Courtney Maw of Sanibel Has a Nifty Solution for Surviving the Heat of Summer
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PP.STD STD me Saribel.R. 1 Photo by JIM BURNS Courtney Maw of Sanibel has a nifty solution for surviving the heat of summer. The Realtors 472-3121 (8OO) 232-6OO4 www.sanfbetfnarketeers.com E-mail: [email protected] Unit 3B2 Direct Gulf front 1 bedroom tt#it S Airy 3 bedroom, 2 bath, in Copperieaf at The Brooks. Exquisite 3 3 heiraam, 2 hath. Heated pool. MMkUa Wa, SanUMit, FklfMa in mint condition' $789,000 pool home S785.0BO badroore. 2.5 faattt, 2 story hnme! $795,000 Boat siips for alt ownersl #595,800 2 • Week" of July 21 - July 27, 2006 ISLANDER Public comment period opens on Blind Pass dredging From the Captiva Property Owners and Bayous Preservation Associations Lee County submitted a permit application to dredge Blind Pass and place the beach compatible material on Sanibel and Captiva shorelines. The Florida DEP respond- ed to the application with their questions, which will be answered in early August so the permitting process can move forward. A Notice of Application for an Environmental Resource Permit for the maintenance dredging of Blind Pass will be published the week of July 17, possibly as early as Monday, ••*•*••• ••• '^kmm- July 17. The public has 14 days from the date of publication of this notice to comment. Please send a letter supporting the project to the DEP: they will be counting letters. Encourage your Sanibel and Captiva neighbors and friends — anyone living in the pro- ject area — to write a letter. 1. Your letter can be short. 2. It should be addressed to: Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Beaches and Coastal Systems 3900 Commonwealth Boulevard Mail Station 300 Tallahassee, Florida 32399-3000 3. It should include: a. SUBJECT: File No. 0265943-001-JC (Opening Blind Pass, Lee County) b. That you live in the project area c That you support the project (the rc-opening of Blind Pass) and urge them to move forward with it. d. Voice the urgency of their approving this project without unnecessary delays so the sand bypassing project at Blind Pass can begin, as scheduled, in January of 2007. e. After your signature, include your name, Sanibel or Captiva address, and phone number. For more details about the dredging project, go to http://bcs.dep.state.fl.us/env-prmt/lee/pending/. See BLIND PASS, page 4 acaranda 239.472.1771 1223 Periwinkle Way • Sanibel Island SEAFOOD • STEAK • SPIRITS Dine Insure ~ Two Rooms to Suit You, or Graphic by Erickson Engineering tside Alfresco Dining on Our Patio. Serving Dinner Daily 5-1 Opm Sun - Thurs Fri-Satti! 11pm Siglnseeing-SunseT Cnuises RenTaL & TOUR BOUT TRips KXDS Mtlf U enjoy pioLckuiy dolphins, scenic miTime TOURS Nightly Entertainment in the JAC Bar! .ai\d:.Sanikel's.pampus\sim^eTS., ;., .._ . }\i Social Scene r*rz Best Happy Hour - 7 p.m. NIGHTLY! 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Chilled Oysters, Steamed Shrimp, Beer Battered Mozzarella, Dint? dockside and enjoy mouthwatering delight from iht s^a - Snow Crab Legs, Chicken Wings! 472-8138 LUNCH 11:30AM DINNER 5:00PM TAK-K OUT AVAILAB1.R ISLANDER Week of July 21 - July 27, 2006 U 3 Sanibel mayor leads opposition voiced at Lake 0 workshop BE3wy EMILI^•nnll I^EH ALFINA I d^lffOl A allof%l I Awn i discretio/"i % £1 /~*^s\'i'in /\V\ i nttrt th fne aCorps i^/iv-t*v^' ndecision-makin * f\s\f^i tii j^n *"v**"i I/ing tno 1-f\ prohibi nrAh 1 tn1 i [email protected] releases in excess of biologists' acceptable levels; Send your comments to U.S. Army Corps of The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last week presented • be based on current data; Engineers Project Manager Pete Milam at: its "Tentatively Selected Plan" for public comment at a scries • recognize estuary damage; of three meetings, the second of which took place in down- • incorporate added water outlets for emergency storage, E-mail: town Fort Myers on July 12 with about 175 people in atten- such as land the South Florida Water Management District u.p.milamW-s:ij()2.UNiia.i.;irmy.inil dance. owns or leases; and If the Corps wanted public comment on its proposed new • incorporate a year-round management technique with Regular mail: plan, that's what it got — and all of it was negative. multi-directional water releases, to the south, east and Project Manager Pete Mi lam After a slide presentation consisting of complicated flow west. l-'.S. Army Corps of hnginccrs Jacksonville District charts and graphs, Dennis Duke, deputy district engineer for "Maybe engineers don't care about sea grasses as much as 701 San Marco Bl\d the Corps' South Florida Restoration Project, stood for more environmentalists." Johnston said, but she told Duke the loss Jacksomille, FL 32207. than three hours, listening to area elected officials, represen- of