W^WiB«i' JUNE18, 1993 VOLUME 22 00/oo/oo NUMBER 25 3 SECTIONS, 40 PAGES island SANlbEL REP SANIBEL PL R Weir woes Funding a factor; flooding feared By Ralf Kircher Staff Writer Faced with the dilemma of losing state fund- ing or upsetting homeowners in the Gulf Pines, Belle Meade and Sea Oats subdivisions, the Sanibel City Council decided to take the money and run with the Tarpon Bay Weir Project. As part of the city's surface water manage- ment plan (SWMP), the project will raise the wier's water level from 2.5 to 3.2 feet above sea level. The city maintains that the new weir will produce more environmentally desirable wet- lands and, with the weir's improved floodgates, actually improve the drainage on neighboring subdivisions. City officials are selling the plan as a drainage project that is also beneficial to jRoyal poincianas are blooming beautiful streets. This man and his daughter travel the environment. flowers, adding splashes of color to island by bicycle to take it all in slowly. •please see page 2A Sanibel:woman killed in.auto,accident, driver's side by a Ford pickup truck Another in driven by Walker Michael Pavel, 25, of Cape Coral. Stang was killed instantly. intensive care Pavel suffered minor injuries and yJVIaryJeanne McAward was treated and released from $ Southwest Florida Regional Medical A memorial service is scheduled Center. for 2 p.m. today at Sanibel A highway patrol officer is inves- Community Church for Ella Mae tigating circumstances surrounding Rasmussen Stang, 77; of Schooner the crash but was unavailable for Place, who died in an auto accident comment at press time. on Summerlin Road Saturday Lee County Director of morning, June 12. Transportation George Crawford Erma Pickett Henry, 83, of said he is checking speed and vol- Captain's Walk, a passenger in ume of traffic at the site of Stang's vehicle, was taken to Lee Saturday's fatality but has already Memorial Hospital, where she ruled out installing a' traffic light remains in intensive care this week. there or reducing the speed limit. According to the Florida Highway "There won't be a stoplight—it's Patrol, Stang, driving a Cadillac, too close to the one at McGregor," exited Sanibel Factory Stores just Crawford said. east of McGregor Boulevard and He is considering banning all was attempting to cross the west- left-turn exits from the center— bound lane of Summerlin to make a Ella Mae Rasmussen Stang died at the wheel of her Cadillac when left turn. Her vehicle was hit on the •please see page 2A she was hit by a truck while making a left turn onto Summerlin. Wff*£'H'ii"'.:'c':':'' '"•:/•••/. H'V :-;v'"i:- "'•;"•'i Budget process begins again : >%¥3;f&K?'&*l:':;*\:\ •• ':•''--'[:'-. •••.••;• '.M * $ S'Jffviffi1;..;'.;"-,!••••.;• * *,» "•••.••••*•••• •.•••..''. JM By Ralf Kircher Council members listened to each depart- 4 StaffWriter ment's "wish list," stating it is best to start off The Sanibel City Council began hammering with a larger budget and make final cuts later. out a budget for fiscal year 1994 during a spe- A few of the proposed budget items that have cial Budget Workshop session Wednesday. been subject of recent debate included city City Manager Gary Price was quick to caution employee compensation, beach parking fees and that no decisions made in the all-day meeting Sanibel Trolley subsidies. are final. The council proposed reducing a pay increase "These are tentative decisions made only to for city employees* from a su jested 6.9 percent direct city staff on the preparation of a tentative to 5.5 percent. This, and the earlier decided budget for submission to the Property omission of longevity pay, reduces estimated Appraiser's Office," Price said. expenditures for pay increases from $220,000 The county property appraiser requires a ten- to about $160,000. v, * : •• /*.•/ : '•••. v : ••••-:•• ..•. II tative budget from all area municipal govern- A $131,250 sum for the implementation of ments by July 1. That office will then notify all paid beach parking lots remained in place, &si^i^'•;.:•':•••• ^•••;-/::..-, •'••';':.:'::II property owners by mail of the proposed bud- Should the council decide to proceed with paid gets and all. future public budget hearings. parking. r«iU"-4 Sani*>el/Captiva Nature "Final decisions on the budget will be made A $28,000 grant to subsidize summer service Calendar is now complete. For details of in workshops that begin September 23," Price of the Sanibel Trolley was removed from the this year's edition, please see page 8A. noted. budget. 