can't keep arguing the same issues over and over again. He
chose his path. His path was to go to the circuit court on these very issues that were discussed at the council meeting. Therefore, he has no say at this point. He he put his marbles into that basket and we're waiting for a decision from the judge on that. So to it would be kind
of silly to have you hear this in its entirety, spend all your time on it again and then have the circuit court do something different. So I think you're kind of bound by the path that he chose for you to go down the ridicers path. So for those reasons, in addition to what
the town expertly concluded, I would ask you to dismiss the appeal. He can take his procedural rights after that if he wants to come back here and argue that the dismissal should be set aside. But I think it's too late. I think it's over. It's untimely and it's res juicata with
the circuit court case. Thank you. So that then I have a question. So then would it be dismissed with prejudice so that he would not be able to come back? I I think you I think it's a denial of his appeal and not necessarily a
dismissal. Okay. So deny then I need to change the wording of my motion from a dismissal to a deny to a denial. Yeah, you're denying his appeal. Um again, I it's unfortunate. Um and I and I don't know if there's some miscommunication as
far as his inability to appear today. Um but um it may come back to you so he can make his arguments. Um you did have in your packet, just for the record, um arguments that were made by a former attorney um in the renewed
appeal. So again, there was a building uh permit that was issued, there was an appeal, that building permit was revoked and a a subsequent permit was issued and then there was a renewed appeal of that subsequent permit. And
then the actual approval letter was not um distributed until uh November. Okay. Councelor Kane, would you like to amend your your wording to deny versus dismiss? Yes, I would. Thank you. Your second and I will amend my second. Okay.
Any further discussion, Vice Mayor? Councelor Safford. I just No, no discussion. Discussion. No. Any any more discussion? Okay. No problem. Councelor King. Hi. Hi. Councelor Woodson I. Councelor Safford. Hi. Visol. No. And
I'm an I. That motion carries four to one. Thank you. Have a nice day. Next is our administrative agenda. The first one on the uh agenda is an approve approve an amendment to the town manager's contract extending the term for an additional 30-day period. 30-day
periods as needed with a $1,000 pay adjustment for each 30-day period extension. I thought it was for three years. At $1,000 a month. Oh yeah. Okay. We need a timeout. I need a side. Uh any discuss?
Mayor, if I may. Yes. Um we all know the contract expires the 30th um next Wednesday. Um given how um we don't it does not look like that Mr. McA will be here on on the first um
and there would probably need to be a couple weeks that you'd need either a town manager or inner town manager. So I just thought discussions with Karen and after following up with the last council meeting the direction given was to bring this back to you. I'm willing to do that and then as we get into it and the
conversations I had with Mr. Mine on Saturday, uh we will decide, you know, if we want to come back again uh to extend. I'm not sure we would need to do that, but it makes it available should we need to do that. And then just for clarity, Karen, please tell me if I'm not reading it correctly. Essentially,
you're going to continue on as we are. This is just an additional $1,000 on top of correct what your current salary is, right? Same benefits, same everything, just an additional $1,000 for Okay. And it's for one month, right? Periods of one month. It could go longer. It's 30
days to begin with, but with the option for another 30 days, we would come back each time each second. Yeah, the second meeting of every month in May would come back should we need to or with an update of what's going to be happening, you know, May 31st. Very good. Any uh other
any other questions? I will move to approve the amended contract for the town manager uh for periods of 30 days and an additional pay of $1,000 per 30 days. I'll second a motion by Mayor Aller, second by councelor Woodson. Any further
discussion? I'm an I. Councelor Safford, Vice Mayor, and Councelor King. All right. All right. Motion carries unanimously. Next is uh resolution 25-125 ratification of task order 3 and 4 for CDBGDR administration. Uh this is a
resolution of the town council of the town of Fort Myers Beach, Florida to ratify and approve task orders 3 and 4 with title basin for CDBGDR grant administration services in the amount of 163,86457 and $291,785.90 and providing for an
effective date. Frankie, but basically what this is is everyone is familiar with the CDBGR process that we've gone through for our north water tower, our community pool, and for uh Newton Park. Um these funds are already built into those when we apply for those. Tidal
basin is not just the title basin that does our PA work, our our our our stuff on our side to get things to FEMA. They also represent project management group and that's the part of title based here. So, we built them into the project.