the sea grasses "means the fish don't spawn. And if the tatives of various agencies, and citizens tell him why the new fish don't spawn, the birds don't have anything lo eat. And if The Web site is www.saj.usacc.army.mil. plan was unacceptable. the birds don't have anything to eat, the tourists don't have He said the new plan, which caps the level the lake can anything to see. And if the tourists don't have anything to The next public regional meetings will be held in reach at 17.25 feet, would have kept the lake 1.5 feet lo 2 feet sep, the real estate brokers don't have any customers. September during a 45-da\ comment period. lower during last year's rainy season, with far fewer releases "So it all comes down to the economy of the whole area." of polluted Lake Okeechobee water into estuaries. Johnston explained. The Army is planning; to put ihe new release schedule The Army's plan is based on studies using the years 1965 Johnston said she believes it's possible to solve this prob- into effect beginning in January 2007. through 2000 — a fact for which the Army was much criti- lem but accused the Corps of having "either tunnel vision or cized during the public comment period. just plain acceptance of mediocrity rather than interest in Duke got an earful. helping both the inland community and the coastal stake- Opposition to Army plan universal Sanibel Mayor Carla Johnston told him the Army's tenta- holders solve this problem. Representatives from all interests expressed their dis- tive new plan fails to meet even its own goals and objectives. "I'm not sure whether you're listening to these com- She said it would "send more dirty, nutrient-laden water ments," Johnston said. "I rather think that you're enduring agreement with the Army Corps' proposal. Tn addition to down the Caloosahatchee River than the biologists say is the evening, and I can tell by the smile on your face that's local elected officials, there were people from the boating, acceptable, and more than is happening now. true," Johnston told Duke. "You're just waiting for this tourism, and hotel industries; as well as representatives of "How can you say that's an improvement?" Johnston [meeting] to get over. It's another charade, you'll have the environmental groups and government agencies. All speak- asked. ; records, you"II have the tapes, and you'll pay no attention. "This is not the plan that does the best for the estuaries." Well, I hope you'll pay attention. ers said the same thing: send the excess water south, the way- Johnston continued. "You say your objective is to reduce the "Is the Corps at the local level just a welfare program for Water is our most important thing... I _ releases. It's not doing it." engineers'?" Johnston asked. our livelihood — but it's also our home... Johnston asked Duke how he could present the proposed "Do something. Surprise us." If you take the water away from us, you're new plan "with a straight face." But she did not sound hopeful. She outlined what the city of Sanibel wants from the "There's no point in destroying Southwest Florida, and destroying us. The government has got to ; Army Corps with regard to the water releases and said any that's what I see you doing." get behind us and save the water around new schedule must: Sanibel Island. < • send less water to the estuary, not more; - Sam Bailey _ _ i "... the loss of the scagrasses means the fish don't spawn. And nature intended. if the fish don't spawn, the birds don't have anything to cat. Currently, about 20 percent of Lake Okeechobec's pollut- And if the birds don't have anything to eat, the tourists don't ed fresh water is sent to the south, according to Duke. About have anything to see. And if the tourists don't have anything to 50 percent is sent west down the Caloosahatchee. and 30 per- cent goes east down the St. Lucie River. see, the real estate brokers don't have any customers. So it all Mother Nature, on the other hand, sent almost 100 per- comes down to the economy of the whole area." cent of the lake's excess water to the south toward the Everglades. - Sanibel Mayor Carla Johnston Cape Cora! Resident Susan Scotl summed up what See LAKE O, page 7 One Button Connects You To All Your Local News OR Call Ahead Seating Available For Parties Of 8 Or More • OUTDOOR SEATING • LIVE MUSIC EVERYDAY • TAKE-OUT AVAILABLE OPEN 7 AM TO JO PM Food & Beverage Discount 10%OFF BREAKFAST 2163 Periwinkle Way, Monday-Saturday 7-11 Sunda> 7-12 Sanibel Island, Florida onJCbiCiJt 18°o gratuit; added &r tax applies N 1 W <i P\l> i IS \ot valid with am other piomotion (239) 472-0606 4 • Week of July 21 - Jul 27, 2006 ISLANDER Red tide BLIND PASS Red Tide conditions as of July 14, 2006 from page 2 This summary report of current red tide conditions around Florida includes a map of sampling results and regional status reports.