•-'. THE ISLAND'S NEWSPAPFP OF RECORD , 2005 ::SAW IBEli-;.& GAPTIVAV: FL.O« I:PA ;?VOL.LIME;32v :NuMBER 22 Fire District dedicates City plants a tree to honor late remodeled station Planning Commissioner John Dillon By GARY PHILLIPS [email protected] By GARY PHILLIPS "I see a garden like this as a kind of mental snapshot [email protected] of the wonderful contributions that key civic leaders have Sanibel residents and businesses on the west end of made and also as a place to come and enjoy and think the island will be better served by the Sanibel Fire A large group of Sanibel's finest citizens gathered about the city and the role of civic involvement," she District, thanks to a complete renovation of the depart- Tuesday morning to honor the late Planning said. "I want to welcome you all and thank you so much ment's Station Number 2. The station was made avail- Commissioner John S. Dillon. Dillon was remembered for coming." able to the public during an open house Wednesday, May with a tree planting ceremony at Sanibel City Hall. 18. Mayor Carla Johnston welcomed everyone to the See DILLON Fire Chief Rich Dickerson said the project started in courtyard where the event was held. page 3 May 2004, but met some delays during hurricane season. "With the storms, it really slowed us down," he said. The new facility offers an expanded and refurbished living area with six dorm rooms, a common area with entertainment center, an all-new stainless steel kitchen and plenty of room for storage. Each dorm room contains a bed and a small desk where the firefighters can work. "The guys are always having to recertify or do class- es, so it gives them a quiet place to go study," Assistant Fire Chief Danny Duncan said. Duncan said the department hopes to hire additional personnel and the extra living space will be needed. • "Eventually we'll have another firefighter out here, when the budget allows it," he said. "Preferably you want a four-man crew." . To help meet the physical demands of the job, a fully- equipped workout room is part of the complex. "We have a lot of guys who use this stuff," Duncan said while conducting a tour of the weight room filled with dumbbells, barbells and various exercise machines. Duncan said the entire station was overhauled with the future in mind. "We want it to hold up over time. We tried not to skimp so we don't have to come back and rebuild it in another 10 or 12 years," he said. "Fire stations get a lot of wear. You've got somebody here 365 days a year." Lee County E.M.S. staff may also be stationed there in the future, Duncan said. An additional vehicle bay was also built to accommodate the extra emergency vehicles. Richard Cranford, Assistant Chief for Lee County E.M.S., attended the open house and said assigning more E.M.S. personnel to Sanibel is a possibility. • "We have a consultant who shows us where we need Photo by Renny Severance to put units around the county," Cranford said. Firefighter John Reitenbach said the newly renovated Islanders turned out in force on Tuesday to plant a tree at City Hall to honor John Dillon who did so much for his community. Several different people who worked with him on different projects and commission in the past took turns with the shovels to secure the short-leaf fig tree at his plaque. See .STATION 2 page 3 (L-R) City Council Members Tom Rothman, Carla Johnston (Mayor) and Mick Denham; with Dillon's son and daughter John Dillon, Jr. and Christine Cohen; his widow, Jill Dillon; and City Council Member Jim Jennings. Photo by Gary Phillips Gavin Site OK By GARY PHILLIPS [email protected] Sanibel's west end is City leaders are striving to keep Sanibel in its natural served by fire and state by controlling non-native vegetation. On March 1, emergency personnel city council voted to approve a "Memorandum of from the newly reno- Understanding" with the U.S. Department of the Interior vated Station Number which allowed the operation of an exotic vegetation burn 2, near Bowman's site. City council voted May 17 to accept a bid from two Beach. local companies to operate the burn site on the island. Soon Come, Inc. of Sanibel and Dickey Brothers Tree Service of Fort Myers submitted the lowest proposal to operate the burn site on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service property commonly known as the Gavin Site. Six bids were received, with the Soon Come/Dickey Brothers team • LKTTERS page 6 ;Sanibei School Planning says ;City readies for offering to operate the site at no cost to the city. .REALEsmrE page io ;Beacon . yes to. tours the next season Natural Resources Director Rob Loflin said the site had previously been operated by the J.N. "Ding" Darling • DATELIM. page 18 refuge. It's the final issue of this Sanibel Planning iThe City of Sanibel is "The Gavin site has been a cooperative project with the • TV LISI l\GS page 20 ;school year — with lots Commission has given offering good, revised refuge and they've done a great job over the years in man- • POLICE BLAT page 22 ;of photos, approval for guided tours ideas based on last year's- aging the site," Loflin said. "They've done virtually all the experience. work in piling debris and getting it burned. They told us • G.ASSIIJJIDS page 24 ; they needed assistance with it so we accepted bids to have • PERMITS page 26 : ; a private contractor handle the project." ; — See page 12 — See page 5 — See page 9 See BURN • VOXPOl'lJLl page 27 ; :• . - page 9 2 • Week of May 26 - June t, 2005 • ISLAND REPORTER MOVING wrru At Our Fort Myers Warehouse! Imagine Robb & Stucky style at once-in-a-lifetime savings! After almost 2 decades in the same facility, Robb & Stucky is moving into a new warehouse. Like most folks, we'd rather sell the furniture than move it. Southwest Florida has never seen such a sale*. It's a treasure trove of fabulous finds from the finest names. We're pulling new merchandise out of the racks to the floor every day. 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Delivery Fee: Minimum $75 or 5% of Sales Check The Robb & Stucky Warehouse Moving Sale For information visit us on the web at www.robbstucky.com 11920 Metro Parkway between Daniels and Colonial in Fort Myers Only at our Fort Myers Warehouse on Metro Parkway. This sale is From the north, take 1-75 to exit 136 (Colonial Blvd.). Go west on Colonial to Metro Parkway not at the main Robb & Stucky Stores or the Furniture Outlets. and turn left. From the south take 1-75 to exit 131 (Daniels Parkway). Go west on Daniels 8406 5/26/05 SIR © 2005 ROBB & STUCKY, LTD.. LLLP IB 0000715 V to Metro Parkwa/^iWfVlft^*^^ ISLAND REPORTER • Week of May 26 - June 1, 2005 • 3 DILLON A poem for John Dillon From page 1 As part of the Benediction at John Dillon's Johnston said Dillon contributed much to the com- Memorial Service Tuesday morning, May 24 the fol- munity. lowing poem was read by Vice Mayor Mick Denham. "It's the intangible, hard to measure things that change lives and change communities," she said. "It's John Dillon's intangible contributions to each of us and to the civic life of Sanibel that are indeed an inspiration." Sunset Dillon's widow, Jill, said her husband was unpreten- The scent of the ocean tious in his service. clings in the air. "John was a modest fellow. He would be surprised The mist on my face and, of course, pleased by this ceremony," she said. "He leaves a salty taste in my mouth. loved Sanibel and very much enjoyed his work on the The breeze plays with my hair, planning commission. He had great respect for the plan- and cools my skin. ning department staff, their dedication, their expertise and their hard work he always found invaluable." A flock of seagulls fly overhead, She added that one of Dillon's great qualities was his carefree and peaceful. ability to listen. "Please, take me with you, "John was a superb listener and you can imagine I want to be free." what an advantage that was for his family," she said. "He listened thoughtfully, carefully, and he also heard. The waves break on the shore He never brought an agenda to the table and he never A calming, soothing lullaby prejudged anything." of life's eternal ebb and flow. Vice-mayor Mick Denham said he knew Dillon as a I listen entranced by this ancient song, fellow golfer.