18A Wednesday, April 2, 2014 the-banner.com

By Laura GatesBanner Correspondent

Many Estero residents want to know why they should vote for incorporation and how their new government would

be structured.About two dozen residents showed up

at a community meeting hosted by the Estero Council of Community Leaders (ECCL) March 27, the same day the Flor-ida House Local and Federal Affairs Com-mittee unanimously passed Bill 1373 to establish Estero’s incorporation charter, as presented by Rep. Ray Rodrigues. Once the bill has been passed by the full Leg-islature and signed by the governor, an incorporation referendum will be placed on the November 4 ballot.

If more than 50 percent of voters mark “yes,” the Village of Estero will become a municipality one minute before midnight on Dec. 31.

Estero leaders want to ensure that hap-pens, despite questions from the Vote Es-tero group about governance of the future municipality, as well as last-minute annexa-tions by Bonita Springs. The city had until April 1 to finalize voluntary annexation agreements, and did so with the Hyatt Re-gency Coconut Point Resort and Spa, Rap-tor Bay Golf Club, Estero Bay Marine and about 80 individual homeowners in Pelican Landing — much to the ire of the ECCL.

“It’s all about money,” said Howard Levitan, the ECCL’s director of Govern-ment Affairs, referring to what he called “quid pro quo arrangements” contained in annexation agreements.

Estero Bay Marine, owner of the for-mer Weeks Fish Camp property, plans to build the Estero Bay Marina and Resort, a potentially $100 million investment in-cluding a hotel, restaurant, condos and retailers. The Hyatt brings a taxable value of $21.65 million to the city.

According to its annexation agreement, the Hyatt’s future development plans in-clude adding food and beverage service at its private beach, adding a social ballroom (with no additional parking) and building

A reAsonEstEro rEsidEnts turn out to sEE why thEy should votE for inCorporation

david alBErs/staff

an aerial view of Estero.

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19Athe-banner.com Wednesday, April 2, 2014

a water feature. Pelican Bay Golf Resort Ventures, owner of Raptor Bay, has future development plans that may include four multifamily high-rise units, including two floors of parking and up to 20 stories of living units.

Levitan objects to wording in the an-nexation agreement indicating the city of Bonita Springs “will approve” an applica-tion for the planned development. Bonita Springs Mayor Ben Nelson said the city is within its legal rights to assure property owners they will not lose development rights and will be entitled to economic de-velopment incentives by joining the city.

“Does that mean city council is bound legally to approval (of zoning changes)? No,” Nelson said. “It just means there’s a good-faith effort on our part to move in that direction and make that happen.”

As for the 80 individual homeowners who have opted into the city, Nelson said, “people who want to be in Bonita should be able to be in Bonita. I don’t begrudge anybody who wants to be in Estero. Bo-nita Springs and Estero are both great places to live.”

One of the reasons the ECCL gives for residents to vote in favor of incorpora-tion is a projected budget surplus of more than $15 million at the end of the first five years, according to a feasibility study by Joe Mazurkiewicz of BJM Consulting. That surplus could be used to reduce taxes, build reserves for the future or increase municipal services, explained ECCL Chairman Nick Batos.

Estero has always been a “donor com-munity,” paying more into the county tax coffers than it gets back in services, he said. Estero’s municipal tax is projected to be lower than Lee County’s tax rate, although the difference will only amount to a few dollars for the average home-owner, he added.

The future Village of Estero would operate on a “government light” model, contracting many services out.

“This government office will probably be six to eight employees,” Batos said, not-ing a logical place for Estero’s rented of-fice space would be within the Estero Fire Rescue Administration Office on Three Oaks Parkway.

Because most of Estero’s roadways are behind gates and the community’s in-frastructure is new, street maintenance should be minimal, Batos added. The

community has about 1,000 acres — or 7 million square feet — of vacant land, which has already been zoned for future commercial development.

Estero leaders should control what is developed and allowed within the com-munity’s borders, Batos said.

“We believe in development; we believe in growth, but not growth at any cost,” he said. “We believe in smart development.”

