I I This Week

ARTS, DINING & ENTERTAINMENT — SECTION B I OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES — 26B I BULK RATE U.S. POSTAGE PAID SANIBEL, FL. PERMIT #33 POSTAL PATRON Vol. 37, No. 13 Friday, April 3, 1998 Two Sections, 56 pages 75 Cents This Week Death in the Mangroves Bridge Talk Lee County consulting engineers will give a presentation on replacing the Sanibel Causeway bridge system Tuesday at City Council. ....................... Seepage 3A Gypsy Alert Sanibel Police report that an island home has been - ' burglarized in the same manner as the infamous "Gypsies" group of years past. Seepage 7A Era Ends? A 1920s-style cottage faces the wrecking ball, Seepage 9A Remember When? A sampling of Sanibel history, taken from the pages of the Islander over the past 37 years. Seepage 5B Arts .....:. 7B Cartoon- 17A Classifieds 22-25 Commentary ;.•... 16-18 Crossword........ 27B Fishing.................. 25B monojiiameru fishing tine can be a major killer ofwiidhfe, particularly birds. Tomorrow, the Givui Island Pickup Is scheduled to pick up fishing line and other dangerous and unsightly litter. Meet at the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation or Police Beat............. 7A McCarthy's Marina on Caplhia at 8:30 a,m. 2A - Friday, April 3, 1998 - ISLANDER Opera comes to the Islands See Frank Wagner's review of Lucia di Lammermoor, page 9B ISLANDER • Friday, April 3, 1998 - 3A The FrontPage Report to Council: Causeway Bridges falling down? ByANNEBELLEW Islander staff writer The City Council meeting Tuesday, April 7, will fea- ture presentations by Arthur H. Goldberg and Stephen H. McGucken and others of the URS Greiner staff on replacing the Sanibel Causeway Bridge. The presentation begins at 1:30 or immediately following the lunch break. Eight years ago this past February, the Sanibel Cause- way Evaluation & Review Advisory ad hoc Committee, made up of nine Lee County engineers will give a Sanibel citizens, presentation on the causeway made the following bridge proposals to City Council determination which they pre- around 1:30 p.m. Tuesday in sented to City MacKenzie Hall. Council: "Although the existing Bridge could have its useful life continued for probably 14 years, the deterioration of the facility is accel- erating and there is risk in delaying the commencement of the replacement process. More importantly, repairs can never alleviate the deficiencies of the Bridge in traffic flow, hurricane evacuation and re-entry access. Furthermore, the design phase, bond financing and construction of the replacement bridge can be expected to take from 4 to 6 years and use up almost one-half of the remaining useful life of the existing Bridge." [Emphasis added.] A continuous span —such as that shown in this drawing oftheAlbemarle Sound bridge in North Carolina • - is one Five designs were proposed by Lee County's design alternative being proposed by Lee County's consulting engineers to replace the Sanibel Causeway. (Continued, page 4A) As some parents look to school's future, others want help now ByJILLTYRER about what they see as excessively long bus rides for some By staying on the island, the children might also lose out Islander staff writer students, but they also were interested in options to keep on certain extracurricular programs as well as technol- A number of options are possible to keep Sanibel students on island a few more years. ogy labs and other resources. Elementary students closer to home in the future, but those Keeping children on the island through eighth grade Furthermore, Riley said, students might continue options won't help the 13 fifth graders who face daily rather than fifth would allow parents more daily involve- having to contend with split classes — two grades shar- bus rides to Bonita or Dunbar Middle Schools. ment with their children and schools, and it would keep ing a teacher and other resources. "Think carefully about If parents are interested in expanding the elemen- the children from having to ride for hours each day on the trade-offs," she said. tary school to encompass grades 6-8, said school board school buses, said Alex Cook, a parent who is taking a But if extending the school is something they're member Pat Riley, "the time is right for you to approach lead in efforts to make some changes. But there would be serious about, the time is right in terms of facilities needs, us." About 80 parents and others showed up at the school trade-offs parents need to consider, he added. Lee County too, said Ande Albert, assistant superintendent of busi- Tuesday night for a meeting with about a half dozen school School District might not be as likely to fund programs ness administration services. Although there is no guar- officials. Those in the audience were not only concerned such as music and sports at Sanibel as in larger schools. (Continued,page 