Cape Informer

Gloria Barron spoke on artificial turf. She does not believe that artificial turf is good for our environment. She would prefer native plantings. She warned that artificial turf could damage the ecosystem.

Bart Lazara spoke about the relocation of the Yacht Club boat ramp. He reminded that many residents in the affected area are opposed to the movement of the boat ramp. He spoke of the history of the city and the history of the neighborhood. He asked that the ramp be left where it was.

Larry St. Amand spoke about full time council. He wants council members to be paid for a full time job. He also stated that our government method is weak, speaking of the Strong City Manager form of government.

Lynn Rosko questioned the renovation of the pier at the yacht club. She also spoke about Comcast, asking why an outside law firm was used to write the letter to Comcast. She also asked about the movement on returning the property taken by quick take for the public safety building.

Tim Day addressed Gloria Barron pointing out that it was legal to allow up to 30% of the ground not covered by a home to be covered with any alternate material, even cement.

Lynn Rosko’s pier question was answered. Staff stated that the underlying structure was to be repaired and the newer top would be reattached.

Carl Schwing addressed the tint detectors. He pointed out that they are $75.00 each.

The Mayor addressed the full time council concerns, and invited further discussion of it.

Resolution 16-07 A Housing Assistance Plan from 2007 through 2010. This is required by Florida Statutes, for the State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP).

This resolution covers subsidies for very low and low income families. One service allows for “moderate income” families. It also makes some changes for essential personnel being able to receive some of the aid. Staff recommends approval.

No public input. No Discussion, motion is to approve. Motion is approved 8/0

Ordinance 34-07 Staff and P & Z approve. Bill Nolan represented the land owners and simply concurred. There was no discussion, the motion passed 8/0.

Ordinance 45-07 Is a City initiated amendment, changing a 3 lot parcel into Public Facilities. This is for a temporary rescue station for first responder emergency service in North East Cape Coral, off of west Gator Circle. This is temporary, it will be returned to single family/multifamily land use after Fire Station 10 is built. Staff and P & Z approve.

Mr. Stevens asked if staff had explored using a temporary trailer instead. Chief Van Helden said that they had not. The Chief is concerned about the 12 minute response time. He feels that this option represents the fastest option for improving service to that area. Carl Schwing reminded that a trailer would depreciate, whereas a house would appreciate in value. The Chief agreed, saying that they tried that at Fire Station 8, and they did not feel that the taxpayers got a good deal in using trailers at Fire Station 8.

Mrs. Bertolini asked about the cost per square foot of each of the properties evaluated. Dawn Andrews from Real Estate came up and explained that the property selected was $94.00 per square foot, the others were $105 or more per square foot.

The Mayor asked if a special exception would have worked instead of a land use change. Wyatt stated that the land use change was appropriate, because the facility would not be used as a single family residence.

Resident Richard Hall spoke. He lives in the area, he asked about the cost. The house is $281,000 with a 3% reduction at close. Mr. Hall also stated concern that we would have trouble selling the property back.

Joe Mazurkiewicz also spoke. He is representing the neighboring property. He is concerned about the process. He would like to see the special exception be used instead of land use change. He poins out that Special Exceptions of RD allows for Group II Government facilities. Those facilities include Emergency medical services station. He believes code allows it and that it would be appropriate. He feels that the special exception will serve the purpose better and will avoid problems for surrounding land.

The City Attorney brings up the fact that the property is in the reserve area. Comprehensive plan allows the property to be used as a special exception for a non residential use, only if it is greater than 3 acres in size.

Motion was to approve, and the motion was approved 8/0.

Ordinance 41-07 is an ordinance for political signs. It removes the requirement of a notorized signed affidavit before putting a political sign on any non residential property. Staff approved the change. Resident Lynn Rosko asked the necessity of the ordinance. The Mayor felt that the original requirement was antiquated and not helpful for the city. He reminded that this would not remove the permission requirement, but would make it easier to get permission.

Motion to approve, and the motion was approved 8/0.

Ordinance 48-07 makes changes to section 2.7.10 of the land use and development regulations in regards to industry zoning. This is the first public hearing, there will be another hearing on this ordinance. It moves several uses to special exception. It also reduces the acreage requirements.

Bill Nolan spoke, stating that this ordinance was long overdue.

