FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

BOARD APPROVES 20/20 PURCHASE/
HURRICANE SHELTER IMPROVEMENTS

FORT MYERS, Fla. (May 6, 2003) - The Board of Lee County Commissioners today approved the following items during its regular weekly meeting. They are:

Conservation 20/20 - Approved the purchase of a 320-acre parcel in North Fort Myers through the Conservation 20/20 Program. The tract is at the northwest corner of Nalle Road and Nalle Grade Road in North Fort Myers, east of I-75 and about three miles north of Bayshore Road. Cost: $1.63 million.
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Hurricane Shelters - Approved construction management agreements with Westco Builders to make hurricane shelter improvements to Skyline Elementary School ($350.000) and Lee Middle School ($537,700). The work will be done this summer. Lee Middle will have 620 spaces and Skyline 1,695.

Affordable Housing - Approved a grant award to Habitat for Humanity for $177,645 to build eight single-family homes for low-income persons.

Water Monitoring - Approved an agreement with the South Florida Water Management District to improve water table monitoring. The two-year, $540,000 project will be funded by the county ($300,000) and SFWMD ($240,000). Lee County has a network of groundwater wells used primarily to monitor groundwater elevation developed as part of the Surface Water Master Plan recommendations. The need for water related data has grown as development continues and efforts are made to quantify the impacts and to identify opportunities for water conservation. Most of the wells were installed to monitor the wet season water table and are at an insufficient depth to provide data through the dry season. This project proposes to deepen and improve these wells and thereby improve data quality. This information is useful to Lee County and the South Florida Water Management District and cost sharing is an efficient means to complete the project.

Road Paving - Approved an additional $241,408 of countywide road resurfacing projects due to obtaining a low asphalt price. The roads are:

Eagle Ridge Dr./Daniels to Fairways entrance
Bald Eagle Dr./Twin Eagle Dr. to Eagles Flight
Eagles Flight Lane/Eagle Ridge to Bald Eagle
Canaan Dr./Shell Point to cul de sac
David Dr./Shell Point to cul de sac
Fair Havens Rd./Shell Point to cul de sac
Constitution Blvd./Constitution Circle to US 41
Eden St./Shellpoint to cul-de-sac
1st. SW/ Ruth Ave. to Sunshine
Hamilton Ave./ 9th St. E. to 10th St. E.
Cortez Ave./ E. 8th to E. 9th St.
Wells Ave./ 21st to 20th St.
Lincoln Ave./10th St. to End
22nd St./Sunshine East to end
Birch Ave./Sunrise to Anderson St. E.
Maple Ave./13th St. to 350' South