FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Pete Winton, Lee County Administration, (239) 335-2777

COMMISSION: ALICO ROAD WIDENING CONTRACT OK'd/
CAUSEWAY EXPEDITING PROCESS BEGINS

FORT MYERS, Fla. (April 8, 2003) - The Board of Lee County Commissioners today approved the following items during its regular weekly meeting. They are:

Alico Road Widening - Approved a $12.6-million construction contract with Phoenix Construction Services to widen Alico Road between U.S. 41 and I-75 from two lanes to six lanes. The county hopes to begin construction on the 2.85-mile stretch next week. After nearly three years of permitting tie-ups, the county received its federal permit for the project in August. It then had to re-bid the construction contract. The project will take 18 months to complete. For more information, contact Scott Gilbertson at 479-8580.

Causeway Declaration - Approved a resolution declaring an emergency exists relative to the condition of the Sanibel Causeway bridges. The declaration allows the county to expedite permitting through the U.S. Coast Guard, cutting a year or more off projected completion. The county hopes to start the replacement of the B and C spans later this year, with completion sometime in 2005.

Hurricane Shelter - Approved $115,000 as the county contribution to build the new YMCA at I-75 and Bonita Beach Road as a hurricane shelter. The City of Bonita Springs is contributing an additional $191,000. The upgrade will provide 1,450 additional hurricane shelter spaces. For more information, contact John Wilson at 335-1601.

Emergency Advertising - Authorized VCB Director D.T. Minich to spend up to $350,000 for emergency tourism advertising, at his discretion. Other in-state markets have approved additional funding based on the war. This may force Lee's VCB to use additional funds to compete.

Dock Permitting - Approved up to $50,000 to help the City of Cape Coral with its legal expenses relating to the dock permit moratorium imposed by the federal government.

Community Center - Approved $75,000 of Community Development Block Grant Funds to buy a building in the Pine Manor Community to be renovated and serve as a neighborhood community center. The center will be owned, operated and maintained by the Pine Manor Improvement Association. For more information, call Elly McKuen at 652-7942.

Youth Program - Approved one full-time and four part-time parks & recreation positions to run the 21st Century Grant program at Schandler Hall and North Fort Myers community centers. The $200,000 grant pays for educational and recreational programs to improve learning and communication skills of at-risk youth. The grant gives priority to programs that serve "D" schools, in this case Tice/Dunbar, J. Colin English, and Fort Myers Academy (formally Suncoast Elementary). For more information, call Barbara Manzo at 461-7400.