Estero resident Denis St. John said the presentation was informative and an-swered many of his questions. Still, he wondered if the proposed form of gov-ernance is best for Estero — with seven council members elected at large who then select a mayor from among them.

“I’d like to evaluate it more,” said St. John, who has attended a few Vote Es-tero meetings on the subject. Vote Estero members favor district elections and a mayor elected at large by citizens.

“I have a great concern about the mayor not being elected at large,” St. John continued. “I like that check and balance. I’d like the mayor to be more than just a figurehead.”

The ECCL adopted a model from the National Civic League for Estero’s char-ter, which is a council-manager form of government. City councilors will be paid $6,000 a year, with the mayor getting an extra $3,000 for running meetings. A city manager will be paid $110,000-$120,000 to run daily opera-tions and implement policy.

“We didn’t really want career politi-cians,” Levitan explained. “The village manager is probably the most important of all the positions we have.”

Batos admitted he has one concern about the future Village of Estero gover-nance: getting seven dedicated, commu-nity-minded council members. The ma-jority of the volunteer ECCL board comes from The Brooks, but only one of them could sit on the first Estero Council be-cause of district residency requirements. Candidates will have to step forward from other Estero communities.

“We have to have the right people will-ing to run who have a heart for the com-munity and are in it for the right reasons,” Batos said.

Laura Gates/Banner Correspondent

eCCL Chairman nick Batos and Government affairs director Howard Levitan present information in favor of estero’s incorporation during a community meeting March 27.

We believe in development; we believe in growth, but not growth at any cost. We believe in smart development.”

— Nick Batos, ECCL chairman

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local news14a wednesday, May 14, 2014 the-banner.com

Members of the Estero community

enjoyed a chili lunch following

the meeting.

ECCL directors answer questions from Estero citizens following the Friday meeting.

By laura GatesBanner Correspondent

Gov. Rick Scott signed House Bill 1373 Monday, granting Estero residents the right to vote on becoming a municipal-ity in November — and potentially opening up shop as the Village of Estero in early 2015.

The governor’s signature was the only outstanding re-quirement for Estero’s incorporation bill, which passed the Senate on April 29.

The community’s volunteer leaders are planning for the transition, aiming to update Estero’s plan for future development, within the Lee County Comprehensive Plan, by the end of the year.

Lee County planners presented final changes to the Estero Community Plan at Friday’s Estero Council of Community Leaders (ECCL) meeting. Revisions will go before the Local Planning Agency (LPA) May 19 and then head to the Lee Board of County Commissioners in June. If approved by the state, Estero’s plan could be adopted in October — right before the incorporation vote.

“This is something that really establishes the vision for your community for the future,” said Principal Planner Ka-thie Ebaugh, who is resigning next week to take a position with Sarasota County Schools and has worked with Estero leaders on the plan since 2010. Sharon Jenkins Owens will take her place as manager of Lee County’s community planning program, ensuring Estero’s plan gets recorded.

Revising the plan was a $100,000 project, with half of the funding coming from a county grant. Proposed revisions include adding guidelines for mixed-use centers and other economic areas.

ECCL Chairman Emeritus Don Eslick and Estero plan-ners have been meeting with landowners of prime prop-erty off Corkscrew Road and U.S. 41, which is bordered by Estero Community Park to the east and the site of the future Hertz international headquarters to the south. It’s one of the few areas along the main thoroughfares, which still holds cows. The 350 acres have been designated as the future Estero Town Center.

“We are treading very carefully on all of this because we don’t want to look like we want to tell those guys what to do with their property,” Eslick said of the five landowners, the largest being the 100-acre North Point property jointly owned by Lutgert and Barron Collier companies. “On the other hand, we’d like to have this whole area developed in a comprehensive fashion and have a vision that can be used to market it.”

Estero planners envision a walkable, mixed-use town center with diverse housing options, public gathering

places, outdoor plazas and trails. There has been discus-sion about turning the old rail line, which runs through the property, into a bike and pedestrian pathway, Eslick added. Phase Two of the Estero Community Park plan, if completed, would put the main entrance off Via Coconut, directly across from the future town center.