Actually, the county, you have to have a project managing team uh looking out for you to handle these funds. And that's what they'll be doing. Uh they'll be doing the day-to-day reporting, the invoicing, those type of things and and sending it along to the basically HUD
through the county. So, it's not coming out of the town coffers one bit. This is all built into the grant itself. Okay. Questions for Frankie. Scott, that was my question where the money was coming from. I have no questions. Okay. Vice Mayor.
Yeah. Councelor Kane. So I I guess I want to make sure I'm clear that the 163,000 and the 291,000 are not coming out of the town budget. That that is correct, sir. So they're already allocated. You have to have a certain percentage of project management costs built into your overall application.
Okay. All right. Thank you. Yes, sir. So it's not a replenishment of funds expended from the general fund. It comes directly from the city. It comes directly through the CDBGR funds that were granted to the town. It's a federal requirement from the grant, right, that you do it that way. Understood. Thank you. All right. Is there a motion for
resolution 25-125? 24. Mine says 125 on my sheet. Mine says NS25-124. Yeah. Amy, are we 124 or 125? On my sheet, it says 12. Give me a moment. I'll find out for you. It says 124. On
my online packet, it says 125 25-124 on inside that. Yeah. Inside. Yeah. Give me a moment. I'll find out for you. Just a second. 124. So, it's 124, not 125.
Do I need to reread the title with the correct number? I don't think it was in the title. I read it in part of the title. Yeah. No, I I think it's explanatory based on the minutes and the All right. Then is
there a motion for resolution 25-124 to ratify the task orders three and four for CDBGR administration funding? So moved by councelor King, seconded by councelor Safford. Any further discussion? Councelor Kane. Hi. Councelor Safford. Hi. Councelor
Woodson. Hi. Vice Mayor Hall. Hi. And I'm an I as well. That motion carries unanimously. Final public comment. I have one question. One more item. We got one. Oh, one more item. I'm sorry. Um, we do have a uh town attorney item, which is a resolution. If maybe we could
handle that before public comment. So, if there's any public that wants to talk about. Okay. Then, let's jump to town attorney. We'll proceed out of order and go to town attorney items and then we'll go back. Sorry. Go ahead, Nancy. Um, so, okay.
Resolution title. Okay, I'll go ahead and read it. Um, it's a resolution of the town council of the town of Fort Myers Beach, Florida, providing notice of the town's intent to initiate the process of creating a community redevelopment agency, directing the town
staff to initiate a study to determine whether conditions exist to support the creation of a community redevelopment agency in the Times Square area and providing for an effective date. So, this resolution is simply a followup to
a discussion that um town council had at its May uh 13th u management and planning meeting. Um, and at this time we were notified that there was some legislation going through uh the Florida
uh legislature that would have prohibited the creation of a CRA after July 1st of this year. Um, so the purpose of the resolution is to go ahead and put on record that the town has
begun to roll that ball down the alley um by looking for a consultant uh to perform the study. Whether or not we're able to complete the study before the July 1st um deadline is is questionable. However, it the by the resolution you do
provide notice that you are interested in perhaps pursuing that policy um initiative and I would defer to um Sarah if you have anything to add. I know that staff has worked with other communities uh local communities finding out um how
they have been able to handle their redevelopment efforts. Um, and I don't know what the status is of actually finding a consultant to do that study. I wanted to just share um, and I I passed that along to staff and hopefully Scott, you got the copy that I asked
them to send you since this has been your issue. The Florida League of Cities has been lobbying on this and as of this afternoon, uh, the Senate is hearing an update on a key changes in the amendment and one of them is to remove the ban on creating new CRAAS.
