The meeting was opened by Mayor Anita T. Cereceda, at 6:30 P.M. on

February 12, 1996, with a pledge of allegiance to the flag.

I ROLL CALL

Anita T. Cereceda, Mayor Council Members:

Ted Fitzsimons, Vice Mayor Rusty Isler

Marsha Segal-George, Garr Reynolds

Interim Manager Ray Murphy

Attorney Richard Roosa

. Mayor Cereceda thanked everyone for being here, and stated that as

always, we begin with public comments and inquiries which pertain only to

agenda items. Following this, the attendees could say whatever they liked.

II THE READING AND DISPOSAL OF UNAPPROVED MINUTES

Mayor Cereceda advised that the minutes of February 5 will be delayed

until next week because they were not yet available.

III CRA PROJECT

A. Speakers:

1. Johanna Campbell

Ms. Campbell advised everyone that the CRA Project she

would be speaking on was not the same one that was voted on by members of

the CRA Island Committee back in September, 1993. That project was the

Estero Boulevard Survey; a south entrance streetscape; the Lynn Hall Park

Project, which was sidewalks; the Times Square Design/Development; Times

Square to Lani Kai Design/Development Project, and another one which was the

South Estero Boulevard Streetscape Design/Development. The total cost for

those projects back in '93 were $531,000 under what our TIF funds were. Lee

County about a year later changed the criteria for the CRA districts, and at that

time the designs that were just scheduled for Times Square and Lani Kai were

upgraded to the development. This was expanded by the county staff and the

committee had no choice but to accept it. We are now faced with a project

$1,000,000 over budget. Does the town council want to accept this project from

the county? Are you prepared to raise taxes on us residents to finish this

project? Are you all prepared to raise taxes on us residents to maintain the

project when it is completed? If you are prepared to maintain this project, then

why not the pool? Put the project and maintenance out to a straw vote as you all

did on the pool and see what the taxpayers want. Do we want to redevelop

Times Square right now? We were to have a market analysis three years ago

and we have only just received it this past month. Does that analysis support

the redevelopment? I'm not speaking to trash the CRA Project. I have been on

that committee for the past four years. Who doesn't want to improve Times

Square, but at what expense to us taxpayers? I would like to suggest to you all

to either go back to the September 1993 agreement of our local committee or the

county needs to come up with all the money to completely finish this project and

hand it over to this town in a completed fashion as it was designed by them.

2. Bob Gaydos

Mr. Gaydos identified the various commitees and

organizations to which he belongs, including the Fort Myers Beach Street

Lighting District, which is similar to the Fire District, running from Pine Ridge

Road to Big Carlos Pass. He is on that advisory board, he said, and they have

never been contacted by the CRA. The enhancement that the CRA is going to

do he feels is one of the big items. The cost that will be county-borne by them

will be for taking down and putting up lights. He has no idea what the cost for

this will be. Probably FPL are the only ones who can tell us. He urges that we

be careful. It should be some kind of interlocal agreement with MSTDU. He

feels that the lights are a catastrophe in this project.

3. Peter Lisich

Mr. Lisich stated that he would like to address two items that

will affect the town attorney items and council member Item 8 and 9. At the last

meeting of this council a letter was read which had been passed to Mr. Roosa

from Mr. Pat Loffreno. In that letter Mr. Loffreno had requested a variety of

detailed information regarding legal fees, other expenses related to this town

council having a voting moratorium. In what appeared to be somewhat of a

cavalier response to the questions that were raised by him, this item seemed to

be referred to the Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce. Since Mr. Loffreno

is a member of the Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce, I suspect that had

he wanted their opinion on this matter, he would have gone to them. However,

he asked for a response to what is a valid concern of all taxpayers on this island,

and that is simply what will it cost? I believe you owe him and all the taxpayers

on this island a response to that question. You cannot make decisions in a

vacuum without giving regard to the financial consequences of those decisions

will be. Therefore, I would like to ask you direct either our town council or our

town manager to respond to Mr. Loffreno's letter and I would like to have your

response to this perhaps during your council member items.

The next letter, Mr. Lisich advised, is addressed to Mr.

Richard Roosa in Cape Coral. The letter reads as follows:

Dear Mr. Roosa:

As a citizen of Fort Myers Beach and a concerned

taxpayer, I feel I must write to you about the proposed

moratorium in our town. If it is going to take effect, I must

know in writing

1. The implications that will be for our town in the matter

of litigations and expenses;

2. If the town loses a case, will we individually be

responsible for attorney's fees for the person or

developer who is suing the town?

3. How much would you anticipate your fee will be for

each of these cases?

4. Will the town be liable to property owners affected

by this moratorium?

Please fax me the above information as soon as possible as time

is of the essence. I will be attending the Monday meeting ...