“There’s a lot of resources that could really add to the value of this entire area, and particularly if you can get everybody to buy into it,” Eslick said.

The ECCL is paying Seth Harry and Associates about $20,000 to develop a Marketing Assessment and Reposi-tioning Strategy.

“We’ve got a clear notion it should be a town center, and most everybody agrees with that — whatever your defini-tion of town center is,” Eslick said.

The Town Center may be a logical place for the future city hall, said Bill Prysi, a member of the Estero Design Review Committee and the Lee County Land Devel-opment Advisory Committee. He presented proposed changes to the Estero Community Plan to the ECCL membership Friday.

The plan also supports development of an “Old Estero” historic district anchored by Koreshan State Historic Site and a medical district south of Coconut Point near the Bonita Community Health Center.

The state denied Lee Memorial Health System’s appli-cation to build a hospital there after protests from Naples Community Healthcare System, but Lee Memorial, which owns about 30 acres of the vacant 100 acres in the area, is working with the ECCL and other landowners to develop a unified plan for a medical district.

“All of the landowners are very receptive and are look-ing for ways to enhance the value of their property to get it developed as quickly as possible,” Eslick said.

The updated community plan also will better define ar-chitectural standards for Estero, which has required “Medi-terranean style” architecture for structures built since 2011.

“We’ve been getting a pseudo-Mediterranean style,” Prysi said. “We’re going to start defining that a little better.”

Old Florida Vernacular style may be appropriate for the historic district, while more iconic styles may be used for large buildings like the Hertz headquarters, with its mod-ern, glass design, Prysi said.

“You need to have some diversity,” he explained.The plan also calls for greater connectivity for

pedestrians.“What we would like to see in Estero is that Estero is one

of those places where the pedestrian is as important as the car,” Prysi said. “It’s not difficult to do, and it’s not overly expensive to do. You just need to have some guidelines.”

It’s on

Laura GatEs/BannEr CorrEspondEnt (3)

Estero Fire Chief Mark Wahlig fields questions from Estero residents following a presentation to the Estero Council of Community Leaders on Friday.

ECCL leaders also backpedaled a bit Friday in their outcry against Neal Communities, following demoli-tion of oak trees at the corner of Corkscrew Road and Three Oaks Parkway last month — part of the process for building a 102-lot residential community there. Af-ter reviewing Neal’s verbal commitments to Estero’s planning panel, ECCL Chairman Nick Batos and Com-munity Planning Director Roger Strelow said the de-veloper has not violated the agreement by clearing historic oaks.

“There were some misunderstandings, and we will use this to improve procedures with the Estero Com-munity Planning Panel to avoid surprises in the future,” Strelow said.

Estero planners also want to see the I-75 interchange on Corkscrew Road improved as expected growth of 2,500 projected new homes come to Estero over the next decade. A Lee County advisory committee to the Florida Depart-ment of Transportation has recommended placing the $10-15 million project back into the 2035 plan.

“I think we’re on the right track for getting it back in,” said ECCL Transportation Director Jim Boesch.

To field public comments on this and other Estero issues, the ECCL has revamped its website at www.EsteroToday.com to make it more interactive, including comments for posts and responses from directors.

Following Friday’s meeting, directors discussed the is-sues casually over a firehouse chili lunch. The meeting was held at the Estero Fire Rescue (EFR) building — also the site for the ECCL’s June 13 gathering, with guest speaker Don Scott, director of Lee County Metropolitan Planning Organization.

Estero Fire Commissioner Dick Schweers gave a run-down of the district’s fire and EMS history, and Assistant Chief Mark Wahlig presented the current status of equip-ment and operations. EFR covers 56 square miles with 48 firefighter/paramedic employees. The district plans to spend $18,000 this month to retile Station 41, the oldest of its four stations.

Three of the five fire commissioners are up for re-elec-tion in November, and Schweers urged Estero residents to keep the current board intact.

