The island's newspaper of record Tag - you're it. HT Week of January 22-28, 2004 SANIBEL & CAPTIVA, FLORIDA VOLUME 31, NUMBER 4, 24 PAGES 75 CENTS City Council moves ahead on proposed Rec Center By Donna T. Schuman The new facility serves several functions for the Staff writer community according to Woodroffe. The double gym- nasium has the ability to act as a single court for spe- After two years of planning and anticipation, the cial tournaments or other activities. The gym also has City Council unanimously approved designs for the a dividing wall to provide the facility lo the school and city's new Recreation Center following a detailed pre- the community simultaneously. sentation by the architect and positive input from citi- To keep with what Woodroffe calls the "open air zens present. aspect" of Sanibel, the deck and pool area provides As the key to the Parks and Recreation Master Plan, about 100,000 square feet of outside space which the $9.4 million center would provide a facility for all includes three individual pools. One functions as a of the citizens of the islands, according to Armand toddler pool, another as an exercise pool, and the third Ball, chairman of the Parks and Recreation would be used as a lap pool. All three pools comply Committee. with the Americans With Disabilities Act regulations. The final design, totaling more than 137,000 square Security also played into Woodroffe's design. The feet, includes a gymnasium, weight and fitness room, staff offices are located towards the entrance to the teen center, multi-purpose area, and three swimming main building and almost all the facilities have one pools. The entire facility could be constructed in two point of entry. years. Once the council approved the design, it was time to Henry Woodroffe. of Woodroffe Architects, said the discuss funding. The estimated construction cost on design posed a challenge to his firm. One main goal the project total about $7.6 million. Miscellaneous Woodroffe faced was not only to maximize fhe bene- costs were estimated at $1.8 million. Kelly Ryman. a fits to the community, but to maintain the existing consultant with Public Financial Management. Inc. facility while the new one is being constructed. To has been working with the city on possible funding accomplish that, Woodroffe placed most of the future options. facilities towards the northern end of the property. Diagram of One option discussed was a pay-as-you-go plan. Howe\er, the project must proceed in phases. The According to Ryman. this works best with smaller pro- first phase would include construction of the multi- the proposed Rec purpose building and then move on to the pool and Center presented to See REC CENTER deck faculties. council on Tuesday, Jan. 20 page 2 Planning Committee discussion, postponed City and comity By Donna T. Schuman tion and hoped the council would it hurts to look at any entity on the on lawsuit procedures Staff writer give them adequate reasoning for the island." Brown said. "I think its a suggestion. • Councilman Marty part of ongoing quality assurance." By Donna T. Schuman Prompted by a request from Harrity. who made the initial sugges- By postponing the discussion, the Staff writer Councilwoman Judy Workman, who tion to council on reducing the num- appointment of two new planning was absent at Tuesday's meeting, the ber of commissioners, said at numer- commissioners will be put on hold. Mum's the word regarding Sanibel's suit filed against Sanibel City Council agreed to post- ous meetings that he is looking for The terms of two seats have been Lee County on January 12. City Attorney Ken Cuyler pone its discussion on the reduction ways to streamline the city's govern- extended until this issue is advised council not to discuss the case due to the pend- of Planning Commissioners until its ment Although Harrity's thoughts addressed. ing litigation. However, Cuyler did address some issues Feb. 3 meeting. The reduction of have not changed on the issue, he The mayor asked the packed questioned by the public regarding the suit. appointees to the Planning said, out of courtesy for Workman — MacKenzie Hall that no public com- One main clarification deals with not citing damages Commission has become a subject of who is aJso the commission liaison ments be made on the issue at this in the suit against the county. According to Cuyler. the concern for many islanders, especial- — that he would postpone the dis- time. However, during the report suit will eventually cite damages. However, the city did ly the Planning Commissioners cussion. A joint meeting between the from the Planning Commission, not have time to formulate the damages count before fil- themselves. council and commission will be Commissioner Ellis Robinson told ing the suit. At its meeting on January 13, the scheduled for a later date