Yes. Yes. I I did get that email. That's good news. And we have I want to do, you know, if there is the deadline, then we need to do it. But if there's if there's not the deadline, then I think we need to do it right and not rush it, but get it done,
but make make sure all our tees are crossed and eyes are dotted. I think this is a a proper step to make sure that the intent is out there no matter which way it goes. Yeah. Whether they vote one way or the other, our intent is to move forward. Yes. So, so just a question, Nancy. This this in essence
reserves our right to to execute an a CRA given a legislative action. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't, but we're doing it in an abundance of caution. I don't see any harm in that. Y very good. I'm just trying to understand it
doesn't there's no guarantees obviously. Correct. Y Okay. Very good. And we have let Mr. book know of our intentions as well. Correct. Is passing that information on to the legislature. All right. Is there a motion to approve or any more discussion on
resolution 235-123? Correct number? Yes. Double check. Okay. Go ahead. So moved. Got a motion by councelor Woodson. I'll second it. Any further discussion? Councelor Woodson. I number nine, Vice Mayhol. I councelor K. Hi,
Councelor Sapp. Hi. Motion carries unanimously. Since we're on town manager or town attorney items, do you no other items? Do you want to u touch on what Mr. Bowen brought up as far as St. Peters Drive? Yes. Um I learned for the
first time that there may be um some controversy or or disagreement as far as facts. Um who actually owns this road? Um, if there has been continuous maintenance and repair, it would be an indication that the town at one point
believed that maybe it was a public road because clearly the town wouldn't go and expend public funds on on a private road. Um, so I believe that that does require some additional research uh to figure out is it really a public road or
a private road and that makes a big difference. Um, as far as the the method of um obtaining it, um clarifying the title to the roadway area, that could be done through a quick claim deed. That part of the process is not difficult
going through the records of the town to figure out what the town thought um in the past might be a little bit more challenging. Do you need a motion from the council? It appears as though the residents in that street would like the town to make it a town right away, at least in what Mr. Bone said in his
public comments is that is that um just direction to follow up follow consent to proceed out of order to let Mr. Bone come up and Sure. I have no problem. Anyone else have a problem address NY's okay? Yes. It's the uh association's uh desire
to see if the uh town council is willing to accept it. uh the road and the rightway. That was uh at our HOA meeting. That was a resolution that was approved. Mr. Mayor, I would make a motion that the council consents to
allowing our town attorney to work with Mr. Bone. You are president of the neighborhood association. Is that correct? Yes. Uh to work directly with Mr. Bone to see if they can come to some resolution and then bring it before the council at the appropriate time. I will second that motion. Any further
discussion? Isn't there a I don't know what the legal term is maybe one two of you but I if the town for years and years and years has prescriptive a prescriptive easement I think is what about but there is a statutory section that I do need to go
back and review um that specifically talks about the maintenance of a roadway which is a little bit more I had that with a neighbor one time we had a dispute over our property line and we you know for years and years and s we
were taking care of it. So it eventually just became here. Yeah. All right. Any other discussion? Do you need a roll call vote or I I think consent would be fine for me. Yeah. So you don't need a motion. By
consensus, is there a consensus? I need a motion. All right. Vice Mayor I. I'm an I. Councelor King. I councelor Woodson. Hi. And councelor Safford. Hi. Motion carries. Thank you. Thank you, sir. All right. Now, we'll go back to public
comment. Edward. Ed. I I would have figured that out by all the people sitting here. Pure genius right there. Good morning, everyone. Ed Rude, 8150 Boulevard. Um I I came today to clarify couple a couple
of issues. Um I've gotten a lot of telephone calls. I I've been contacted by a lot of pe people this last couple of weeks um since this uh controversy uh came up with the uh with Anita and the uh and the protect FMB u lawsuit and um
and I don't want to elaborate on that. Um the gentleman earlier said tried to explain that it wasn't a lawsuit. We all know it is a lawsuit. I was involved in one myself at one time. There's a defendant and a plaintiff and it ends up going before a judge. That's a lawsuit.