Larry St. Aumond also spoke, asking for additional information. Staff spoke to him privately to share information.

The second hearing was scheduled.

Ordinance 55-07 Modifies Code Compliance Officers to match their job description. No public input. Motion to approve no discussion motion approved 8/0.

Tonight we’ll attempt live blogging from the Council meeting.

5:32 PM Bill Deile spoke in favor of the SWAT team resource sharing.

5:33 PM Patti Schnell asks the council to pull the impact fee study and deny it.

The council pulled 2C the Impact fee study for discussion. The remainder of the consent agenda was approved.

Mr. Day, Mr. Hair and Mr. Berardi came out in opposition of 2c. Mrs. LePera reminds council that evaluating the impact fee does not mean it will cause a rate increase.

Carl Schwing called up Mark Mason to have him explain staff’s position. Mason explained that they were putting a contractor on retainer to review fees as needed over a three year period. He explained that it was important to bring someone in to review the fees that have not been reviewed. He pointed out that park fees have not been reviewed in Six years.

The Mayor asked if it was possible for the impact fees to go down. Mr. Mason said that council can choose to charge a lower amount than staff presents, but it may mean that all necessary costs are not covered. He said it is possible that some fees can be lower.

5:44 PM Stevens made a motion to approve 2c. Bertolini, Stevens and Lepera vote yes, the others all vote no. The motion fails.

As delivered to the Governor, Senate, House, Media and others:

I believe that HB 1849 and SB 2376 are a move in the right direction for the City of Cape Coral and all of the State of Florida. I believe that modern construction methods have outpaced the statutes and it is time for an update of the statute.

I have seen a position statement which claims the word may in the statute allows the City to choose to ignore all of the wording that follows. I disagree with this position vehemently.

“The construction-management entity may retain necessary design professionals selected under the process provided in s. 287.055. At the option of the local government, the construction-management entity, after being selected and after competitive negotiations, “MAY” be required to offer a guaranteed maximum price or a guaranteed completion date, in which case, the construction-management entity shall secure an appropriate surety bond pursuant to s. 255.05 and shall hold construction subcontracts.”

The only “MAY” is for Guaranteed Maximum Price or Guaranteed Completion Date. If they choose to select of those options, they are then required (Shall) gain a surety bond and hold construction subcontracts. Therefore I believe the new wording is completely correct and follows the spirit of keeping competition and low prices for construction manager at risk projects.

I believe that the Construction Manager at Risk methodology is serving our city well. I believe that we receive a lower overall cost of delivery of services. Florida DOT uses Construction Manager at Risk. Many counties are using Construction Manager at Risk to build school buildings. The American Institute of Architects has an excellent compendium on Construction Manager at Risk, (http://www.aia.org/SiteObjects/files/cmatriskcompendium.pdf), where they endorse this construction methodology as “a cost effective and time conscious alternative to the traditional design-bid-build process”.

There is research to back up my assertions as well. The City of Cape Coral’s Financial Services Director, Mark Mason, has created two memorandums recently. Each of the memorandum show a lower cost for delivery of services to Cape Coral than neighboring communities of Bonita Springs and Marco Island. Surely if the result is lower cost, the taxpayers are served well by this methodology.

In addition, Price Waterhouse Coopers performed an audit at the behest of MWH (Montgomery, Watson and Harza our Construction Manager at risk for our UEP) and also uncovered lower costs of service delivery for Cape Coral as compared to neighboring utilities. They also clearly showed a healthy, competitive bidding environment for all subcontractors.

The net result is a win for our taxpayers. Please consider passing these bills and allowing the law to catch up with effective, efficient construction management techniques.

Thank you for your kind consideration in this matter.

Regrettably, a failure on the part of local media to report all the facts, has resulted in misinformation relative to the events of heightened security at Lee County Schools last Friday, April 20th. I happen to know that the media was provided with all the facts, because I personally provided them.

During the day on Thursday, April 19th, very loosely organized information began to surface that students wearing Virginia Tech colors as a memorial to the recent tragedy would be targeted for violence. It is important to note that rumors of similar incidents following the Virginia Tech episode have created problems for at least ten (10) other major cities across the U.S. Acting on this information, your Sheriff’s Office, local police departments, and School District staff, arranged for the extra presence of law enforcement and security at schools the following day. This initial plan included deployment of our helicopter to casually check the various campuses and perimeters from above.

