CCP hears about iguana MSTU and funding sought for projects
During its recent meeting, the Captiva Community Panel received updates on the iguana MSTU petitions and needed funds it has been seeking to proceed with two projects tied to its committees.
On April 13, Administrator Ken Gooderham told that panel that Treasurer Tony Lapi and Panel Member John Jensen recently manned an informational booth at the post office to educate property owners on the MSTU being proposed to pay for iguana control services and to gather petitions.
He thanked them, noting that their effort resulted in the return of a few more petitions.
The panel is collecting the petitions to ask the county to form a MSTU or Municipal Services Taxing Unit, which will fund an annual trapper service for Captiva to help curb or eradicate the iguanas.
In order to create the MSTU, formal petitions were sent to every property owner who would be assessed as part of the new taxing unit. Fifty percent plus one of the total petitions sent must be signed and returned — “votes” in favor of the MSTU — for the county to proceed on forming the unit.
The panel needs to gather at least 575 petitions by April 27 for submission by April 30.
“Our deadline is at the end of this month, and we are still short of making our number by a considerable number,” Gooderham said. “I have a few more that are still in the works, but at this point unless we get a real surge, we won’t make the count to form the unit.”
He reported that staff had collected just under 400 as of the meeting.
Gooderham suggested that if the MSTU fails, the panel may want to discuss alternatives at future meetings, such as funding the service on its own or reducing the service area and trying again.
President Jay Brown proposed conducting a review if the unit fails.
“We’re going to have to do an evaluation and see what happened on this,” he said.
Gooderham explained that face-to-face events seemed to make a big difference in getting owners to return their petition and pre-filled out petitions were returned at a higher rate than the blank ones. Asked about returns from owners at South Seas Island Resort, he reported that they were the lowest.
Brown asked if the panel might have achieved a majority if it had excluded the resort area.
“Gut feeling, probably yes,” Gooderham said. “I haven’t counted everybody up yet.”
Also at the meeting, Jensen reported that Alfredo Fermin of AAA Wildlife Trapping and Removal Services was out on Captiva the day before servicing the island and conducting trappings. Fermin was recently involved in a fairly serious dirt bike crash and had not been able to work for a few weeks.
“He worked Monday instead of Tuesday,” Jensen said. “He’s back and in good shape.”
WASTEWATER COMMITTEE
Brown, Wastewater Committee chair, and past Panel President David Mintz reported that the Lee County commissioners voted unanimously 5-0 on April 6 to award a $100,000 grant to the panel for a more comprehensive engineering study for a possible central sewer system connecting to Sanibel.
With the funding secured, the engineering firm Kimley-Horn can proceed with a proposed “Phase 2 — Septic Conversion Feasibility Study” to be done in cooperation with the county and city of Sanibel.
Documents related to the project were provided to the panel for review, including: Kimley-Horn’s Captiva Central Sewer MSTBU Design Study; Memorandum of Understanding for the study between the panel, Sanibel and Lee; CCP’s Planning Agreement; and Agreement for Professional Services.
A motion to approve the documents and execute their signing passed unanimously.
SLR COMMITTEE
Brown, who also serves on the Sea Level Rise Committee, reported that the Captiva Erosion Prevention District voted unanimously 5-0 on April 12 to contribute $10,000 toward the committee’s Adaptation Alternatives Proposal drafted by consultant Cheryl Hapke of Integral Consulting.
The panel first sought outside funds for the $34,400 project to assess its financial obligation.
Brown noted that in addition to the CEPD’s contribution, the panel received $5,000 from the Captiva Civic Association and $5,000 from the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation. It also received private donations for the project from two community members, both of whom are also on the panel.
“I’m happy to report that the study is fully funded,” he said.
A motion to proceed with the proposal from Integral was approved unanimously.
IN OTHER NEWS
– Panel Member and SLR Committee Chair Linda Laird reported that the city of Sanibel, in partnership with the committee and SCCF, recently submitted this year’s grant to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, with the hope of securing funding for developing an adaption plan for Sanibel and Captiva.
“We are getting tremendous support from Sanibel on this issue,” she said. “I think that’s very good and very important.”
– Mintz provided the panel with an update on the Captiva Drive improvement for a sidewalk. He reported that three of the six property owners responded to the right-of-way donation request.
– Robert Fowler, president of Fowler Construction and Development, presented the panel with a proposed project planned for the Crow’s Nest at the ‘Tween Waters Island Resort & Spa. The aim is to replace the food service structure at the pool, building above the existing restaurant portion of it.
He gave a presentation on the project last year to the panel, but work was put on hold due to the pandemic. Fowler explained that the plan remains the same and this was just a refresher on it.
“Now we’re moving forward again in planning the project,” he said.
Fowler estimated construction would start in April or May of 2022 and last about four months.