noW thREE dAYs A WEEK Post CommEnts At on CAPE-CoRAL-dAiLY-bREEzE.Com CAPE CORAL Tourney opener Ida Baker defeats Cape High, 59-51 BREEZE — SPORTS EARLY-WEEK Edition WEATHER:Partly Cloudy • Tonight: Mostly Clear • Wednesday: Mostly Sunny — 2A cape-coral-daily-breeze.com Vol. 49, No. 17 Tuesday, February 9, 2010 50 cents Developers urge council to make zoning changes Boulevard, Del Prado Boulevard feel like this is the road to recov- Group fears passage of Amendment Four will severely slow process and Pine Island Road itself. ery for the Cape.” By DREW WINCHESTER Amendment Four would require A small group of developers, They argue those roads are no Should the amendment pass, [email protected] all individual zoning changes to including Steve Krieg and Dan longer suitable for single-family future ballots would literally be Time is running out for Cape be put on ballots for votes. Creighton, wanted to make their or multi-family residential prop- clogged by hundreds of independ- Coral to rezone certain properties Developers and city leaders case for quick changes to the erties, and should be rezoned now ent land use votes, stalling devel- both north and south of Pine fear the amendment would not Cape Coral City Council Monday as commercial, ahead of the opment for unseen amounts of Island Road before Amendment only hinder future commercial night. amendment four vote. time. Four, the so called “hometown growth in the city, but destroy any They wanted to focus specifi- “We feel like there’s so much Creighton, also a Community democracy” amendment, is voted hopes of diversifying a city-wide cally on property south of Pine at stake we have to get this done,” Redevelopment Agency board on in November. tax base that is 93 percent resi- Island Road along six-lane thor- Krieg said. “We have got to find a member, said that without com- If passed by voters statewide, dential. oughfares like Santa Barbara way to get this done ... we really See CHANGES, page 6A Road work Amount overcharged on sewer bills around $4 million Figure is ‘approximate’ and could be less By DREW WINCHESTER $800,000 where liens were [email protected] placed on accounts with outstand- Cape Coral city staff is esti- ing balances. mating that $4.1 million will While the finalized number is have to be refunded to those who still being tweaked, staff will also were overcharged on their sewer have to come up with a way to bills between 2005 and early refund those overages. 2010. But there’s one council mem- City Manger Carl Schwing ber who’s not convinced the said the number was “approxi- money should be refunded at all. mate,” and the final number is Bill Deile said the interpreta- expected to be less. tion of the resolution’s language “These are approximate num- was key, and that he can’t make a bers that are expected to go down solid decision until he sees more but provide some perspective on solid information. the magnitude of the issue,” “I don’t think we’ve generated Schwing wrote in an e-mail to all the facts yet,” he said. “I City Council. would like to be on firm ground MICHAEL PISTELLA According to the e-mail, $3.3 no matter what we do.” million of that total figure were accounts in good standing, and See AMOUNT, page 6A A crew with MAJ Contracting sets up a new storm drain pipe along Santa Barbara Boulevard Monday. The work is part of a widening project along Santa Barbara. Reactions mixed Cape residents cheer for to plan to pave favorite teams in Super Bowl north Cape roads By MCKENZIE CASSIDY time. [email protected] See related stories “I’m usually working,” she The New Orleans Saints and said. “We’re going for the Saints. By MCKENZIE CASSIDY Indianapolis Colts faced off about the Super Bowl New Orleans needs that spirit and abd DREW WINCHESTER Sunday night in the NFL’s needs uplifting.” [email protected] inside today’s Breeze [email protected] Championship Game, Super Bowl Some fans showed up early to Council- XLIV, while crowds of Cape have something to eat or to begin The roads in North Cape Coral residents joined in the ordering drinks, and the restaurant Coral were the primary focus of member excitement. and Pine Island Road were sold even set up an Xbox game system District 6 Councilmember Kevin At the conclusion of a very out Sunday. Both restaurants sold so fans could play mock games Kevin McGrail’s first town hall McGrail close game, the Saints sealed their each seat to fans ahead of time with Madden NFL: Football meeting over the weekend at victory over the Colts, 31-17, and were forced to turn away peo- Video Game. the new Northwest