“With this board the last few years, it’s just been wonder-ful,” said Schweers, who has served since 1997.

In closing, Batos thanked everyone who is helping pre-pare Estero for its future growth.

“We have a plan that hopefully will be adopted and be put in place that will make Estero something very, very special for years to come,” he said. “It’s a historic time, and we’re looking forward to it.”

ECCL prEparinG For EstEro inCorporation votE

14A Wednesday, October 15, 2014 the-banner.com

ECCL CONFIDENT ESTERO RESIDENTS READY FOR INCORPORATION VOTEBy Laura GatesBanner Correspondent

Although voting for incorporation would create an extra layer of government for Estero resi-dents, the benefi ts outweigh the drawbacks, according to Estero Council of Community

Leaders (ECCL) Chairman Nick Batos, who is giving fi nal presentations on the matter leading up to the ballot referendum Nov. 4.

“We have been talking 18 months about how we feel about this; it now comes down to you,” he told a crowd of about 90 Estero residents packed into the meeting room at Estero Community Park Oct. 10. “You have to vote. If you don’t vote, you won’t have a say about what happens in the future.”

The ECCL has spent has spent about $71,000 of its planned $90,000 budget for the incorporation e� ort, including consultants’ fees and legal fees for the refer-endum process and a planned $15,000 for transitioning to a municipality if the referendum passes.

If Friday’s meeting is any indication, ECCL leaders have reason to be confi dent their money has been well spent. When Batos asked, “How many people have enough information and feel comfortable about incor-poration?” all hands shot into the air.

With a tax base of more than $5 billion -- not including what Hertz, Walmart and new residential developments will add -- Estero is projected to accumulate an annual budget surplus of $3.3 million, according to the incorpo-ration feasibility study by BJM Consulting. By the end of its fi rst fi ve years,

the Village of Estero is projected to have a $16.5 million surplus, which could be used to improve services, reduce taxes, build reserves for hurricanes or economic down-turns, or to provide economic incentives to top-notch companies like Hertz, Batos said.

The ECCL is mailing out postcards to all registered voters in Estero this month. There are also posters in businesses and neighborhood clubhouses, all urging residents to cast their vote for “The Village of Estero.”

If the referendum passes, this unincorporated commu-nity in southern Lee County will become a municipality on Dec. 31, 2014. Candidates for the seven-member Vil-lage Council would then fi le to run in January and have less than three months to campaign before the special election March 3. The fi rst Estero Village Council meet-ing would take place on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17.

Estero’s roughly 28,000 residents have been equally divided into seven districts. Candidates for council must reside in the district in which they are running, but they will be elected at large.

“Everybody gets to vote for all seven council mem-bers,” explained ECCL Incorporation Chair John Go-odrich. “That’s how we vote for our county commis-sioners, that’s how we vote for our hospital board, and that’s how we vote for our school board. This would encourage all council members to consider the interests of all residents of Estero.”

Village Council members will be elected to four-year terms and earn $6,000 a year under the established charter, with a mayor elected from the seven members making an extra $3,000 to run meetings and be the cer-emonial head of the village.

“These sums are signifi cantly less than any other municipality in the state of Florida with a residence of 28,000 or more,” Goodrich assured.

The council will appoint a Village Manager to imple-

ment policy and supervise other village employees (there will only be six to start).

“We’re proposing a government light concept for the Village of Estero,” Batos said.

Most work would be contracted out to Lee County or private contractors. The county would continue to perform municipal functions such as zoning, code en-forcement, sheri� ’s protection and road maintenance, until the Estero Village Council decides to make any changes, Batos added.

“There will be things changed quickly and other things not so quickly, or not at all,” he said.

The Estero Fire Rescue District will be una� ected by the change, as it operates independently, and there-fore will keep its boundaries, which extend beyond the eastern municipal boundaries of the proposed Village of Estero. The fi rst Village Council meeting likely will take place at the Estero Fire headquarters on Three Oaks Parkway, and the new village government may operate out of rented space there, as well, Batos said.

