Youth league continues Flower Shop page 25 MAY 6,1999 VOLUME 26 NUMBER 18 36 PAGES ,sv REP I ER City rethinks GOOD TASTE purchase of Periwinkle (and! By Pattie Pace politics and an asking price considerably Staff Writer above the appraised value killed negotia- tions. Sanibel City • Councilmember Steve According to a letter from the Dunes Brown wants to keep the door open, for the Homeowner's Association, Mariner owns . city to purchase two commercially zoned approximately 43 acres along Periwinkle, Outparcels on Periwinkle Way-near Bailey 34 of which the Sanibel Community Church Road. has an option to buy. The other nine acres Owner Ray Pavelka, president of are zoned commercial. Mariner Properties Development, offered The association expressed concern that the city an option to purchase the parcels last year but fierce budget battles, election t> See Purchase, page 4 I'istrUa ABOVE: Sanibel School student and Taste of the Islands' By Pattie Pace cial election held to fill the seat vacated volunteer Kasey Hurrell sells Staff Writer when George Madison unexpectedly an official event T-shirt to resigned in January. Laswell has now schoolmate Alexis Pettinato One-hundred-seventy-four men and applied for the city's top post, which opened Sunday afternoon. The T-shirts women are being considered to serve as in January as well, when 20-year veteran were designed by Chip Carter Sanibel's City Manager, from as far away as Gary Price negotiated an early retirement of Island Designs. Canada and as close as Boca Raton. package. Add Sanibel's Bob Laswell to that list. AT RIGHT: Laura Chenciner, 2- The Sanibel City Council agreed 1/2, finds a cozy spot on mom Laswell was Councilmember Bill Tuesday to ask two Range Riders to inde- Hillebrandt's challenger in the March spe- Katharine's leg to eat her red ed See Apply, page 3 velvet cake from the Bubble Room at the 19th annual Taste of the Islands Sunday. This User beware of computer scams year's Taste of the Islands attracted a record number of By Gwenda Hiett-Clements local bank in Sanibel, Florida. We have had people and raised between News Editor a problem validating your credit limit, and $40,000 and $50,000 for Clinic we need you to respond with your credit for the Rehabilitation of Those who use the Internet are warned to card number and expiration date so we can Wildlife, according to unofficial be aware of con artists trying to gain access validate this." totals. For details, restaurant to their bank and credit card accounts via e- Howell, who is a seasoned user of the winners and a photo album of mail. , Internet and e-mail, said, "What was so the big day, please see pages 20- Sanibel resident Saralee Howell received appalling was it was so obvious. It's scary.: 21. the following e-mail last week: It's the same way people get fooled when "Hello, I am a representative from the E> See Scams, page 3 Summer Wreck REMEMBER MAMA Sanibel delays increasing hours decision on By Jill Goodman Staff Writer The popular summer youth program at Blind Pass dredging the Sanibel Recreation Center is expanding its hours starting this summer. Supports plan but doesn't want to pay - According to Dave DeFouso, youth coordinator for Summer Wreck, the pro- By Pattie Pace gram will be a full, five-day week with Staff Writer expanded hours, now from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. In addition, two weeks have been added, Sanibel and Captiva, often at odds making the "camp" open for eight weeks over beach renourishment, groins, and starting Monday, June 21. sand erosion and accretion, are working together with the state and Lee County According to Sanibel Recreation on an inlet management plan for Blind Director Helene Phillips, the expansion idea Pass, the narrow waterway that divides was broached by the city's Five-Year the two islands. Plans to dredge the Budget Review Committee. Michael Pistella pass that is now completely closed are "We did a survey amongst the elemen- under way. tary school parents. The results came back (clockwise, 1 to r) Jake Davis, Dillon Bauer, Kap Owens, overwhelmingly in favor of an extended Christopher Davies, and Logan Bryant, 5-year-old stu- Following a complicated discussion program," Phillips said. dents at Rabbit Road Center for Children, work on cor- Tuesday on policy and payment, the sages they'll give to their moms Friday at the day care's Sanibel City Council agreed to post- A. Hagerup Mother's Day lunch. For details, please see page 5. t> See Wreck, page 4 t> See*I)redging, page 2 2 • MAY 6, 1999 • ISLAND REPORTER