Feb 1, 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Contact: Jim Lavender, Lee County Public Works, 479-8301 

COUNTY TO HOLD HARBOR HIDEAWAY PUBLIC MEETING TO RECEIVE INPUT ON NEWEST BOAT RAMP 

FORT MYERS, Fla. (February 1, 2006) Lee County will hold a public meeting on Pine Island Wednesday (February 8) to receive public input on the future plans for renovation of the Harbor Hideaway boat ramp site. 

The meeting will be at 7 p.m. at the main building on the Harbor Hideaway property, 7290 Barrancas Avenue in Bokeelia. 

Attending from the county will be Parks & Recreation staff, Construction & Design project managers, Sheriff's representatives,  and engineering consultants.  

In April 2005, the county purchased the Harbor Hideaway property and boat ramp for $3 million.  The boat ramp is on approximately two acres of land, has a grass parking area and currently can accommodate one boat at a time.  Preliminary plans are to expand the facility to a two-to-four lane boat ramp and pave the parking lot.  The previous owners had a store on the property. 

There are three cottages and a house on the property.  The cottages will be demolished, which will enable the current grass parking lot to be expanded.  The house will not be demolished; instead, it will be converted into living quarters for a deputy sheriff.  The deputy will patrol the local area as well as the waterways in the North Pine Island Sound area. 

AIM Engineering was selected as the architect in June 2005. 

The renovations to the Bokeelia Boat Ramp will be funded by two sources:  the county's Capital Improvement Fund will pay all design costs and a portion of the construction costs; and $300,000 has been approved from the West Coast Inland Navigation District (WCIND), which is a taxing district that includes Lee, Manatee, Sarasota and Charlotte Counties.

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