Signed: Pat Loffreno

Mr. Lisich said that another item he would like to address is

that several weeks ago Mr. Charles Bigelow approached our mayor with a

seemingly innocent request to give a presentation in front of this council when,

in fact, this request appeared to be a carefully orchestrated attempt to involve

our town in a legal dispute on behalf of one of his clients. In pursuit of that same

goal of involving our town in his client's legal dispute and thereby shifting the

cost of that dispute from his client to the town and, therefore, our taxpayers,

Mr. Bigelow has now filed several lawsuits in the circuit court of Lee County

against the town of Fort Myers Beach. In order to posture ourselves defensively

and to help in the goal of minimizing legal expenses of this town, I would urge

you tonight to direct our acting town manager, perhaps, or Mr. Roosa if you like,

to establish a policy to be approved by you that this town will aggressively

pursue recovery of all expenses incurred by the Town of Fort Myers Beach in

any litigation in which we prevail or which we feel is without merit. Further, this

policy should state that we will seek financial recovery from both individuals and

groups collectively and from individual members of groups if the assets of those

groups are insufficient to cover the expenses of this town in that litigation ... We

will continue to leave the door open for any member of lawsuits of this type and

manner in the future, which may or may not be frivolous in nature. Such an

action to publicly make known a policy like this I think would be negligent on the

council's responsibilities to this town, again with the goal of minimizing the

expenses that we're going incur. I would ask you for a response to this during

the council members' items and see if we want to vote for a policy like that.

4. Mr. Pat Loffreno:

Mr. Loffreno passed out copies of his letter to Mr. Roosa to

the council members. He rebuked Mr. Roosa for calling his office and leaving a

message with his secretary that he should contact the Chamber of Commerce.

5. Ray Judah, County Commissioner

Mr. Judah said that we had one of the best administrations

in the nation and he wishes us well. He is counting on Marsha's ability, he said,

to be able not only to work miracles but to coordinate with other parties in trying

to resolve issues that obviously need great attention, the CRA for one. He

advised that we are going to hear a presentation from Roger DesJarlais, Deputy

County Administrator, Shaye Prather, Director of CRA, and Scott Whipple the

Project Manager for ... CRA. He said he thinks we understand the significance

of being eligible for the CRA program. It will do well to obviously enhance the

ambiance and infrastructure of the residences, as well as business to this island.

It is a great opportunity. Yes, there are challenges. Yes, there are issues that

need to be discussed and worked out. I'm hopeful tonight that we'll get one step

closer to being able to finalize and formalize whatever needs to be accomplished

in order to move forward with this community development program.

6. Scott Whipple

Mr. Whipple stated he would give a brief presentation of the

actual project. With the help of charts, Mr. Whipple explained the project to the

council and others assembled. He explained that when they started out the CRA

program, the local redevelopment planning committee identified five projects,

and they were called action projects. His first chart showed the sidewalk

segment in front of Lynn Hall Park. There is another sidewalk there right now

that stretches from the very northern end of Lynn Hall Park, passes the

entrance way where the one-way traffic circulation exists, and then comes around

the corner to touch Times Square. It consists of a plain sidewalk with several

lights which will match the others on the project, and those have some specialty

paving across the automobile entrance way. What we have designed is a

prototype or a hybrid of what could either function as a pedestrian mall or remain

as a street with automobile traffic going through it. We've designed it with the

concrete unit pavers that would match the sidewalk with three-inch-square

pavers in all of the curves shown on the chart. The different colors will be cobalt

blue, turquoise, beige and green. When we develop the idea for the design, it

will represent the interaction between land and water and the wave pattern. The

circles represent palm trees and we've programmed in all coconut palms that are

resistant to lethal yellowing. In essence, it creates really a lively space in Times

Square and we've allowed for sidewalk cafes or vendors for retailing. From this

point in Times Square, it hooks up to the sidewalks on Estero Boulevard.

Mr. Whipple points out to where the new MacDonald's is, as well as other

businesses. It stretches on both sides of Estero Boulevard with lights

and coconut palm trees. The gulf side was designed slightly larger because the

pedestrian circulation is greater on this side of the street, slightly smaller on the

bay side ... From there, it extends on down past Primo and Palermo and all the

way down to where it ends at the Lani Kai. Asked if it goes to the south side of

the Lani Kai, Mr. Whipple said that it did.

The other piece, Mr. Whipple said, is all the way at the other

end of the island. It begins basically at Santini Plaza, is a plain sidewalk with

the same lights as those in the business district, some landscaping, some

coconut palms. It passes all of the many driveways of the single-family

residential homes that exist in this area. Right now in this space is a swale open

ditch for drainage and we're proposing a pipe with the sidewalk on top of it so

that you would not longer see that open swale. It extends all the way to

Estrellita, which is the last street you come to on the island just before you get to

Big Carlos Pass. And at the end of it we've designed an entrance feature that

would mount up the incline so that you could see a welcome sign welcoming you

to Fort Myers Beach with landscaping, lighting and a trolley.

7. Shaye Prather, CRA

Ms. Prather advised that there isn't enough money right now

to do what Scott Whipple had outlined. For the town council she has prepared

what is basically an issue paper discussing why they have the problems they

have. Going back to April of 1994 when they had the Estero Island Committee

involved in this project, they ranked these five early action projects. They

actually ranked Lynn Hall number one, the south Estero Boulevard entrance

feature number two, Times Square number three, Times Square to Lani Kai

sidewalks, lighting and landscaping number four, and the south Estero

Boulevard sidewalks, landscape and lighting number five. This series of early

action projects was approved by the local committee, the County Redevelopment

Advisory committee, and the CRA board, which is the Lee County Commission.

Following the board's approval, the CRA staff proceeded to the construction dry

phase of the project; we signed a contract with Wallace, Roberts & Tide. You

saw a number of their drawings last week. This was of course all nearly a year

before the community of Fort Myers Beach voted on the incorporation. When

the demonstration projects were started, Ms. Prather observed, they had the

understanding that there would be sufficient tax increment financing revenues to

pay for the construction of these projects, even if the CRA had to borrow against

a future year's tax increment financing, which they call TIF.

