Cleaning the coast; Nearly 2,500 pounds of trash coilected TO 1 Since 1961 R0 Still first on Sanibel and Captiva islands VOL 33, NO. 39 TUESDAY, SEPT. 27, 1994 2 SECTIONS, 32 PAGES 50 CENTS Tug of war? Six members of the Sanibe! Police Department hold a large alligator steady after dragging It from the pond at the roadside city park on Periwinkle Way. The alliga- tor, which was determined to have no fear of man and thus potentially dangerous, was removed by licensed hunters and destroyed. Photo by Tracey Markwalter Big gator de By Steve Ruediger no police officer saw her feed the alligator. islander staff writer See additional photos, page 15A However, accounts by a police aide of her feeding An alligator measuring 12 feet, 4 inches long and the alligator and of her admission to police that she weighing about 400 pounds was captured at Sanibel The woman who fed the alligator left the area but later returned. She was questioned by police and fed the alligator were put togetherby.f>olice= and sent City Park by Sanibel police Tuesday, Sept. 20, and to the offices of Florida State Attorney J6% turned over to a state trapper to be destroyed. told them she had thrown a couple of Ritz crackers D'Alessandro to seek a warrant from the state attor-" An SPD aide had seen a tourist feed the alligator to get the alligator to come closer so that she could and had determined that the alligator had lost its fear see it better. ney's office for the arrest of the woman, Joan Soucie of people. The woman told police she had not known it was of Buffalo Grove, 111., for feeding an alligator. It is illegal to feed an alligator. Experts believe illegal to feed alligators. She said that earlier she A large number of police and police aides were that the feeding of an alligator will result in its los- had.seen other people feed that same alligator some needed both for the capture of the alligator and to ing its fear of humans. After it loses that fear it pizza. control the large crowd of people that gathered to becomes a danger to people. The woman was not arrested at the time because watch the capture. McDonald's gives up on drive-through request By Steve Ruediger Planning Department Director Bruce Rogers read in traffic study submitted by McDonald's. Islander staff writer its entirety, "Please let this letter confirm my tele- The lack of a drive-through would obviously McDonald's Restaurants is giving up its request for phone call of September 16, 1994. McDonald's will change the traffic impact. It is not clear at this point a drive-through while continuing with its request for a be amending its application to withdraw the request what McDonald's plans to do in regard to a new traf- restaurant on Periwinkle Way on Sanibel. for a drive-thru conditional use. We will coordinate fic study, if any. The traffic study it has submitted Although the city of Sanibel had passed a law with you to determine what revised documents are contains figures from the Institute for Transportation making drive-through restaurant facilities illegal, necessary for you to facilitate the continued review of Engineers on the amount of traffic generated by a McDonald's until now had insisted on keeping the the application without the drive-thru. If you have any fast-food restaurant both with and without a drive- drive-through facility in the plans it was attempting to questions, please feel free to call me." through. get before the Sanibel Planning Commission. The Sanibel City Council on Tuesday, Sept. 20, Surprisingly those figures show more traffic gener- However, a Monday, Sept. 19, letter from Steven cancelled consideration of a planned contract with C. Hartsell, the attorney for McDonald's, to Sanibel HNTB Corporation for consulting work regarding the Please see McDONALD's, page 3A BMRH operator's pact extended 30 days Arts & Leisure 4B CHR, city differ over contract renewal Business Briefs 7A By Steve Ruediger CHR is a private non-profit group run tions, Sanibel City Attorney Bob Pritt City Briefs 6A Islander staff writer by an independent board. and Sanibel Finance Director Renee 12B The current contract with Community Its administrative budget is paid by Lynch had suggested to Sanibel City Classifieds and Housing Resources Inc. for the the city of Sanibel, which also subsi- Manager Gary Price that cuts could be Commentary 10A management of the Sanibel Below dizes the difference between rents paid made in the CHR budget if the city han- Crossword 14B Market Rate Housing Program was and expenses at the 41 apartment units dled