Um anyway, but but that being said, I wanted to make sure that everyone understands um I am not against protect FMB. I I am not adversarial to what what their purpose is. There are many places
on this island that developers are going to try to, for lack of a better explanation, put square pegs and round holes. Um there are places that these developments are not going to fit, but there are many many places where these
larger developments do do fit and when they go through the correct process, it is not something that's hard to understand. um the the comp plan, the LDC, um they have guidelines, but the but if if you try to get outside of
those, that's why the town has provisions for variances and special exceptions, which which people are aware of, and that's what they go through to get their projects approved. I don't I have full confidence in the council that they're going to decide, make the correct decisions of
what pegs fit what holes. and and um I think that the protect FMB is a is a they're they're a good they lobby for for what they believe in. Um um and I'm all for that and and there'll be there there'll be times when I'm in agreement
with them. I am not in agreement with them filing a lawsuit against the town. Um, the controversy has come up because we have a a appointed a person that donated money to a lawsuit that's suing the town. Um, I'm not in agreement with
that. And the Protect FnB, they can lobby one way or the other. Their presence can be known here. They can put their arguments forward and y'all listen to them and y'all make the decision and they should accept the decision in the end. Um what
what I was going to ask through all the phone call the telephone conversations and and some in-person conversations and questions uh there's a lot of confusion about um the explanation that Nancy had
given you two weeks ago. Um and so and I've been asked questions that I can't answer. I'm not an attorney. But there has been a couple of other opinions that have been written on the ordinance uh 2-96 and um they seem to conflict with
uh NY's opinion and I also had a conversation with the attorney. It sounds like you got a question. I I would I would like if it's possible for the attorney publicly to address this uh um discrepancy in these other legal
opinions and her opinion and explain to the council why she feels the way that she does and and and and what the purpose is. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Any other public comment? Seeing none, we'll close public
comment. Town manager items. Thank you, mayor. I think um this week um once um councelor Woodson and and the at town attorney have their conversation with the u designated town manager um we will need to have a special meeting to be
able to ratify the contract um or deny, but I'm sure they'll be in touch with you about about negotiations. So, just keep that in the back of your mind. There's also we have as part of our strategic plan, we have a resident survey that's online now. It'll be released tomorrow. released tomorrow. There's a QR code. They can scan it and
all the the questions will come up and we just encourage everybody to participate. All right. All right. Council member items and report. Counc um want to bounce this off to you guys. Uh I was in town hall last week. I
forgot which day it was, but I ended up spending about an hour just talking to people out in the lobby. And I a thought occurred to me that maybe when we move into the new new building that we have um office hours, not not all day long,
but maybe one day a week for a couple hours that people can come in and talk to us. You mean council member office hours? Yes. I don't know. I'm always open and available to meet you. I mean, I am too, but it just when people are here, they can just pop in and ask a counselor a
question because they, you know, a lot of people there's a lot of misinformation out there. So, and there's a lot of questions and people, you know, they sometimes emails, but if if face to face is so much better than email.
I'm not opposed to it. I'm sure we work. Do you feel like I don't have any issues? Yeah, I don't I don't have any issues. I mean, a lot of times when we get requests to come and meet with someone or to see someone, it's usually
um like right before something comes to us and can't always, you know, accommodate that. So, if there were set hours for each one of us to do that and they know if they have a question or a concern or whatever they
want to talk about, if they know that we're in the office during that time, they can certainly come in, you know, have it published or whatever the schedule is. Vice Mayor, yeah, I' I'd have to chew on that. I mean, I think the new town hall
is going to give us tremendous opportunities that are challenging right now uh to try to meet with constituents. We have a lot of folks who want to meet. Sometimes they'll want to have lunch or coffee. And I try to find I try to do it here at town hall because you have kind of a
nice neutral uh location. You don't have to worry about coffee or lunch or perception and and uh it's very transparent. Um, I be interested in Andy's thoughts as having sort of been the designer of the new town hall. I think we're going
to have a lot more opportunities in the new town hall to be available to the public and have meeting space with the public. Um, I I think it would be really helpful, too, to have a place where counselors could meet with constituents. Uh, and know that that space will be
available or at least reserve it. Um because I get a lot of people who reach out and want to meet and that's and we meet but we end up meeting either at town hall in aw in awkward locations uh and uh and to have a place where we could all gather uh and and and have
time and and uh and and just an appropriate location. I've been in the constituent uh uh business for a long long time and to have a place to sit and talk to your constituents uh where they can be heard and there's not people