On January 16, 1996, Ms. Prather continued, the CRA

Board of the County Commission agreed to proceed with the Estero Boulevard

project with the caveat that CRA funds to Estero Island would be limited to those

available funds which were generated prior to the date of incorporation,

December 31st. That amount is 2.337 million dollars. We have insufficient TIF

funds to complete the project as originally designed. The estimated project cost

is 3.4 million dollars in round numbers. The actual deficit is $1,083,797. The

deficit occurred firstly because of the incorporation issue. The project scope

was developed before the TIF was anticipated to be eliminated. When the TIF

ended, we didn't have enough money. The other issue was that the early cost

estimates that we had were very preliminary and they were wrong. We are

getting our actual proposals in right now, and our two main areas where we're

seeing problems ... are the site preparation costs, because this is a highly

congested area and contractors are scared to death to come in here and dig.

They don't know what they're going to find. The other area that significantly

increased prices is FP&L's cost to bury the utilities. That cost is now up to

$643,000 to bury the electrical telephone and cable.

Some possible solutions to the financial problems:

1. First Alternative

a. Eliminate the Lynn Hall Park segment, although some of the

work has been done. That would take out the lights and the landscaping and the

sidewalk.

b. Eliminate in the South Estero segment the sidewalk and the

entrance feature. It would still be $270,000 short, so you would have to

eliminate many, many of the site amenities in the Times Square area: the

benches, the trash receptacles, some of the lighting, some of the landscaping.

This alternative eliminates nearly all of the visible ... of the project. What you

have left would be paving, drainage, lights, and the underground utilities in the

Times Square area and you'd have the lights and sidewalks on Estero Boulevard

to the Lani Kai.

2. Second Alternative

a. Eliminate Lynn Hall Park.

b. Eliminate the South Estero sidewalks but retain the entrance

feature and some landscaping. And instead of burying the utilities, relocate

them across the street in the Times Square area. Right now, if you were to build

that sidewalk, you'd have FP&L folds right in the middle of where that sidewalk is

going to be.

This would allow some minimal improvements at the south end and

retain all the Times Square amenities, for example, the trolley shelter, the

benches, the tree breaks, etc.

3. Third Alternative

This alternative would again reduce the project by one million

dollars. Eliminate Lynn Hall and simply leave the utilities where they are

presently located. FP&L has looked at this. There is sufficient room to

accommodate a field chair around where some of those articles are located.

That's their criteria for whether they pay for moving utilities or we have to pay for

it. So they're saying they don't have to pay for it. There is room to walk around

those power poles. If you did this, you would retain the majority of all the

elements except, of course, the utilities burial, and they would be in some

awkward locations in the sidewalk where you would have the power poles. It

would allow construction of the south end sidewalk from Santini Plaza to

approximately Red Fish Road. If we look at this alternative, there would be a

little additional investigation regarding ADA requirements and any liability that

might be incurred as a result of putting a sidewalk with power poles in some

locations in the middle of it.

4. Fourth Alternative

Locate additional funding sources. From our perspective, the Lee

County Commission has told us that additional TIF is not available. There is

also the option of looking at $300,000 from the Community Park impact fee

money. That would assist in adding facts and elements of the project. That

would require Lee County Commission approval. Finally, the town of Fort Myers

Beach could apply federal Ice Tea funds, which have been previously earmarked

for Stringfellow Road. They are available now and this could be used, say, for

the South Estero sidewalks. The funds would be available in '97-'98. that would

be an application to the Metropolitan Planning Organization.

5. Fifth Alternative

To cancel CRA participation in the project and turn the funds over

to the town of Fort Myers Beach, with just the reminder that all TIF funds are

absolutely required to meet Chapter 163 requirements for expenditures. They

can't be used for government expenditures or any project which has been in the

CIP for the past three years. That's state law. Additionally, Lee County might

impose a requirement that any expenditure meet the CRA's adopted project

egibility guidelines that all county CRA projects do have to meet now.

That's the first issue and probably the most complex and difficult to

deal with.

The second issue that we believe needs some consideration by the

town council is a resolution accepting maintenance responsibility for the

improvements. A July 1995 estimate of the annual maintenance for the Times

Square improvements was projected to be $31,375. It's a proposed millage of

about 1.96. It would improve electricity for the new lights; cleaning and taking

care of the paving; removing ... every day at Times Square and fertilizing the

plants, and those kinds of ongoing activities that do need to occur to keep the

improvements in good condition. This request is again related to the

incorporation issue. After the incorporation vote, the county attorney informed

us that the county has no legal right to impose what we call a municipal services

taxing unit in an incorporated area. Now the town council could by ordinance

ask that one be imposed to pay for these maintenance costs, and that's certainly

one option. There is, as one gentleman mentioned earlier, an existing street

light district that contains quite a bit more property than the area that we're

talking about. It is my understanding that that district needs some modification

now that Fort Myers Beach is incorporated. You may want to look at two

separate MSTUs. There are all sorts of combinations. That's one way of

accepting the maintenance responsibility. This is a condition of our DOT permits

for this project. The Lee County DOT will not accept maintenance responsibility

for this project whatsoever, and the board has gone along with that and, in fact,

imposed that requirement itself. So if we don't get some sort of resolution to the

maintenance issue, then we can't move forward at all. We won't get our permits.