according council the commission is eager to As of now, the suit focuses on the county's alleged commission questioned the reduc- to Mayor Steve Brown. "I don't think discuss the issue. breach of its own Comprehensive Plan and its interlocal agreement with the city. The city has also filed a motion to abate or stop the judicial procedures. When one gov- ernment sues another, Florida state law requires the two entities to enter into an administrative mediation. The council unanimously approved a resolution in accor- • OPINION page 6 Gorilla expert to Marine Lab Club to start dance with that statute. speak at BIG Report, Part VII: annual tourney According to Cuyler, the two parties must then coor- • ENMROWIENT page 9 ARTS Birds dinate the proceedings. The Lee County Commissioners • DATF.IINE page 10 passed a resolution on Tuesday, Jan. 20 to expedite that Local celebrity golf tour- process. According to the resolution, an immediate dan- Dr. Amy Vedder has stud- SCCF's Marine Lab ger to the public's safety and welfare exists with respect • RtALE^JA'n- page 12 ied with Dian Fossey in report this week looks at nament to raise funds for Africa. the annuak bird count kids. to the drawbridge and requires immediate action by the • TV US I l.\GS page 15 county. However, the county commissioners and engi- neers maintain that the bridge is safe for travel, accord- • LOOKING BACK page 18 ing to a press release issued Tuesday. "It dees mean, - See page 5 — See page 22 • CLASSIFIEDS page 19 — See page 9 See LAWSUIT page 2 $?•!'&:• 4 GP.gEN Design * installation • Maintenance • Tree Worfe j R'J. 28 YEARS BEAUTIFYING SANIBEL & CAPTIVA > ;o: 210-472-J S70 Island. I i 71M37 2 • Week of January 22-28, 2004 3 ISLAND REPORTER CITY • COUNTY • STATE Bridge consultant role questioned REC CENTER By Donna T. Schuman According to Cuyler, Shahaway Staff writer informed PBS&J that the bridge can be From page 1 rehabilitated, the firm paid him for his Only a week into its lawsuit with Lee travel expenses, and that ended the profes- jects. This option would require the city County, Sanibel has experienced what sional relationship. In the final report from City Attorney Ken Cuyler calls a slight to wait for construction or land acquisi- PBS&J, Shahaway is listed as one of the tion as revenue becomes available. "hiccup" regarding the report on the reha- industry experts. The report also states, bilitation of the bridge. Although the overall cost would be '"Due to the two modes of failure identified lower, according to Ryman it requires a Council had planned to hear a report during our evaluation, PBS&J, as well as supply of cash on hand. from Moshen Shahaway, a consultant our industry experts consulted with, hired by the city to evaluate the draw- Another option discussed was debt believe structure A needs to be replaced as financing. This would allow the city to bridge. Instead, the council heard a report soon as possible," from Cuyler stating that the city must construct as needed. However, current Recently, PBS&J contacted Shahaway and future users would bear the cost. retain another consultant. Prior to his deal- over the issue and, according to Cuyler, ings with Sanibel, Shahaway was briefly According to Ryman, this choice is was later advised, not to proceed in a tech- commonly used for larger projects. retained by PBS&J, the firm that evaluat- nical conflict. However, Cuyler did note ed the structural condition of the draw- Council also discussed issuing bonds that the report could be subject to discov- for the project. The two types discussed bridge, for his professional evaluation of ery in the case and the city would still have the bridge. were general obligation and revenue access to that information under oath. bonds. General obligation bonds, which Henry Woodroffe, of Woodroffe are backed by the credit and taxing Architects presents the new Rec Center plan to council. administrative mediation. powers of the city, has a more favorable market response than revenue bonds. The county also has scheduled a hear- have to be formed. That team would ing to determine the merits of its case and However, Florida state statutes require LAWSUIT that taxing authority be obtained consist of more than nine different posi- whether or not to proceed directly to a tions, including the underwriter, finan- court hearing. through voter approval. From page 1 Revenue bonds are backed by a spe- cial advisor, credit enhancers, rating For now, the county will continue to agencies and a bond counsel. inspect the bridge monthly, in addition to cific revenue stream such as a special however, that the bridges continue to cor- tax, and users pay the cost of the project The city also plans to meet with the rode and a significant delay in the the other inspections by its consultants Lee County Superintendent to discuss and the state.