interrupting and there's not people walking through uh it would be it would be great. So I think I I think I would I I don't disagree with the concept. I do I have seen in a situation particularly in the summer you know if you had hours uh you there's just not a lot of folks
around it's quieter um I I I I find the current system works pretty well and we interact via email and meetings and phone calls and Zoom calls uh pretty well but the challenge of course is having the place and location and privacy to meet with people and I think
the new town hall will solve a lot of that but I'm I'm open to any any concepts Councelor Kane. Yeah, I think the vice mayor said it a lot for me. Obviously, some of the meetings have been in this room and you got a lot of pass through. Uh I don't envision that in a new town
hall and uh sitting back in that little closet with three people can be a little tight. Um so yeah, I'm not opposed to it though. Yeah, I'm not opposed to listening to the challenge becomes this when you have a set time now you've got
to build, you know, you have a business just like I do. And you know during season it can be challenging to have that specific time especially in the businesses that we're in that you know if you're not there god forbid you're not there for whatever reason we had an issue last night we had to deal with
that came up out of nowhere which would have required me to be at that and that's that's the only hesitation I have but I always have an open door policy if somebody needs me I try to to your point Mr. Mayor, when a constituent calls, I think again everybody I've got a full I'm still working full-time as well. To
be able to to to work with a constituent to find a mutually convenient time for them and for us that really works pretty well. Again, just don't have the place to meet them. Yeah. And that's that hopefully solved and now we will. Yeah. So, if I'm if I may, we do we have um a
designated area that's probably about this size for the council. It's totally designated for the council. It's a like a conference room. Also, there's a a larger conference room for larger groups that's still right there. Donna will be setting up the the schedule for those. So, so we'll have that my plan have that
that structure in place. Also, we'll have someone from from Tom staff um will be in the building probably till 8:00 at night. So, we'll have that option as well. And there's cameras everywhere. So, it's a very safe location, a very safe place for people to meet a little more neutral, if you will, uh, and not
meeting in the middle of the daytime when staff's moving around and and only whatever might happen. And just thinking through it, I mean, the challenge is is if the constituent says, "Oh, your office hours are from 2 to 4 on Wednesday." You know, I'm not I I can't I can't do Wednesdays. I can do Tuesdays. And then then you end up having that, you know, those meetings. I
just having the ability to work with the constituent in a time that's mutually convenient for them and for and for us given everybody's, you know, this is a part-time job, everybody works full-time or or they're retired, whatever, but we want to be able to accommodate people who are still working. But I also think it's most important to accommodate the
schedule of the constituent that those office hours may not be consistent with when it's convenient for them to meet or or talk. So having that flexibility, but having that new meeting space would be, I think, potentially a solution. But maybe we try that. If it doesn't work, then we could try something different.
And as I go through in my mind, there's there's at least five areas that are either conference related or uh a a testing space. There's a an area in human resources. There's three conference rooms basically on the third floor and then one downstairs. So
there's five. If for some reason you all needed a space at the same time, it's available. Anything else? No. Dr. Woodson. Um, couple things. So, town attorney and I are meeting uh after this
meeting to discuss the um upcoming contract for Will McKenna. Are you going to be in that as well, Tissa, or is that just with us? I don't know exactly how. Um, whatever. Your pleasure. Okay.
Um, and then we will be able, I hope, to get this done quickly because we obviously want to get back to Mr. McKenna and um, make sure that we keep this moving. You mentioned a separate
meeting. Um, were you envisioning that this week? I hope I I would I would imagine as quickly as that could get accomplished and you have something to present to the council. Yes. Okay. because I am out of town on Friday, but I would like to have it done either way before that if possible. Amy, what's the
schedule look like? Um, probably Wednesday or Thursday. Well, start with Nancy first. True. Advertising. Is there advertising requirements for something like this? Basically 48 hours, two days um is is like the starting point, but
based on you know the the subject matter itself, um two days I mean 48 hours I think should be enough. two days. Well, that's going to cut this week pretty close. I just wanted Yeah, my my question would be that um Will had
indicated to me that he was going to send some bullet points of things that he was interested in and I have not seen that. Um and that would be something that we would roll into the agreement as well. Um I hadn't seen anything either.
Well, I I would be open to having a special meeting as soon as possible. as soon as possible as long as all parties have gotten to the point where it's ready to be presented. I don't want to rush this. Correct. Right. You know, for anybody's sake, just for the sake of getting it done by the end of the week.
Okay. And Chambers is available every morning this week. I imagine it would be a morning meeting. Okay. I've got something going on Thursday. Yeah. I don't think this week is going to not this week. Yeah. I I would say this week is going to be next weekight.