Issue three is one that I don't really have an answer for you

-- What would be the cost to property owners for underground utilities.

Naturally, if the utilities are located across the street or left above ground it's not

an issue at all. If they are buried it's important that property owners know that to

get to the street from where their hookups are going to be, they've got to pay an

electrician to do that and it needs to go underground. We tried to get numbers

from FP&L but because every property is entirely different, they refused to give

us a linear foot estimate, so I don't have those figures for you tonight. If this is a

major concern, we can try to talk to some electricians.

Issue four is the Interlocal Agreement. The Estero Island CRA

officially ceased to exist on December 31. We as a staff can't complete any

further work, sign any contracts, go any further at this point without basically

permission from the town to allow us to work on its behalf. This is what we have

been asking for in an interlocal agreement. I believe there are some other

stipulations in the interlocal agreement that the Estero Island Committee which

has worked for so many years on this project be allowed to reactivate it, because

even though unofficially they're meeting, they actually don't exist right now. So

the interlocal agreement is extremely important to us to get moving.

Those are the main issues we have to deal with, Ms. Prather

advised. They are extremely hard ones to tackle. Regarding the deficit, Ms.

Prather said they are not proposing any one single alternative to the town

council. It is the town's project and their choice to make. But they will be

available to help in any way they can.

Ted Fitzsimons asked Ms. Prather to explain the 1.9 mils again and

if it would apply.

Ms. Prather said it would apply and was a very rough estimate and

will change also. There is a direct benefit to the property owners who front the

areas that have the improvements.

It was suggested that $30,000 could come from a fund that already

exists for the lighting district. That could be used for maintenance. The

maintenance figure includes more than lights. A new MSTU would have to be

set up.

Roger DesJarlais, Lee County Administrator, advised the following:

You currently have the taxing district that looks after your lighting needs today.

You are going to have to do something with that lighting district anyway as a

result of incorporation. It is very possible that what you'll end up with is

something that looks like a wash financially and be able to include the other

maintenance items, such as street cleaning, etc., in your new funding

mechanism, whatever that is. You'll be faced with that decision whether you do

this project or not. The question is for how much will you have to do it.

Ted Fitzsimons questioned where exactly the south end project

began. He was told it started at Buccaneer Drive, which is the entrance to

Laguna Shores.

Ms. Prather said that the Board's position on the improvement of

the project was to find another funding source.

It was established that Times Square will now be within the Town

of Fort Myers Beach jurisdiction. Estero Boulevard will remain in the county

jurisdiction, just like Del Prado Boulevard does in Cape Coral. The road at

Times Square might not be maintained by the county. DOT, according to Ms.

Prather, is saying they will not maintain any of the new sidewalks that have been

put in, or the new lights or new trees.

Garth Reynolds asked if we could take the funds outlined in Item 5

and put them in an account and use them as long as we stay within the

guidelines of the CIP. It says it is possible that those funds can be transferred to

Fort Myers Beach. Ms. Prather said they would have to recommend it to the

County Commission, who would make that call; that any funds would be spent

consistent with all the other CRA projects in all our other five areas, and it would

need to meet those economic guidelines. They simply have to have an

economic benefit and a return on the investment to the community. Stand-alone

sidewalks do not meet the guidelines. Some combination of projects, generally

in business districts or industrial areas, does. It is stricter in a sense than

Florida Chapter 163 requirements. But those are absolute. You cannot use

them for general government or anything that's been in the CIP for the last three

years. This process is a scoring system. If you've got 110 points, you have to

get 65 to make it. There are varying degrees of meeting the guidelines and you

can still go ahead and spend the money. CRA funds are not only spent on hard

costs, Ms. Prather advised. They can be soft costs as well. Roger DesJarlais

said they would be happy to give the council a copy of the CRA guidelines that

the board has approved for spending CRA dollars throughout the county. If after

looking them over you have some modifications that you would like to do

yourselves and go through the evaluation process with us to see if they meet the

guidelines, we'd be happy to do that, he advised.

Scott Whipple said that a couple of weeks ago this project was

$700,000 over budget and this week it is a million. Ms. Prather advised that the

difference between a couple of weeks ago and now is FPL. She noted that the

CRA hadn't gone out to bid, but are going through a construction manager who

is hiring subs. He is looking for the lowest bid everywhere he can. On many of

the items, the price was right in line, and it was that site preparation that was the

killer. He could not find anybody in this county who was willing to come in and

start digging without charging quite a bit. Asked if they would have to come from

within the county, Ms. Prather replied no.

Mayor Cereceda asked Ms. Prather why the local committee is now

non-existent. Jack Peterson, legal counsel from the Attorney's Office advised

that the CRA went out of existence when Fort Myers Beach was incorporated but

is still working on a good faith agreement. As long as they feel they are working

toward a common goal, everything is still happening as it did prior to the

incorporation. The Mayor asked if the local committee was advised of this

maintenance cost, and she was told yes.

The Mayor stated that the hookups were a major deal. Roger

DesJarlais advised that she has been presented with options to avoid that cost

and the Mayor said that would be like buying a new dress and wearing old

shoes. She is also concerned about the sidewalks. The sidewalks were

grandfathered in to go with this plan. Now if we don't adopt this plan, are you

saying that if we don't use CRA money, we'll never be able to get sidewalks?

She was told that that would be a policy call.