The ECCL is compiling recommendations for the fi rst Estero Village Council into a Transition Book. The book will include details of the Incorporation Feasibility Study and Estero Village Charter, as well as the ECCL’s research into future land use, sta� ng, public works and community relations.

One fi nal public presentation on incorporation is planned this month. It will be Thursday at Estero Com-munity Park at 6 p.m. The presentation also is available to view online at www.esterotoday.com.

Many residents of the Breckenridge community showed up to Friday’s ECCL meeting to not only support incorporation but also protest a planned development to the east of the gated neighborhood, just south of Estero Parkway at U.S. 41. TerraCap Partners is proposing the Estero Grande development, including a commercial center and 285 rental apartments, which residents fear will be fi lled with university students, said Garth Err-ington, a resident of Preserve III at Breckenridge.

Although the development was not on Friday’s ECCL agenda, it will be reviewed at the Estero Community Planning Panel meeting Oct. 20 at 5 p.m. at Estero Community Park. The Lee County Hearing Examiner is scheduled to consider TerraCap’s proposal during a public hearing Oct. 29.

In other business, ECCL Environmental Director Phil Douglas encouraged Estero voters to also mark “yes” for Amendment One on their ballot, supporting the Florida Water and Land Acquisition Trust Fund.

“Water is our No 1 resource,” Douglas said. “If we don’t protect it today, it won’t be here in the future, and the wetlands is key. Several studies show we are a hotspot for wetland loss.”

ECCL Transportation Director Jim Boesch meanwhile is working on getting green arrows added to the tra� c signal at Williams Road and U.S. 41, where the new Hertz headquarters is being constructed. With ECCL requests dismissed by the Lee County Department of Transporta-tion, Boesch is turning to County Commissioner Cecil Pendergrass to appeal for reconsideration.

“It takes only common sense to see there are some dangerous situations there,” Boesch said. “It’s something we have to address.”

LAURA GATES/BANNER CORRESPONDENT (2)

ECCL Chairman Nick Batos explains the process of incorporation during a public meeting Oct. 10. The ECCL has sent mailers and made public presenta-tions in support of the community’s incorporation.

FILE PHOTO

Looking to the west shows The Brooks development in the foreground with the south end of Fort Myers Beach in the far background.

A full-house crowd in the Estero

Community Center meeting room

listens as ECCL Chairman Nick Batos

answers questions about Estero’s incorporation.

Estero voters will decide Nov. 4 if the community

will become a municipality.

LOCAL NEWS

Moneywell spent

12A Wednesday, November 19, 2014 the-banner.com

ECCL hEars outpatiEnt CEntEr pLans prEps for EstEro Cityhood

By Laura GatesBanner Correspondent

When Lee Memorial Health System failed to gain state approval for a new hospital in South Lee County, the vi-

sion didn’t die; it simply took on a new form.Last week Lee Memorial presented its board

with plans for a $140 million outpatient des-tination center to be built on about 33 acres it owns near the Bonita Community Health Center south of Coconut Point Mall.

“I really believe the way we designed this project, this will provide you with the bulk of what you would’ve seen in a hospital,” said Keith Newingham, Lee Memorial’s vice presi-dent of Strategic Services, speaking to the Es-tero Council of Community Leaders (ECCL) Nov. 14.

The proposed 172,000-square-foot facility would include a freestanding emergency de-partment, imaging center, laboratory and clini-cal decision unit with 12 beds for observation to determine if patients need to be transported to another facility.

“This project does everything a hospital would do except one thing, and that’s a bed tower,” Newingham said. “The inclusion of a clinical decision unit, in large degree, negates the need for a bed tower.”

According to hospital statistics, about 70 percent of patients are treated at the emer-gency room and sent home without the need for hospital admittance, he added.

“We can keep that 70 percent here and get them the care they need without them having to be transported to another fa-cility,” Newingham said.

Elective surgeries and disease management care also may be performed by physicians aligned with the outpatient care center.