And then um I would say that you know I I leave uh I'm going out of town next weekend so I'm leaving Thursday. So we'll stay for the first part of next week. The 8th. No, I'm going to be gone from the 1st to the 4th. Oh no, the first.
That's right. Next week's the first. So we have LPA in here on the 29th, special magistrate in here on the 30th. So Monday the 28th. Well, it could be an afternoon meeting. It could be in the afternoon. We have AAC here in the morning. Um but we can the magistrate
hearing will be very short. Um it will basically be the item that um you had today uh the lean reduction issue. We'll be discussing that with her. Anyone else? I don't have any scheduling conflicts. It looks like next week.
Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays I have cardiac rehab at 2 o'clock in Bonita. And I have a an appointment at noon in North Cape Coral on Wednesday the 30th. How about we do this?
You guys get through your meeting today. Yep. See if you're even close enough to get us on the agenda for the next and then let us know and it seems to work when Dr. Coler reaches out and says these are the times available. Good. It allows you the 48 hours you
need to Sure. And I think there's also a potential mediation on the first uh with the Florida League of Cities on our Yeah. in Tampa on the first. So the first seems to be occupied as well. And again, worst case scenario, we always have the fallback of the next town
meeting on the 5th of May. Again, ideally be nice to do it before then, but if we can't, that's there. Good point. Okay. We have the direction, I think. Yes. Thank you. What else you got? Um, so I would just like to address what
Eddie RDE brought up because we did get um those letters from different attorneys that came from um one of our constituents. And I guess I want to understand
why why are there why are there differences of opinions here? Because again, if I read what our ordinance says that we have the right right, council has the right to remove anyone for any
reason. Um, period. So, I'm happy to address that. Um, so on its face, the wording of the ordinance that you have, I would agree with you that that is what it says. But when you
take that and you apply it to an individual and you are arguably um curtailing their constitutional rights, then that is a different analysis and that's where I think it becomes problematic. But I don't think it's a constitutional right if you just don't
believe in someone anymore or you just have But the reason that um has been said publicly numerous times that the concern is the uh the freedom of speech um as far as u views on a particular
project and the association with a particular entity. Um the other uh letter that you receive talks about um defining some terms that are in u Florida statutes in the code of ethics.
Um you would have to make a finding that you know participating um associating with a particular group is malfeasants um or donating is is malfeasants. And again, the the concern is is that you
are curtailing um constitutional rights. The last email that I saw um appears to uh analogize the town council to um our current federal structure. Um you do
have u policym decisions, you make executive decisions, and you make quasi judicial decisions. So, you do wear many more hats than um certain branches of our federal system does. Um but still,
um it it does raise some potential um legal concerns. Um you put yourselves at risk. You know, would there be a lawsuit? I have no idea. Um but it's my job just to advise you that there is um
a legal risk uh should you proceed in that in that fashion. So is this something that potentially when we look at um how we outline the duties of the LPA
or the audit committee or you know or I I wouldn't go as far as say any advisory committee but I certainly would say the LPA and the audit committee that maybe we put some parameters in our qualifications and
around those things for future. So I think what you're asking is if you you're basically asking individuals who want to serve on these committees to give up some of their constitutional rights in exchange for service on this
committee. So if I am going to be appointed to one of your committees, I can no longer associate with certain groups that I have associated with for years. Um I can't do certain things. Um I'm not it should I mean your
qualifications for services on these committees should be um should not go down that particular path. For what it's worth, I would certainly never support that would ask someone to give up a constitutional right? No, not
a constitutional right, but I just I do believe that there's ethic ethical process in question perhaps moral. I think we've had that conversation. There's the legal thing, there's the moral thing, and then what
you do. Well, I think we've all certainly seen those emails. And one thing I've learned, you can ask 10 lawyers for an opinion on something, you're going to get 10 different opinions. um our job I think at least in my opinion we have an attorney that has
expressed to us that she has concerns over things and um I feel that she's given us the answers that we need to to move forward or not move forward and uh I think to me this is an issue that doesn't need to go any further but this is your council
member item so we'll follow whatever suggestion you would like to bring no I just I was just asking questions okay just to to understand because I wasn't understanding. It's all good. Got it. No. Okay. Yep. Anything else?