Ted Fitzsimons said that the new county guidelines came into

existence after our five early action projects were identified. That is why we

were told basically that our projects were grandfathered in whether they qualified

or no. Also, he said, I have never seen a qualification test done on these CRA

projects relative to the new county guidelines. I have done a two-minute run

through myself and I have come up with a disqualification. Shay told him that it

was done and received a score of about 82 out of 110 points. It went on to the

board and was approved; she thinks it was last April or May. Ted asked if we

were ever exposed to the results of that analysis and was told that the results

were actually included in the blue sheet that got board approval. A blue sheet

was defined as the sheet that is attached to a proposed project for board

approval and it outlines the scope of the project, etc. Ted asked if the results

were ever transmitted to the local committee and was told, yes, they talked about

it shortly after the project was approved.

Mayor Cereceda said she wouldn't mind having a workshop with

the committee who has been working on this for five years. The Mayor was told

that they would have to get most of their input from the county and she said that

she could not imagine the council entering into an interlocal agreement with the

county. Take a few days and digest all of this, she was told, and the CRA would

be happy to sit in on as many workshops as she desired.

The FPL cost was now estimated to be $643,000. It would be for

the whole works.

Garth Reynolds read a letter he had written but never delivered

after he had attended a meeting of the CRA with the other council members on

January 8. In the letter Mr. Reynolds questioned the progress of the CRA

project for the Times Square district. The letter states that he came to the

meeting expecting to be informed that the Times Square project was healthy and

ready to go but learned that it was not nearly ready to begin. He advised he

could understand the planning part, but when it came to the project's

outsourcing, he becomes lost. He outlined his concerns as follows:

1. Why were these contracts farmed out to another contractor

to get estimates? Could this not have been handled by the project manager,

perhaps with the assistance of a consultant?

2. Why is this contractor being paid more to get higher income

and contract bids for the various jobs?

3. Why weren't the businesses and property owners contacted

and asked to sign good faith intentions and/or agreements regarding

construction along the properties?

4. Why haven't easement agreements along the property been

obtained?

5. Why weren't the businesses and property owners informed

that there may be certain costs passed on to them?

6. Why hasn't FPL been more involved in this project?

The letter goes on to say that Mr. Reynolds does not believe that

as town council members they can obligate their community to liabilities that this

presently incomplete project may bring.

The letter asked that the following items receive further study and

attention:

1. The final job plan should be completed and approved for

bidding.

2. Competitive bids should be advertised and choices made.

3. The actual contract should be signed before ground is

broken. Everything in the contract should state what is to be done down to the

very specifics.

The letter states further that although a government may use a

contractor manager as a way of doing business, many consider this a cop-out

way for those in position who should be making the decisions. Generally, higher

bids mean more money for the contract manager so there is no incentive to

economize or stay within the budget. Everyone touched by a project should

know the costs and commitments for the entire project. For the reasons outlined,

Mr. Reynolds said he couldn't support the Times Square Project in its present

stage of development and planning.

After reading the letter, Mr. Reynolds said he is not against the

project, but at the time he wrote the letter this is how things appeared to him. He

now feels that a great deal of thought has been given to the project since

January, but feels there is still a long way to go.

Roger DesJarlais told the council to take a few days and absorb all

that they have learned tonight and then let the CRA know how they would like to

proceed. He stated that they were as anxious as the council to see the project

succeed.

Ted Fitzsimons questioned the CRA Option 5, turning the money

over to the town. Would that include all of the effort and output of the WRT

consulting team and the staff? Shaye Prather said that as far as the staff goes,

she would certainly commit to this. As everybody knows, most of the operating

costs for staff have been coming out of TIF. The staff is essentially paid for

through September 30. In terms of the actual construction, they would go

beyond that, of course.

Ted also wanted to know if the figure of 2.3 million dollars

presently in their TIF trust fund had also been tapped for their administrative

costs or is that the net figure with the administrative taken out of it. Shaye

advised him that was the net figure that was available for this project and that a

total of $275,000 has been taken out.

Garth Reynolds said that he understood that the county had

initially obligated itself for five years for new administrative fees. Shaye said that

there was a resolution that was was signed a number of years ago that stated

that the county would give, she believed, $300,000 a year. It did not identify a

source of funds. It did not state general funds. TIF funding of CRA operations is

pretty much the standard way to go throughout the state of Florida. Very rarely

do you see general fund money being used to support staff unless there is just

not enough TIF.

Shaye Prather said that their actual expenditures were slightly over

$400,000 last year. It was based on a formula and was a percentage of the TIF

-- about 12-15%. To the question put to her regarding what happens next year

without Estero Island's TIF accumulation, Shaye replied that the remaining five

CIA districts pay significantly higher contributions towards operating than they

do at the present time. They are well aware of it.

IV REPORT OF MARSHA SEGAL-GEORGE

Mrs. Segal-George said she had made a list of about ten options and she

will have them ready for the next agenda. She stated that it seemed there were

a lot of gaps in this project where things were not done. With regard to the

whole issue of the street lighting district, including maintenance costs, we have

to actually deal with the town, go in and create an MSTU and decide how it

would be configured, how assessments would be made. Mrs. Segal-George

wanted the council to have as much factual information as possible before

making decisions.

One of the things they want to address is whether or not Times Square is

a county road. Also to be addressed is DOT requiring that the town agree to

maintenance before they would issue permits. As far as Mrs. Segal-George

knows, that is not board directed but something that DOT has decided.