2A • JUNE 18,1993 • ISLAND REPORTER Randomly-selected residents give city high marks By Ralf Kircher operations and other. tive lands. access parking. Staff Writer Regarding the communications Residents seem more conserva- Signs, under the heading of community attitude survey section, there were no great sur- tive on other fiscal matters though. transportation, are being handled revealed that Sanibel residents prises. Three quarters of the Ninety-two percent want to see the satisfactorily, according to 58 per- respond well to anonymous sur- respondents believe the city's pub- city develop a long-range financial cent of the respondents. veys., It also revealed citizens are lic information system is adequate plan. Nearly as many thought Mixed opinions and apathy very concerned about development and that the city's publications are annual budget increases should reigned throughout much of the and the environment; that most a good way to keep islanders not exceed the cost of living. administrative operations category. don't care for anymore develop- informed. Eighty-two percent felt capital Majorities were not reached on ment on the island and that many Only 51 percent believed the city expenditures of more than $1 mil- questions regarding fairness of city believe city council members do not council seriously considers public lion should be voted on in a refer- regulations, reasonableness of the take well to suggestions from the input. The rest of the city govern- endum, while 62 percent wanted a. permit application process, fairness public but that police personnel do. ment fared a bit better. Between 70 referendum for exchanges or sales of development requests and the Island resident and member of and 80 percent found police offi- of city assets in excess of conduct of the Sanibel Planning the now-defunct Sanibel cers relate well with the public; $250,000. Commission. Communications Committee Ida other city employees were said to Opinions were mixed pertaining A majority of 57 percent agreed Lalor presented the results of the be both helpful and pleasant. to the city employees' pay plan, that residents should have the survey to the Sanibel City Council The city's efforts in environmen- with 48 percent answering "No choice of connecting to the city Tuesday. tal protection received high marks Opinion/Don't Care." Slightly more sewer system. The report was compiled from from respondents. Eighty-five per- than half of those who expressed Respondents were adamant in raw data collected from 514 citi- cent were satisfied with the level of an opinion on the compensation their support for the city's efforts to zens who responded to a survey protection and preservation of plan believed the plan is unfair to control litter, repair and maintain sent to a random sampling of 1,000 wildlife along with native habitat. employees. streets and prevent crime. island residents. The majority agreed with the Concerning transportation, 72 In the "other" category, 51 per- "We were pleased with the present levels of native vegetation percent agreed that Sanibel's pre- cent opposed the continuation of response," Lalor said. "A response preservation and with the policy of sent program to control traffic is the city's below-market-rate hous- rate of over 50 percent is much removing the exotic Brazilian pep- acceptable. The majority supported ing program and 72 percent higher than the usual or expected per. But 79 percent thought the present car and boat speed limits opposed increasing density to rate of return," non-native Australian pine trees while 94 percent favored the con- implement the program. Lalor broke down the question- along Periwinkle Way should be tinued use of police to direct traffic Sixty-two percent favor term lim- naires and responses into six cate- preserved. at major intersections. its for city council members and 78 gories: communication, environ- Respondents overwhelmingly (74 There was a lack of support for percent favored the present four- mental protection, fiscal resources, percent) supported the continued street lighting along major thor- year term length. transportation, administrative purchase of environmentally sensi- oughfares and additional beach Between 77 and 85 percent •please see page 4A -WIER Price pointed out that the application process "The water can't flow out. With the new weir, •from page 1A for the necessary Department of Environmental water will be able to flow out, and even set at But residents of Gulf Pines, Belle Meade and Regulation (DER) permit, as well as the adver- 3.2 feet, you'd be better off." Sea Oats agree only partly with the city's tisement for bids on the construction of the pro- Smith did have supporters in the audience. claims. They suggest their properties—already ject would take several months. He noted that One resident of Sea Oats said, "Common sense plagued by flooding and poor drainage— will additional data could be gathered during the tells me that an extra five to eight inches of actually become part of the wetlands. Property rainy summer months while waiting on the water on my lot will flood the storage area under owners are calling for proof that the raised application and bids.