Council approves settlement agreement
Cape Coral City Council closed the book on the lawsuit that was a result of the mayoral election last November when now-Mayor Marni Sawicki won by a little over 100 votes over then-Mayor John Sullivan.
The final chapter was written with council’s 6-0 vote Monday night to approve a settlement agreement stipulating a payment of $125,000 in attorneys fees and court costs to the city of Cape Coral and Sawicki. The city receives $77,000 and Sawicki receives $48,000 for her attorney fees.
The vote was 6-0 because Sawicki recused herself from voting because she receives a payment and Councilmember Jim Burch was an excused absence.
Soon after the election, Sullivan and five residents questioned the election results and filed a lawsuit seeking a recount. A Lee Circuit Court Judge ruled in Sawicki’s favor and ordered the plaintiffs to pay court costs and attorney fees, estimated at about $200,000, to the defendants. Sullivan appealed the ruling and the next court hearing had been set for Oct. 17.
The agreement set a 30-day deadline for payment.
Several residents approached council and asked that they not approve the settlement and take their chances in court. Another did not agree with the settlement, but understood why the city would approve it.
“As much as it bothers us, I think each one of us, I think it’s the right thing to do for the city,” said Councilmember Rana Erbrick. “This is not an easy decision for this council. I am not willing to spend another dime of taxpayer money on it.”
Informed that it is not common for the winner of a lawsuit like this to have to pay any of the fees spent to get to trial, to continue the case through appeals the city would incur more fees it could not recoup. Continuing on appeal, the city could lose more of its reimbursement or even all of it.
“It is important that as a city we move forward from this,” said Sawicki.
Collective bargaining
agreement OK’d
Meeting with some resistance on council, the city’s collective bargaining agreement with the Cape Coral Police union was approved 5-2 with Erbrick and Councilmember Richard Leon casting votes against approval.
Erbrick and Leon voiced objection to the 5 percent retroactive base pay increase back to July 1 on top of a 5 percent increase that took effect on Oct. 1.
“There’s something about a 5-and-5 percent raise that kind of rankles me,” Erbrick said. “I’m not saying they don’t deserve raises, they do deserve raises. This just seems excessive to me.”
Saying he supports the police and would do anything for them, Leon followed up on previous comments to not support the agreement.
“If anyone wants an explanation of why I’m not supporting this, just come talk to me,” said Leon.
Councilmember John Carioscia responded, “How can we say we support them if we are not willing to compensate them? We get the best, but we are not paying them anywhere near the best. We lost 28 officers last year and more have left this year. We can’t continue to be a training ground for other departments.”
Lien removal
Saying that the city still can recoup the cost of extending water and sewer lines to a 25-acre parcel in Northeast Cape Coral suitable for industrial development through Contributions in Aid of Construction (CAC) fees, city business manager Mike Ilczyszyn recommended council approve a resolution to release a $1.5 million lien the city holds on the now foreclosed property. New interest in purchasing the property from mortgage holder Everbank makes a sale and possible future development more difficult.
“The lien was put in place to protect the city to recover the cost of putting the utility lines in the ground,” said Ilczyszyn. “We can still collect through the CAC when it is developed.”
The resolution passed unanimously.
City employee rewarded
Another city employee was rewarded Monday night through the city’s Innovative Idea Award program. Public Works crew coordinator Edmond Dokman’s idea for updating street signage will save the city $7,762.32 per year in labor and material costs.
Dokman’s idea involves a sleeve assembled to the top of 12-foot sign poles to modify them to the required 14 feet with larger street sign lettering to meet new standards on roads with speed limits of 40 mph or higher.
The pre-assembled sleeve and signs can be installed in about eight minutes, saving the city more than 23 minutes labor cost per sign post. If not for his idea, crews would have to remove the existing pole and signage and install a 14-foot pole with the new signage.
For his creative idea, Dokman was compensated with an award of $776, or 10 percent of the one-year cost savings.
City Council does not meet next Monday, Oct. 13, due to Columbus Day so tits next regular meeting is Monday, Oct. 20.