6A) Chamber in conflict Juniors just "ducky!" ByJILLTYRER Paradise, also a member of with the Chamber for A tradition begun Islander staff writer S.I.C.C., gave a presenta- years, as have area publi- In spite of continued tion to the board a couple cations. on Sanibel There is a lot of op- 4 opposition, the Sanibel- weeks ago, "we were ex- continues to evolve i Captiva Islands Chamber tremely hopeful they would position to the idea, Naumann said, and of Commerce plans to see the disadvantages" of By ANNE BELLEW move ahead with plans to creating competition for S.I.C.C. probably has more create a central reservation chamber members, and de- than 100 members, but he Islander staff writer system. cide to drop the subject, doesn't think the board is Five distinguished "We're disappointed Naumann said. Instead, the paying attention. "I don't judges had to vote their that the chamber is continu- chamber board has an- think they have done any way through over 1,300 ing forward with this and nounced that it plans to pro- polling of the general mem- entries from all over we're investigating our ceed. bership. ... I don't think Florida to arrive at the rights and avenues," said . they asked for input be- state winner of the Fed- Board member Gro- cause they don't want any." John Naumann, co-owner ver Arp understands that eral Junior Duck Stamp of a private central reserva- there is opposition, but "There should be Contest last Friday. Kip tion service. Naumann also "they've kind of wrapped an some accountability," said Koss, president of the. >la High School's 17-year-old Willie Hale took is a member of Speakers issue in a lot of smoke. As Ira Roshberg, who owns "Ding" Darling Founda- the blue ribbon and Best of Show with his depiction of Interested in Chamber far as I can tell, there's an is- Driftwood Cottages with his tion, was joined by world- a mallard pair entitled'W&de. in the Water. Conflict, a group that op- sue of whether the chamber wife, Jane. "Otherwise, why renowned carver Jim poses the move. should compete with busi- have members? The board Sprankle, Peter Marr, Gold medal winner, Ron Commission and Ruth nesses." As an advertiser, he could be a private business four-time Kodak Photog- Bielefeld from the Florida Moon from the Lee After he and Revon- rapher of the Year and da Cross of Properties in said, he's been competing (Continued, page 27A Game & Fresh Water Fish County School two-time George Eastman (Continued, page 8A) 4A • Friday, April 3, 1998 • ISLANDER Middle School, from 3A consultants, Greiner, Inc.: • Design A—Replace the bascule bridge with a 65-foot high fixed-span bridge. .Keep flthenbridges and both islands. msfandeio • Design D: Like A, except that the fixed span would bypass island A to island B, -continuing oh the old structure from there to Sanibel. MAILING ADDRESS • Design F: Continuous span bridge from Punta Rassa to Sanibel. P.O. Box 56 • Sanibel, FL 33957 the design that the committee favored, however, was one designated J-l, the result of ongoing public debate and extensive refinements by the engineers. Simply put, J-l Fax 472-5302 Scott Martell Terri Blackmore was also a continuous span from Punta Rassa to Sanibel, but differed from other continu- LOCATION Editor General Manager ous-span designs in that it traverses island B (closest to Sanibel) with off and on ramps Promenade Center for recreational use of that island. Island A would be removed — to the cheers of area 695 Tarpon Bay Rd. Unit #13 environmentalists who, in 1960 (prior to building the-«auseway)rn0t-Qnly-oppesed-tfle— PHONE: 472-5185 adverse effect of the necessary dredging and filling, but also predicted the ultimate disap- SUBSCRIPTION RATES pearance of the Bay's thriving scallop industry. Its demise took approximately one year. However, the 1990 committee also stressed "that the design process should corn _ $22.00 $28.00 $20.75 Newspaper $26.42 Newspaper tinue, as further improvements may be forthcoming." $1.25 Sales lax $1.58 Sales Tax Annual Subscription Annual Subscription L« County Florida Eight years later The latest Greiner (now URS Greiner) Draft Evaluation Report, delivered in mid- $28.00 $42.00 Tracey Markwalter Harry Pappas March, 1998, states: Annual Subscription Annual Subscription ... [A] replacement bridge concept was assumed that is loosely based on the alter- USA Foreign Advertising Publisher Manager natives developed in the 1989 Preliminary Engineering Report and judged to be eco- Postal Information nomically representative of the feasible alternatives. In this concept, the replacement The Sanibel-Captiva Islander (USPS 481-400) is published every Friday and Is distributed throughout Sanibel and bridge would be a continuous structure ... [for purposes of cost comparison] along the Captiva Islands by the Breeze Corp.

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