the parts of CHR's legal and finan- Police Beat 2A extended for 30 days Tuesday, Sept. 20, in the program. cial work that it was possible for city by the Sanibel City Council because it The requested administrative expen- staff to handle. Sports Shorts 14A apparently had become impossible for Weather Watch 4A ditures in the 1995 budget come to Comments had been made at this differences over a longer extension to be $151,648. In addition, the city has bud- year's budget hearings that CHR ex- What's Playing 5B worked out before the current contract geted $ 116,151 in subsidy for the year. expires Friday, Sept. 30. Prior to contract renewal negotia- Piease see CHR, page 3A 2A THE ISLANDER .;Tuesday. Sept. 27. 1994 All of the following information came directly from charged Wednesday, Sept. 21, with going 62 mph on Sanibel Police Department reports. the Sanibel Causeway, with DUI and with having a CEPD cuts taxes, approves 1995 budget POLICE tag not assigned to the vehicle. After being stopped By Steve Ruediger that monitoring will be available from the state. their share of the U.S. government check paying the A woman complained to police Thursday, Sept. 22, for speeding, Bartlett was given and failed a field Islander staff writer sobriety test. He later blew .104 and .121 on a breath If either the state or county funds were to fall federal $1.8 million share of the 1988 nourishment that an unknown man calls her and says things that BEAT The Captiva Erosion Prevention District board cut through, the CEPD could budget the money from sound suggestive. test. Anything over .08 is illegal for a driver. project, Stronge said those letters were going out in proposed ad valorem taxes by $161,913 Wednesday, taxes in 1996. In both cases the money has already Sept. 21, before adopting its final budget for the com- four waves. been spent from reserves and the appropriations were A bicycle was reported missing Sept. 22 from Sept. 22 with going 33 mph in the school zone at the Police stopped on Sanibel-Captiva Road Tuesday, ing year. The first wave was supposed to be going out that Sandpiper Circle. It is a Trek 460 with yellow tape on Sanibel Elementary School when the speed limit Sept. 20, to assist Jean Dieuvil Coicou, whose car had As a result of the cut, the millage will be 1.2626, a to rebuild the reserves. day and was to about 400 owners of property that had the handlebars. there was 20 mph. broken down. However, it turned out there was a state 66 percent increase over the roll back rate for this Although at a previous budget hearing it had been not changed ownership since the 1988 project. Those of Florida order that Coicou's driver's license, which year's ad valorem taxes. The preliminary budget had said the need for money for a lobbyist should be con- are considered the easiest to determine who gets the After receiving a check kiting referral from the A 6-foot-long alligator beside a Sanibel road had been suspended, and his car's license tag be been 1.5977 mills. The roll back rate was .7606. The sidered at the final budget hearing, there was no such reimbursement since there is only one possible choice FBI last week, Sanibel police contacted an islander, Wednesday, Sept. 21, was convinced by police to go seized. They were. preliminary budget had been a 110.05 percent tax discussion. CEPD Administrator Alison Hagerup said in regard to each piece of property. who promised to change the way he does his banking. back into a nearby swamp. increase. that if a lobbyist is needed she will be able to find The next wave will be property that is still in the A bicycle was missing Sept. 20 from Tarpon Bay After the cuts, $610,076 will come from ad val- funds by using money from other budget items, such same family name but has changed ownership in Lynn Veronica Devens of Fort Myers showed A truck which did not stop at the Sanibel Weigh Road. orem taxes. as some of the $10,000 budgeted for travel. some way within that family. This would include police two duplicate driver's licenses when she was Station was stopped by police last week. The driver No members of the public showed up for the final Financial Consultant Dr. Bill Stronge reported to property involved in divorces or inheritances. stopped on Sanibel Sept. 22 for having an expired told police he had forgotten about the weigh station. Hunter Phillip Houghton of Naples was charged budget session. the board Wednesday that over half of the island The third wave will be people who have sold the license tag. She said she had gotten the duplicate Sept.