As you forward your options to the Board of County Commissioners, you

will be creating dialogue with them, not their staff. The staff can only speak for

the staff.

Shaye Prather didn't feel they would get any definitive answers from the

county.

Shaye also advised that as new things come up, DOT is establishing

requirements. The whole issue of Times Square is up for debate. Is it a county

road or a town road?

Discussed was whether or not to increase the workshops. One is already

scheduled for Friday, February 16. The Mayor said that some discussions could

work well at a committee meetings. In this way they could get a bunch of things

moving and then that committee could report back to the council where they

could be discussed and perhaps give the committee some more direction. A

meeting is planned for February 20 at 6:30 with the resolution of a goal and plan

for Monday the 26th.

V DISCUSSION OF TOWN EQUIPMENT AND OFFICE

CONFIGURATIONS

A. Purchase of Equipment

Marsha Segal-George stated that Rusty Isler had prepared a

memorandum with regards to what the preliminary needs are for the office, and

all council members have a copy of it. They also have a footprint of the office

space. Mr. Isler enumerated the different office equipment they would need. He

was questioned regarding the notebook computer, and Mr. Isler said Marsha

would be able to take advantage of its portability. They would also buy a regular

computer. Rusty suggests this should be a Gateway 2000 with 16 megabytes

and 810 megabytes for the hard drive. He feels this computer, which can

network, would be the most cost-effective long-term solution to their computer

needs.

Mrs. Segal-George will also need a telephone, fax machine, and a

copier. She gave credit to Mr. Huber and Joanna Campbell for copying the

material she brought to tonight's meeting, including 7 or 8 copies of a 38-page

document printed on both sides. Mr. Huber said he used a Starcraft copier that

prints 14 copies a minute and costs $1,500. He called the company that

manufactures the copier and they agreed to put a demo unit in Marsha's office

on Thursday. They can use it until the end of the month when they will decide

whether or not to keep it. It is guaranteed for 90 days and has a $400 service

contract which is for 20,000 copies. If you run over that amount, the cost is two

cents a copy more. It includes all the toner and supplies except the paper. The

machine also has an enlarger and reduction features. It can print in color if you

buy the inks.

Marsha advised that in the meantime, Mr. DesJarlais said there is

equipment available at the county that they could borrow. He will try to get her a

fax machine and a PC tomorrow. Also, the county through the commissioner's

office has generously allowed them to go to the Hough Street warehouse

tomorrow go through all of their surplus goods. Mr. Huber will go there with Mr.

Reynolds and put Post-Its on the things they want. The warehouse will deliver

the things they select. They will not be charged for any of these items. These

will get them by until they make permanent purchases.

Rusty said they should look at this as a business and pay strict

attention to quality when purchasing items. Several council members said they

need something right away.

Motion: Made by Rusty Isler and seconded by Ray Murphy to approve the

purchase of the first batch of equipment and research the rest of the equipment. Passed with one no vote from Garth Reynolds.

Mr. Reynolds did not see a need for a notebook.

Mr. Fitzsimons said his concern was for the immediate future. They

should have a PC in the office as soon as possible.

Mr. Huber felt that Marsha should have a two-line phone. It would

cost about $80. A second phone should also be available.

B. Office Configuration

Mrs. Segal-George said they had two choices. They could have

one office for everyone together with a conference room for meetings.

Another option would be to have an office for the Mayor, a

conference room, and another office for everyone else.

Other options were also discussed. A room was suggested for

Marsha, another for records, another for a library, etc. The big room was

suggested for committee meetings. It was suggested that the mayor's office

could be shared, but Garth Reynolds said he'd like to see a room set aside just

for the mayor so that it would always be presentable when people were being

interviewed.

A decision was made on how to allocate the space. They could put

up work stations.

VI OTHER COUNCIL MATTERS

A. Committee Assignments

Committees have not yet been assigned. Attorney Roosa said they

needed to have two types of committees. The first type would be created by an

ordinance, like the LPA. Another type would be ad hoc, or special privilege

committees. These committees should be adopted by resolution. It is important

to define the responsibilities of the committees or they will make tremendous

demands on the town manager. The resolution will tell how members are

selected for a committee and what their qualifications have to be. If it's a town

committee, it has to be created by the town council.

B. Franchises

Mrs. Segal-George said she had made copies of the franchise fees

from Sanibel so that the council members would each have for their records a

copy of all of the different franchises Sanibel has granted and the varying

percentages that they are collecting. She would need help in beginning some

kind of discussion with folk they would enter into franchise with and do one a

week. It is her understanding that the county has privatized beach sewer. If that

is in fact true, then the town could negotiate a franchise fee. She asked the

council to think about how to help her in garnering some help so that they could

move this thing forward.

C. Bank Signatures for the Local Government Trust Fund

Marsha Segal-George advised that this has to do for the funds that

are sitting in NationsBank, to move those so that they would get a better

percentage on them. This is part of the transition from Mr. Mills to Mrs. Segal-

George. Marsha suggested they have at least two signature cards. It was

decided that Anita Cereceda, Ted Fitzsimons and Ray Isler would sign the cards.

D. Agenda for Friday, February 16, 1996

Mrs. Segal-George apologized for not having the agenda for

February 16 to pass out at this meeting.