“Every day in healthcare more and more procedures that have traditionally been done in the hospital are done on an out-patient basis,” Newingham said.

Additionally, the planned fa-cility would offer a sleep center and cardiac services, along with a medical fitness center focus-ing on wellness and sports medi-cine. Although the state denied Lee Memorial’s application to build an 80-bed hospital, based largely on protests from NCH Healthcare System, the outpa-tient center will be expandable if circumstances change in the future, Newingham said. It also may include related retail busi-nesses and restaurants.

Although independent physicians may part-ner with Lee Memorial to provide services, the facility will be unique in streamlining patient registration and scheduling, Newingham add-ed. Each patient will have just one electronic record, thanks to Lee Memorial’s newly inte-grated EPIC system.

“You would register one time and be given a care plan,” Newingham said. “It should be much, much less complicated moving forward.”

The project fits with Estero’s vision for the area off U.S. 41 south of Coconut Road, which the ECCL has designated for a fu-ture healthcare village. American House Coconut Point, a 194-unit assisted living and memory care community, is preparing to break ground next month and open in fall 2015.

Lee Memorial’s emergency and outpatient facility would likely open by the second half of 2017, Newingham said.

“That area can really become a healthcare village with this anchor we’ve been talking about,” said ECCL Chairman Emeritus Don Es-lick, who has been working with Lee Memorial for the last decade to bring better healthcare to Estero.

“I give them a lot of credit for sticking with it and finding a creative way around the denial of the hospital,” he said. “There’s been a lot of strong commitment and great partnership through some really trying times.”

More challenges are ahead for Estero as it embarks on its journey toward cityhood. The community officially becomes the Village of Estero on Dec. 31.

Candidates for the first Estero Village Coun-cil will declare by mid-January, and a special election will be held March 3. The ECCL plans to hold two public candidate forums in late January and early February, Chairman Nick Batos said.

“It’s been a historical journey for all of us,” he said. “Now we see the goal line.”

One candidate already has stepped forward from District Five, which includes Stoney-brook, Miromar Outlets and the area between Corkscrew and Williams Roads east of I-75 to U.S. 41.

Jim Boesch is the ECCL’s director of trans-portation and a former council member and mayor of Wethersfield, Conn., which had a population similar to Estero during his ten-ure from 1981-1987. Boesch was pushing for Estero’s incorporation through involvement in a group known as Vote Estero long before the ECCL spearheaded this most recent incor-poration effort.

“I’ve been working on this project since 2007, and I just feel Estero can be the shining star of all Southwest Florida,” Boesch said after formally restating his intent to run at Friday’s ECCL meeting. “Although it’s a tremendous amount of work that’s going to be forthcom-ing in the next four years, I can’t let go of this thought I can be helpful in making this dream come true.”

In addition, resident William “Bill” Riddle has declared his intent to run for the District 1 seat. District one is the westernmost district along Estero Bay west of 41.

Other ECCL members also are preparing for the transition. Government Affairs Director Howard Levi-tan outlined steps the Village Council will need to take to integrate the newly revised Estero Plan, which is part of the Lee County Land Develop-ment Code.

“When it comes time to elect people to our board, make sure they share our vision, Estero’s vision,” Levitan advised.

ECCL Director of Community Planning Roger Strelow is heading up the Transition Team, which is creating a resource book for the first council members.

“All of a sudden, they collec-tively are in charge of running a modest sized municipality here in the state of Florida,” he said. “Almost every day we come across something else this new council will have to address.”

Estero Council of Community Leaders Chairman nick Batos answers questions from Estero citizens following the nov. 14 ECCL meeting at Estero Community park.

Estero citizens view the Concept plan for Lee Memorial health system’s proposed outpatient destination Center during the nov. 14 meeting of the Estero Council of Community Leaders.

Laura GatEs/BannEr CorrEspondEnt (3)

Jim Boesch talks about transportation issues with some Estero residents following the nov. 14 meeting of the Estero Council of Community Leaders. Boesch is running for the first Estero Village Council in March.

Evolving plans

LocAL NeWs