Council set to discuss Bimini Basin Project proposal
Cape Coral City Council is holding two meetings next week. Monday’s regular meeting at 4:30 p.m. in Council Chambers is followed by a special meeting Thursday, Sept. 18, at 5:05 p.m., to finalize the city’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget.
The major discussion Monday will center on the Bimini Basin Project proposal. Several entities have been studying and researching waterfront destinations in other cities to exchange ideas and come up with a plan for Cape Coral. The Council for Progress, CCCIA, Chamber of Commerce, Board of Realtors and the South Cape Hospitality/Entertainment Association are the stakeholders involved along with city staff.
City officials are seeking a public/private partnership to bring the project to fruition.
There’s also a slate of five ordinances being introduced to council. The introduction hearings, though, are informational only and generally do not draw much open discussion. A public hearing date of Sept. 29 will be set for each of the five ordinances.
The Bimini Basin project calls for the dredging of the Rubicond Canal from its south terminus at Southeast 47th Terrace some 500 feet to connect to the Bimini Basin at Four Freedoms Park. This would create a need for vehicular traffic alterations on Southeast 47th Terrace and Cape Coral Parkway with a fixed overpass with sailboat clearance, elevated drawbridge for sailboat passage, at-grade bridge for motorboat passage or a water feature false bridge with no boat passage.
Ideas being put forward include streetscaping and landscaping, floodproofing, parking and transportation improvements throughout the CRA District along with development elements at Club Square, Market Square, Lafayette Street and Cape Coral Parkway. There’s also a desire to establish an entertainment district, bicycle network and open space. Future development projects include Village Square, Bimini Basin West and Bimini Basin East among others.
A feasibility study for Bimini Basin is being conducted by Taryn Sabia, an adjunct faculty and assistant in Research Florida Center for Community Design & Research School of Architecture and Community Design at the University of South Florida.
The timeframe for completing the first phase of the study is 12 weeks ending on Dec. 1. The second phase takes approximately 14 weeks from Jan. 5 to April 24, 2015.