The February 16 meeting will be held at St. Raphael's Church and it

starts at 1:00. There will be a presentation by Wayne Daltry, Executive Director

for Southwest Florida Planning Council. Then there will be a presentation by

Bruce Rogers, Planning Director City of Sanibel; a presentation by Ken Falser,

Assistant Planning Director City of Sanibel. There will be the draft moratorium

ordinance. Mrs. Segal-George if the council would like to add anyone else to the

agenda. She would suggest adding Michael Reitman from the Building

Association, who is here tonight. Mr. Reitman agreed to come. Ted

Fitzsimons suggested Charles Gautier from the DCA or someone in his place as a

possibility for Friday.

E. Letter from Mr. Yeager

Attorney Roosa advised that the council members should have

received a copy of the letter he sent to Mr. Jim Yeager, County Attorney, with

respect to the enforcement of ordinances. The Mayor received a reply.

Mr. Roosa noted that Mr. Yeager's letter referred to four lawsuits

with which are they have been served. To summarize the lawsuits, Mr. Roosa

advised that the first lawsuit is a declaratory action with regards to a special

permit for the sale of alcoholic beverages at the Best Western Hotel. It has to

do with its consistency with 18.2.1. We are the defendants because when we

incorporated on December 31, we inherited the Lee County Land Plan as

amended, so every amendment in existence is our plan.

The second lawsuit was a rezoning action having to do with the

Pink Shell Resort.

The next two lawsuits are petitions. He recommends we follow the

same legal reasoning of the county in each of these two actions, as the county

has had many of such types of lawsuits.

Mr. Roosa said he needed the council's authorization to represent

them in each of these actions.

Motion: Made by Ray Murphy and seconded by Rusty Isler for Mr. Roosa to

represent the council in the matter of the lawsuits. All in favor.

F. Administrative Assistant

Mr. Ted Fitzsimons wanted to know if we shouldn't be advertising for

an administrative assistant now. Mrs. Segal-George said it would be a while

before she can think about the type of help she will need.

G. Opening Up an Office Supply Account

Mrs. Segal-George said she hadn't yet opened up an account with

Office Depot or some other outlet, but she does have the documentation to do

so.

H. Letter from Ken Griffith

Mr. Ken Griffith of Dean Witter sent a letter to the town council in

September 1996 offering to do an inventory of the county's records to be able to

give the planning function of the town a listing of what permits are out there now

that are active and what permits are inactive. Mr. Griffith said his letter was sent

after the September 15th workshop. When they made the initial offer, there was

no discussion of moratoriums. He hopes that information is not relevant to that

issue. All they want to do is to get facts together and to assist the city in their

decisions relative to planning. They still represent private landowners and

developers that own property within Fort Myers Beach. Mr. Fitzsimons thought

this might be a conflict, but Mr. Griffith assured everyone that the offer was only

made to help the city. Mr. Roosa said he thought that information would be very

very helpful and he would like to ask for one more thing. We have many platted

many platted subdivisions on Estero Island and all Mr. Roosa would like is a list

of the plat books and pages so that we could order them from the clerk, because

those are records that we should also have in the town. Mayor Cereceda asked

if everyone was in agreement to have Mr. Griffith do this, and all concurred. She

thanked Mr. Griffith for his help. He said he would wait until the decision on the

moratorium has been reached.

I. Assistance of County Appraiser

Marsha Segal-George was asked to place on an agenda a meeting

with the County Appraiser so they can tell us where we stand with some of our

maps and possibly update them. Those are going to be real important when we

do things like planning. Marsha asked that if they were amenable to it, should

she schedule the County Appraiser for a presentation on a regular hearing

agenda. She was given the go-ahead.

J. Traffic Committee

Garth Reynolds asked if he would need to give in names today for

approval for a traffic committee. Attorney Roosa advised that first Mrs. Reynolds

would need a resolution to create the committee showing its specific

responsibilities. He himself would take care of the resolution if he tells him what

he wants. Mr. Roosa will have the resolution ready at the next meeting.

K. County Attorney

Garth Reynolds raised the question as to whether their town

attorney would be hired for the general public or for the town council members.

Mayor Cereceda said that the town attorney is an employee of the town council

and not an employee of the town. Mr. Reynolds made a proposal the we do not

have the general public calling their town attorney. Mr. Roosa said the biggest

advantage to having an attorney on the staff is to have open communication with

him. As far as the general public is concerned, he would say I'm sorry, but I am

instructed by the town council not to discuss town matters. But he would like

permission to talk to an attorney, which he feels is in the council's best interest.

Mr. Reynolds felt that Mr. Roosa should be put on a retainer

instead of paying him hourly. Mr. Roosa advised that the scope of their legal

work is going to be up front, and when that is resolved, they would hope that

things would becomes more routine. And it would seem that that would be a

more appropriate time to have a retainer set up. There would have to be a

schedule. Mr. Roosa said he did not want to get paid for not doing things. At

this stage, he would better serve them on an hourly basis. Mr. Isler said that he

agreed with Mr. Roosa and other members agreed as well. Mayor Cereceda

asked that he get together with Marsha Segal-George and they might be able to

come up with another arrangement. Mr. Roosa said that they may be alluding to

a full-time attorney, and he would not be interested in that. A full-time attorney,

he cautioned, will need a secretary, a library, and a computer as he has in his

practice. It will require certain amenities.

