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Board OKs Sanibel Settlement/Approves 27 Positions for Growth
Mar 1, 2005 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Pete Winton, Lee County Administration BOARD OKs SANIBEL SETTLEMENT/APPROVES 27 POSITIONS FOR GROWTH FORT MYERS, FL (March 1, 2005) - The Board of Lee County Commissioners today approved the following items during its regular weekly meeting. All decisions were unanimous. They are: Sanibel Causeway - Approved the settlement agreement with the City of Sanibel over the Sanibel Causeway litigation. See the attached agreement for specifics. Discount Pricing - Authorized the Lee County Department of Transportation to proceed with an application to the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Value Pricing Pilot Program for developmental study and implementation of variable (now referred to as value) pricing on the Sanibel Causeway. New Positions - Approved 27 new positions (23 full time and 4 part time) and seven vehicles for the Department of Community Development to provide adequate customer service due to record building activity. Annual cost is about $1.5 million - all but about $90,000 is fee supported. The positions break out: 7 Building Inspectors; 1 Plan Reviewer; 1 Zoning Plan Review Supervisor; 6 Permit Representatives; 2 Permit Supervisors; 2 Permit Representatives; 2 Development Review Representatives; 2 Environmental Reviewers; 4 Conversion of temps to part-time. Linear Park - Approved the purchase of nine properties for a total of $1.06 million for the Ten Mile Linear Park Project. The properties were purchased between Colonial Boulevard and Daniels Parkway. This park will include a trail utilizing the Ten Mile Canal right of way on each side and will extend from north of Colonial Boulevard to Mullock Creek. When completed it will provide a north-south pedestrian and bicycle route from the North Colonial Linear Park (East and West) to South Fort Myers. Jail Expansion - Authorized entering into a Construction Manager Agreement with Kraft Construction Company to build the Ortiz Jail Expansion at a fee of 4.5 percent of the total cost. The county and Kraft will now negotiate a guaranteed maximum price. This provides Construction Management services for the construction of an 8-story building as an expansion to the existing Ortiz facilities, demolition of the existing stockade buildings, selective site clearing and development, selective remodeling and addition to the existing Core building. Captiva Beach Renourishment - Approved paying $3.54 million to the Captiva Erosion Prevention District as the county's share of the upcoming renourishment on Captiva. The total project cost is estimated at $24.6 million. The county's portion is coming from tourist taxes. |