No. Okay. Sorry. I was waiting for you. I was fancy. Nothing today. Okay. Uh, councelor King, I've got a couple things. Um, first off, um, the vice mayor asked me to check on a fishing pier at the big Carlos Pass Bridge at
the at the at the council meeting. Yes. Yes. Thank you. And so I wanted to report back. Um, using my considerable contacts, um, I came up with an answer. Um, according to uh Lee Dot or LDOT,
there was an optional fishing pier associated with the project development and environmental phase of the new bridge. Uh, they the county started working on the permitting of the pier. The National Marine Fisheries folks sent the county a strongly worded letter that
they were not going to support the addition of any new fishing persto habitat. Uh the county explored options continuing to attempt to include a fishing pier in the construction. FDOT sided with uh the National Marine Fisheries and indicated they would not
be spons would not sponsor our the permit request from Lee County. At that point, the decision was made to table the idea of a new fishing pier. And I hope that answers your question, Vice Mayor. All right, brings you up to speed on Actually, that's that's breaking news, John. Thank you very much for
sharing that. No fishing pier on the South Bridge. I guess the other question would be, and I hate to do this to you, but there were there was rumors of a fishing pier on the north bridge, but that it sounds like those have been styied as well, or do we know anything about that? I should have asked both. Yeah, that would have been nice at the
time. Sorry. Sorry. Um, as if the constituents don't keep you busy enough, you got I've got the vice mayor. Maybe I could come to your office hours. See, I'm going to be publishing them in Disappearing Inc. and uh I I will look
into that and find out what I had for you. Thank you, John. It's actually very helpful. I've had a lot of people ask about the South Bridge and there was discussion of a fishing pier and and for a while it was in the proposal. Yeah. And and you've explained why it no longer is. The second thing is sit back, relax, folks. I'm going to take you off the
front of the funny pages. Um, I'm going to give the folks that uh complain but do nothing about it an opportunity to rake me over the coals on social media. I'd like the town council to consider annexing San Carlos Island
and dead silence. Well, I wouldn't even know what the process is to start that or it's a it's it's a lengthy one and a and considerable one and I've I've given Nancy a I gave Nancy heads up on it Friday. Um I I assume it'd be something
that we'd want to discuss at an M&P. Um as a courtesy, I contacted uh Commissioner Mullica. I kind of thought that was why he was here today because I I think he was uh dumbfounded by the the suggestion as well. I I think originally
he was uh thinking that there was maybe I had a problem with his leadership or something and that could be uh could not be further from the truth. Uh, I'm not seeking to do this to uh harm the relationship we've uh we've worked hard to restore with the county. I just think
this is something that is about Fort Myers Beach and the town growing itself. I think personally for me uh a lot of folks look at that as our as the entrance to Fort Myers Beach and that's our front door and I'd like to maybe
have the town have a little more control over it if it works out or if we if it's even feasible. Well, you need a second person to at least bring it to an MMP for discussion. I'd be open to having it on a future MMP for discussion. Well, I would too. So,
would you Yeah. Go ahead, Scott. You're just thinking San Carlos Island or the the same district that the the fire district has all the way up to Well, that's one of the keys about annexation in in the state is it has to be contiguous. Um I guess a bridge can make
it contiguous, but uh at this point I just think S Carlos Island and and maybe that's something at an MP if we want to discuss that further. I'm open to that as well. Yeah. Does it make sense where the zip code is? Yeah, maybe with me it's all about the numbers. Do
do the numbers work? Is what's Well, I think we've got consensus to put it on the upcoming MP meeting for discussion and any information you can provide. So, when you go through annexation, do the people that you're annexing get to vote or Yes. Well, there's yes, there's two forms of
annexation. One is voluntary, one is involuntary. So I I don't know what the current consensus is. Generally it's um not voluntary, but sometimes it is when um there's a project outside a municipality that wants to be in that m
municipality, but um I can prepare background information for uh the MMP. It's not like you're overworked or anything, but we just wanted to add one more thing to your plate. You have a good case. Always a pleasure. You have a good case study for the island. I mean, that's how this became a town. It was involuntary annexation. I mean,
voluntary, actually. They actually voted to do that. So, yes, Scott, Council Staffford, they do vote. Okay. What else you got, Scott? John. Well, I'm changing my name. Scott, but I'm going with Scott Stafford. Scott
