FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

BOARD SUPPORTS EXPRESSWAY AUTHORITY BILL/APPROVES PRICE FOR NEW REGIONAL LIBRARY

FORT MYERS, Fla. (February 24, 2004) - The Board of Lee County Commissioners today approved the following items during its regular weekly meeting (all votes were unanimous). They are:

Expressway Authority - Approved a joint resolution with Collier County in support of a bill this legislative session creating the Southwest Florida Expressway Authority. The bill is limited to I-75, including tolled expressway lanes. It also gives Charlotte County the ability to join in at a later date. If the bill passes as written, creation of the authority requires further approval by the counties involved. See the full resolution at the end of this release.

Lakes Regional Library - Approved $6.54 million as the guaranteed maximum price for the construction of Lakes Regional Library at the northwest corner of Bass Road and Gladiolus Drive. The county purchased the 14-acre site in 2002 for $1.265 million. The library will be 40,000 square feet with the ability to expand to 60,000 square feet. The architect is Barany Schmitt Summers Weaver and Partners and the construction manager is Compass Construction. A groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for Mar. 22.

Manatee Speed Zones - Agreed to at least explore and research the fiscal impacts of, on an interim or temporary basis, adopting local manatee speed zones with local enforcement to get boat dock permit approvals moving again. Also discussed setting up a local committee of all the stakeholders, including environmental and boating interests, to help determine the boundaries of the local zones. The Board likely will discuss this issue further at its Mar. 8 Management & Planning meeting.

Facilities Funding - Approved a contract with Barany Schmitt et. al. architects for $1.24 million to design buildings "E" and "F" of the Lee County Justice Center (which will be built on vacated Heitman Street between MLK Blvd. and Main Street in downtown Fort Myers), including a pedestrian bridge to the SunTrust Building and Outdoor Plaza. Also approved $524,000 of interior renovations to the first and fourth floors of the Lee County Constitutional Complex to improve customer service and payment processing operations.

Revenue Bonds - Approved $18.9 million of Industrial Revenue Bonds for Hope Hospice for financing the costs of acquisition, construction and equipping of certain hospice facilities to be owned and operated by HOPE of Southwest Florida, Inc. and refinancing certain outstanding indebtedness.

JOINT RESOLUTION OF THE LEE COUNTY AND COLLIER COUNTY BOARDS OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS IN SUPPORT OF THE SOUTHWEST FLORIDA EXPRESSWAY AUTHORITY BILL

WHEREAS, Lee and Collier County ("the Counties") are concerned that the six-laning of Interstate 75 within the two Counties as currently programmed by the Florida Department of Transportation in the next four to six years will not be adequate to address expected travel demands on the corridor; and,

WHEREAS, the Counties are interested in working together towards establishing additional lanes on Interstate 75 beyond the six-laning, progressing toward the ultimate improvements as identified in the 2003 Interstate 75 Project Development & Environmental Study; and,

WHEREAS, the Counties would like to have the additional lanes move forward in conjunction with the six-laning effort if possible; and,

WHEREAS, the Counties feel that the establishment of a Southwest Florida Expressway Authority, as outlined in draft legislation prepared by Representative Mike Davis, would be a viable means to pursue the additional lanes on Interstate 75 in a timely fashion; and,

WHEREAS, the Counties recognize that changes and adjustments to the proposed House bill language may likely occur during the adoption process, but their support of the bill is contingent on certain key protections that are currently written into the bill remaining and becoming part of the adopted law;

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Board of County Commissioners of Lee County, Florida, and the Board of County Commissioners of Collier County, Florida, that:

The Counties jointly support an establishment of the Southwest Florida Expressway Authority through Legislative action, provided that the following essential issues remain in the bill and become law:

1. LIMITATION TO I-75 - The Authority shall be limited to the pursuit of expressway lanes on Interstate 75, including but not limited to a tolled expressway, and appurtenant facilities within Lee and Collier Counties (and potentially in Charlotte County in the future), and that focus cannot be expanded to any other projects without resolutions of support from the Lee and Collier County Commissions.

2. MEMBERSHIP MIX - The governing body shall initially consist of seven voting members and one non-voting member, with the potential for future expansion to include Charlotte County representation, as follows:

VOTING MEMBERS:

NON-VOTING MEMBER:

3. LOCAL APPROVAL REQUIRED

  1. Any proposed project of the Authority must be in the long-range transportation plan of the affected Counties;
  2. The Authority can not proceed with the PD&E Study for any proposed project without a vote of approval from the affected County Commissions; and
  3. The act creating the Authority will not take effect until resolutions of support (separate from this resolution) are adopted by the Lee and Collier County Commissions subsequent to passage by the Legislature.

4. SUNSET PROVISION - The Authority's powers and duties shall sunset after twelve years if it has no outstanding indebtedness, has no studies underway, has no design underway, has no projects under construction, and is not operating or maintaining any part of the system it was established to create.

PASSED AND DULY ADOPTED, on this 24th day of February, 2004.