Regional when Tracy Porter intercepted a ple who came looking for a place The Leapin’ Lizard Bar & Library. pass from Colts quarterback to watch the game. Grill in downtown Cape Coral A number of issues were dis- Peyton Manning and ran it 74 “We sold all of our seats and expected a large crowd. Manager cussed throughout the meeting, ing enough capital to pave the yards for a touchdown. Saints all of the bar outside,” said Mark Alex Gniazdowski said the but a special assessment pro- 120 miles of roads that need quarterback Drew Brees was Porter, manager of Stevie restaurant has been drawing posed by McGrail to fix roads attention. voted the game’s Most Valuable Tomato’s on Del Prado crowds by showing NFL games deemed undriveable by the The town hall meeting on Player. Boulevard. all season. He wasn’t sure how councilman took center stage. Saturday was held to determine Restaurants and bars through- Three months ago the restau- many people would show up but McGrail plans on introduc- if residents would be willing to out the city hosted hundreds of rant opened its outside bar and they offered specials on food and ing a one-time special assess- accept the one-time assessment. people cheering for their favorite Porter said it’s really helping to drinks. ment of $500 to city council for James Franklin lives on team, while homes on varying bring in fans. Cape Coral resident Bob Ziegenfus came to the repair of worn roads in the Northwest 46th Terrace and blocks threw their own party Debbie Gilhooly, at Stevie Leapin’ Lizard to watch the game northern district of the city. opposes the idea of having peo- among friends and family. Tomato’s with two friends, said with his son, Ryan. The last time The city would raise $10 ple pay for fixing the roads. Stevie Tomato’s Sport Page this was the first time she’s been million if each homeowner pays locations on Del Prado Boulevard able to watch the game in a long See TEAMS, page 6A the assessment, he said, provid- See REACTIONS, page 6A Cape Chorale again offering Singing Valentines By DREW WINCHESTER Quartets spend three days cannot believe their reaction,” he way through Valentine’s Day. tions that sing in barbershop style [email protected] roaming all corners of the county, said. Part of the proceeds go to ben- harmonies, that’s open to anyone Valentines Day is fast surprising people at home and at For $45, people can order up a efit the Pediatric Speech Therapy in the community. approaching and that means one work. singing quartet for their friends or program at Lee Memorial Wright said he really looks thing: the return of Singing Chorale member Howard loved ones. Hospital, according to Wright, forward to performing for people Valentines. Wright said the reactions from The quartet arrives clad in who added that Cape Chorale has during their three-day run of The Cape Chorale Singing people who are surprised by the tuxedos, singing two songs and donated more than $30,000 to the Singing Valentines, by bringing Valentines program has been singing Valentines are his hands out a single rose, a box of program during the Signing joy and surprise to people’s lives. warming hearts for nearly two favorite part. candy and a personalized card. Valentines’ 14-year run. “The most important thing is decades, and this year is no dif- “I look at the face of the peo- The quartets begin performing The Cape Chorale is a group of ferent. ple and their eyes ... you simply Friday, Feb. 12, and sing all the men with varied ages and occupa- See CHORALE, page 6A ATAGLANCE AROUND THE CAPE NEWS OF NOTE WHAT’S INSIDE CCCIA to meet Thursday Two decades later, The Cape Coral Construction Industry man to get lost ring back Annie’s Mailbox......10A Environment........13A meeting Thursday, Feb. 11, will feature a Florida ORLANDO (AP) — Two decades after Cape Life ..........7A Horoscopes......10A discussion on “Positioning for the Future,” featuring a panel made up of Bob Knight of his school ring fell overboard from a cruise Lottery ship, a central Florida man is expecting to Classifieds..........1-6B Obituaries ..........2A Paul Homes, Dom Izzo of Aranda Homes CASH 3: have the high school treasure in his hands Comics ............12A Police Blotter ....2A 6-6-5 / 0-1-1 and Roger Schutt of Premier properties. once again. Community ............8A Sports ........14-15A PLAY 4: Moderating the discussion, which will Tom Whitney says he’s been contacted 2-9-3-3 / 0-0-7-6 take place at 6:30 p.m. at La Venezia, 464 Crossword........12A Today in History......9A by an Ohio woman whose father-in-law Fantasy 5 S.E.