FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                   

FORT MYERS, Fla. (June22, 2004) – The Board of Lee County Commissioners today approved the following items during its regular weekly meeting (backup can be viewed at
http://www.lee-county.com/meetings/agendafiles/2004/06-22-04/062204/062204.htm).  They are: 

Incinerator Expansion – Awarded a $5.9 million contract to Burns & Roe Enterprises for the design and engineering of the Waste-to-Energy Plant Expansion.  The county is expanding the facility from a capacity of 1,200 tons per day to 1,800 tons per day by adding a third, 600-ton combustion unit.  The estimated cost is $80 million.  The incinerator was completed in August 1994 and disposes of the county’s garbage by burning it and generating electricity from a steam driven turbine.  The facility burns 395,000 tons of garbage a year and generates up to 34 megawatts of electricity – or enough to power about 30,000 homes.  Since the Waste-to-Energy Plant began operating, residential garbage rates in Lee County have declined from $224 to $192 a year. 

Topps Plaza – Requested staff bring back to next week’s meeting options for purchasing the Dunbar Shopping Center (Topps Plaza) to relocate the Lee County Health Department.  The county offered $1.9 million in January for the plaza but was outbid by $50,000 by the mortgage holder.  Since then, a Dunbar Charter School has considered the site, but now is looking at other options – placing the plaza back on the market.  In the state budget, $400,000 also was approved (to add to the $1.9 million if needed) to help acquire the site.  Staff will provide pros and cons of acquiring the site to relocate the Health Department’s Michigan Avenue and Pondella Road locations.  The analysis also will include renovation costs. 

Boat Access/Ramp Study – Approved an agreement with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) for Lee County to be a pilot site for a statewide initiative to do comprehensive water access studies.  The county will contribute $100,000 to the $400,000 project.  The work will be divided into several phases.  The initial phases will be to collect and map very detailed information about all existing facilities.  The information will be compiled in a publicly accessible database that will include a GIS mapping component.  This assessment of “supply” will be used in additional project phases that evaluate the economic implications of boating access, including an assessment of future demand.  This will be an important tool for the county to use as it decides what the level of boating infrastructure should be to accommodate future access needs, and will help to prioritize capital projects designed to meet those needs. 

Blind Pass Project – Approved an agreement between Lee County, the Captiva Erosion Protection District and the City of Sanibel for the Blind Pass Ecozone Restoration Project, which includes reopening Blind Pass.  The project is complex and includes elements of beach restoration, san bypassing, inlet management, and hydraulic connections for the purpose of restoring an adjacent degraded mangrove wetland.  Previous permits to CEPD only allowed for minimal dredging in the Gulf of Mexico seaward of Blind Pass Bridge.  This dredging did not provide an efficient enough opening for the inlet to become stable.  Recent computer modeling completed as part of a feasibility study confirms that a larger opening, including dredging inside Pine Island Sound Aquatic Preserve is necessary to maintain an open inlet.  Lee County will be the lead agency on permitting and construction of this larger project.  The costs will be shared among the entities.  Construction cost estimate is $1.6 million for dredging and $600,000 for culverts under SanCap Road equaling  $2.2 million total.  Estimated costs for feasibility study, engineering and permitting are $400,000.  For more information, see
http://www.lee-county.com/naturalresources/Blind%20Pass%20Ecozone%20Restoration%20Description.htm. 

Water Reservations – Requested more information at next week’s meeting from legal counsel on whether to intervene in any challenge to rule-making regarding water reservations.  The Association of Florida Community Developers has threatened to sue the state Department of Environmental Protection over its rule related to water reservations, claiming water reservations for the environment, which Lee County has pursued, will reduce water available for AFCD members.  Statutory changes proposed in the last state legislative session failed, meaning the issue again revolves around rule-making language.  The county also has concerns about a proposal that would delay granting the county its reservation (for the Caloosahatchee River) until after the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan is complete.