L. Tabling the Moratorium

Mr. Isler referred to the draft Attorney Roosa had given them this

evening of a draft of a moratorium. He wanted to know if there was a particular

schedule for first meetings and things of that nature. He has been approached

by many people about the moratorium, Mr. Isler stated. The people who have

come to him are upset about the timing, the late hour, that it wasn't tabled. They

wanted to know why the Mayor didn't table it for a later time. Mr. Roosa advised

that there was a provision in the town charter that any council member can bring

an ordinance to the council. It can be introduced and then it has to proceed

through a hearing. They would need to have three votes in order to get an

ordinance through. He would suggest they do a draft ordinance first because

sometimes they can get two others to agree to the draft. But you cannot

override the charter. Once an ordinance is voted on, the vote stands. Mr.

Roosa said he didn't think you could table the introduction of an ordinance if the

person who proposes the ordinance wants it to go forward because that would

violate the charter. You can't put an obstacle in the way of the charter. The

charter allows for each of you to introduce ordinances. Robert's Rules are

superseded by the charter.

M. Resolution for Town of Sanibel and William Mills

Mayor Cereceda asked Mr. Roosa if he had drawn up a resolution

essentially thanking Bill Mills and another one for the City of Sanibel as

requested. Mr. Roosa advised that he had started out with a little thank you for

Sanibel and a big thank you for Bill and they're in a resolution. He read it to the

assemblage. Mayor Cereceda suggested that the resolution be put on fancy

paper so that it could be offered as a gift. A vote was needed.

Motion: Made by Ted Fitzsimons and seconded by Rusty Isler to put the

resolution on special paper. Passed unanimously.

VII ADDITIONAL PRESENTATIONS

A. Michael Reitman

Michael Reitman, Executive Vice President of the Lee Building

Industry Association, advised that his organization used to be called the 5

County Builders and Contractors Association. They are affiliated with the

National Association of Home Builders in Washington, DC, and the Florida

Home Builders Association. It is part of the largest network of trade associations

representing the building industry in the United States, and probably one of the

largest in the world. He will speak at the workshop on Friday and advised that

they are concerned about the proposed building moratorium. Some of their

concerns are:

1. Higher proposed taxes;

2. Lower wages and salaries;

3. Fewer jobs;

4. More expensive housing.

Mr. Reitman feels that a moratorium sends out a specific

message: Stay away from there. Moratoria can be politically popular in the short

run, but they typically create larger problems as economic costs mount. He

urges the council to very carefully consider the repercussions of the imposition

of a building moratorium. There is no more emotional issue than to tell someone

that he or she cannot use that piece of property that they have owned for some

time. He looks forward to some meaningful dialogue on Friday.

B. John Lallo

Mr. Lallo talked about the CRA project. He advised that the project

is not over-budgeted. The timing of this town becoming a city has created a

problem. They were going to borrow on next year's ?? but now they can't. He

thinks it is important that we get along with this thing as soon as possible,

because these guys are coming to you offering you money and you need to run

with it. It is important that we get the project done in an off season otherwise he

stands to lose $5,000 to $10,000 a week. He supports Project 3 which

eliminates the underground cable. He feels that the MSTU is a great idea as

long as we can get the cooperation of San Carlos Island residents.

C. Al Van Horn

Mr. Van Horn advised he is a member of a traffic committee that

has been under the auspices of the Chamber of Commerce for a number of

years. He would like to serve on our traffic committee when it is formed. He

identifies Estero Boulevard as a state road and says that all roads leading into it

are non-state. At the moment we became incorporated, those roads are non-

county. The Times Square area is town. The traffic light is on a state road and

the county has been assuming the responsibility for the operation and

maintenance of that state light. They will see if the state will take over the

responsibility for it now. Regarding expediting the traffic flow, they feel that the

Pine Ridge stop light is the culprit. Mr. Van Horn also gave other ideas they are

working on the ease the traffic. Mr. Reynolds said he has been advised that the

state road ends on this side of the bridge and that Estero Boulevard is a county

road. They will both look further into the matter.

D. Howard Rynerson

Addressing the town attorney situation, Mr. Rynerson said that he

agreed that the town attorney should be put on a retainer rather than be paid on

an hourly basis. He also hopes that we get three or four bids when doing the

remodeling of the town hall.

E. Peter Lisich

Asked for the follow up on Mr. Lofreino's request. the Mayor

advised him that she will follow through on it.

F. Larry Eder

Mr. Eder identified himself as being with the Beach Observer. He

asked Mr. Roosa if restrictions on public access applied to the press. He was

advised that he wouldn't be restricted.

G. Carlton Ryffel

Mr. Ryffel, a resident and professional planner, said he'd like to

talk about Friday's meeting. He would like for the council to make a real

informed decision about this moratorium, about where it goes from here. He has

been working on some information that he doesn't think anyone has, and if he

can get it all done by Friday he would like the opportunity to present it to the

council because he thinks it would give them a more rounded basis to make a

decision. Mayor Cereceda stated that Friday's meeting will be a workshop with

no public input, nor will they be making any decisions on the moratorium.

Marsha Segal-George advised him that she could put him on the agenda and

that the folks listed on the agenda would address him, he could ask questions of

them, and they could discuss it among themselves. Mayor Cereceda said that if

we start doing that with workshops, what they are going to have are lists of

people that want to be part of the workshops.

VIII ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 10:50 P.M.

Respectfully submitted,

Lorraine Calhoun

Recording Secretary