Congress passes AT RIGHT: Blind bill to save beaches Pass, which separates Sanibel U.S. Rep. Porter Goss, R-Sanibel, and Captiva, is joined the House of Representatives closed. Various gov- last Thursday, April 29, in passing a ernmental agencies bill that will extend the authorization are working on plans period for critical projects under the to dredge the pass Everglades and South Florida ecosys- this summer. Exactly tem restoration program, including who will pay — and the extension of beach renourishment how much •-*- projects for Captiva. remainthe major "As evidenced by the funding lev- questions. els in this bill, the Congress has once again turned back the Clinton/Gore P. Goss administration's assault on beach renourishment projects," Goss said. "These vital projects serve the same function as other flood-control projects: they save lives and limit damage to property. ... Photo /Michael Pistella "This action is great news for Southwest Florida, espe- cially the residents of Captiva Island and our River of Grass. Once again, Congress has reaffirmed its commit- Dredging From page 1 ment to the Everglades' restoration program and is meet- ing its obligations to help restore this national treasure." pone its recommendation to the Florida Department of Coast Inland Navigation District sharing the balance. Environmental Protection, after Alison Hagerup, adminis- Sanibel's Natural Resources Director Rob Loflin said he trator of the.Captiva Erosion Prevention District, said she favors dredging the pass this summer, provided no turtle could likely get Sanibel an extension, since she serves on nests are found in the area. Historically, turtles do not nest the inlet's management plan. in the pass. The DEP, one of the permitting agencies, requested writ- "Many people say the pass has opened and closed many e a t h e r ten confirmation from Sanibel on its position about the pro- times, and that we should let nature takes its course," Loflin posed dredging of Blind Pass. said. "But man has intervened already; the bridge itself basi- High Low Rain The council's draft resolution favored the dredging but cally tells the pass where it can go. April 28 - 88 74 indicated that Sanibel didn't feel obligated to share in pay- "From a biological perspective ... the estuary has the April 29 86 72 .82 ing for the project. highest diversity of invertebrates in the entire Charlotte April 30 84 ' 72 "I think that's inappropriate, a bad-neighbor policy Harbor estuary. It beat out Boca Grande Pass; it's also a May 01 84 62 whenever we go out and say, 'We're not going to pay our snook breeding area." May 02 . 84 60 share,'" Councilmember Bill Hillebrandt said. "We wonder In addition, Loflin said opening the pass would create May 03 78 61 why we get a 'bad rep' for being iconoclastic. That's greater flushing activity in Roosevelt Channel and Dinkins Mayl 04 82 62 because we sometimes behave that way." Bayou, where septic waste leaches into the water. He said he also objected to calling Sanibel a "victim" But Mayor Bob Janes and Councilmember Andrew when it comes to erosion said to be caused by Captiva beach Reding expressed strong concerns about making major pol- Rainfall for April is 1.24 inches so far. renourishment projects. icy-setting decisions, especially when it comes to spending Note: Rainfall levels are recorded from the "We have to recognize that we're also beneficiaries in city money. morning of the clay given to the following morn- this ongoing ballet with Mother Nature and We engaged in They're also bothered by a request from Florida Beach & ing. the dance. (Keeping Blind Pass open) benefits people as Shore Preservation Association to take all or part of the 78 Source: Island Water Association well as wildlife, including the people on Sanibel," cubic yards of sand from the dredging project and place it Hillebrandt said. along the eroding beach in front of the Gulf Pines/Gulf Hagerup said Sanibel was being asked to pay one-eighth Shores subdivisions. the cost of dredging Blind Pass. That calculation, amounting Discussion about Sanibel's participation in the complex to $47,750, was based on the state picking up 50 percent of project and city policy issues will continue at a future city the tab and the CEPD, Sanibel, Lee County and-the West council meeting. DGNAX VILLAGE #© SOUGHT AFTE1 EAST END 1ET1EAT TO MATURE WATEMFEQNT HOME NEM BEACH Spacious 2 BR/2 BA plus loft condo. • Custom built with 5 bedrooms, 4 • 1982 -built- 2 bedroom, 2 bath piling home. 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