King. Got Scott King and John Stafford. I think that those two things are big enough, so I'll move on. All right. I don't not have anything new this week to add. Um, so there's nothing else to add. Anything else, Nancy? No. Andy? No. Actually, real quick, just give us an
update on the town hall where we're at as far as potential. Yeah. Opening date. I'd love for it to be tomorrow. Uh, we're still working with the fire department hopefully this week. Uh, we'll get our our permits to be able to move forward with everything we need there. I think there's about a
couple of weeks work, maybe three weeks downstairs to to finalize the downstairs. The key is going to be the elevator. We've been told that it could take um you know a couple months to get the shaft, but we've asked them to really push that and that was about
three weeks a two weeks ago. So shaft we're there again. So that's where we are pushing pushing pushing. And then I guess since we're trying to get some updates where we're sitting, how is this RFP? Is that out? You said a couple weeks ago it was going to be out. Has it gone out? Is it out? It's being
advertised today, I believe. So it should hit the papers and all that today for the Bay Oaks to do this project on this grant property. Right. We broke it up into two two phases. The first phase is going to be uh of final grade or
finish grade um of material and prep site prep. The next one will be ITB for the multi-purpose field, the pip ball courts and the parking area in the walk trail. So that that's coming this week as Are you starting to get heartburn yet about potentially losing that million
dollar grant based on what the town manager just said? Uh we are trying our best and as fast as we can go. Can we get occupancy Andy in the building as far as the upper two levels for staff to be able to start transitioning there? I don't know for sure, but I would imagine
we can. Um and also we once we can get again the fire alarm and the the doors, things like that are so key. I believe we can get in the building I believe without the elevator. The elevator is just for ADA accessibility. It's not for safety and occupancy and things like
because actually if there's a fire you don't want to use the elevator. So that's not tied to that. But there also has to be a component on the elevator for if you get stuck on the elevator you've got, you know, alarms and things. So it's kind of like that's an accessory structure to the building that's just for ADA uh requirements. And if we don't
have employees or any, you know, our staff or residents who need to be upstairs, everybody can be met with downstairs. So there's not a problem with having a town hall downstairs. So I would think we could without the elevator. Well, it's certainly hopefully we're going to formulate a plan so we don't lose that million dollar grant.
Correct. We got to move whatever we got here around to continue moving forward. Correct. Can I just ask a quick question for a lot of people ask me what goes on behind our town hall with all those piles. Is that what happens? what what's going on back there and then what will
happen once this new plan comes into play. Uh Jeff Hy, community services director Fort Myers Beach. Uh so all of this is going to be used or most of it. I mean there is some some debris that they have to pick through while they do it, but it's going to be crushed or used for the
the the subbase. So it'll we're trying to raise the area about three feet. So all of that including the concrete will be crushed and used for um for a subbase to to raise it up. But is dayto-day though is some of that used for beach
renourishment is some of that is are people who are demolishing buildings putting concrete back there. Talk a little bit about that those exchange those interactions. Yeah. So, we do have a couple um things in place with some some demolition companies that we know we need that and it's going to be a lot
cheaper to just crush the concrete than to than to bring in fill. So, we have some arrangements with some of the the builders or the demolition companies to bring the concrete here. So, it's not just a free-for-all. You can dump wherever, but we do have some some agreements in place. Did I hear that the
Windom might be one of those properties that's depositing some of it? Yeah. Certainly, we can. I mean, there's some that there's still trash in there. So, we asked them not to bring things with trash in. So, when we're playing pickle ball one day, we could be partic theoretically playing on the old pinchers.
If we want to go that route, sure. Yes. That goes through your mind. I mean, this this park, I guess, in that this park is going to be made up of a lot of places on this island. Maybe we could just name it Windham Field. There you go.
or Pinchers Park. Pinchers pickle ball. Oh, there you go. Pinchers pickle ball park. Anything else? Anyone? All right. Move to adjurnn. Got a motion by councelor Kang. Second by councelor Stafford. Any further discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. I.
Opposed. We are adjourned at 10:48.