Very early in the morning on Friday, April 20th, I personally became aware of additional information that seemed to focus more on North Fort Myers High School. Still, this information was very loosely organized, far removed from any tangible origin, and nowhere near a level that would spur consideration of school closure. I personally related this information to Dr. Browder and North’s Principal Kim Lunger, and I informed them that our plan would remain essentially the same, with the addition of a few extra personnel at North High. My Chief Deputy and I stayed at North High all day, while others from my Command Staff were at schools across the county. I am unable to speak to the speculation and rumors that flowed as the morning unfolded, but text messaging, cell phones, and related technology being what it is; I can only imagine. At the same time, media was arriving, and I personally met with each of them, sharing all facts and information pertinent to the security increases across the county.

My two (2) daughters were not at school last Friday, and I informed the media why when it became obvious to me that some were bent on implying that I did not think North High was safe that day. In addition to legitimate reasons for my daughters being absent, the media knew that my Chief Deputy’s daughter was in school, along with the Principal’s son, and several other children of my staff. These facts apparently did not blend well with the angle some apparently wanted to portray…these facts would have brought perspective and balance to the issue of whether top law enforcement officials felt their own children were safe. Sadly, certain members of local media chose to pursue a side story using bits and pieces to strategically infer their agenda at my expense.

I applaud Dr. Browder, North High Principal Kim Lunger and her staff, and school principals and staff across the county. Despite what several news stories would have you believe, the events at North High last Friday were handled with great efficiency and attention to detail. It is a sad commentary on today’s society when situations like this arise, but I am confident that your Sheriff’s Office and School District worked well in tandem given the validity of the information and timing within which we received it. As your Sheriff, I assure you that the safety and security of every citizen is my primary goal, and I remain personally involved and devoted in matters that affect our community; especially our children.

Sheriff Mike Scott 239-340-9501

A number of very good ideas were passed around both before and after the vote for reducing the short term costs of our public safety building. I would like to offer endorsement for several of these ideas:

Separating Police and Fire into two different buildings. The administrative staff of the Fire department can be housed efficiently as an add on to one of the fire stations in the Northern half of the City. This will significantly reduce the footprint of the initial building on the City Campus.

Which brings me to the land acquired by quick take. I believe that we have a moral obligation to return the land to the original owner. It would be incorrect for us to complete an imminent domain proceeding for land for the Public Safety Building, if we are not building the Public Safety building on that land.

If in the future we have a need for more land, then we should move forward with purchasing more land. To use imminent domain to forcibly take land that we are not using for a stated purpose would be very much against the spirit and the letter of imminent domain.

For the new Police facility, we should then build it on existing City land, here on the campus. The facility should be built for 10 years of growth and designed for expansion to 30 years of growth. It is a reasonable compromise which should also reduce the overall cost of the building today.

The new Police facility needs to contain a new Public Safety Answering Point for E911 services. The current space alloted to 911 currently should be reclaimed by the Emergency Operations Center. This should provide sufficient space for their needs.

For a parking garage, I generally agree with Mr. Berardi’s suggestion, but with a few caveats. There is a great deal of urban development research showing that downtown parking garages are not an effective use of space. It would be best to put the garage somewhere centrally located and offer efficient mass transit from the central location to the pedestrian shopping areas. Please review the available research carefully when considering placement of parking garages. It will likely be viable to have several conveniently located garages each near our different large, concentrated pedestrian areas. This would also serve our long term safety needs better because we can actually split some of our safety assets between two or more hurricane safe garages.

Lastly the old City Hall land should be used to provide offices to City Services in the Future. The old City Hall building will likely need to be demolished, or heavily renovated. The land that it sits on should be used for the growth and future of our City.

I hope you take the above items into consideration when making your decisions. I do believe that each of the above options represents a reasonable compromise between the needs of our Police and Fire and the desire of the Residents of Cape Coral to see a lower cost plan for our public safety needs.

I wasn’t personally able to attend the bid opening today at City Hall. However, I did make a quick call to Larry Laws of MWH to get his take of how the first opening went.

He shared with me that this was one of the two largest areas of construction for the SouthWest 5 UEP. Denco was the low bidder. If you’re not familiar with Denco, they’re one of the real success stories of our UEP.

A small vendor who mostly handled the “hard work” in Ft. Myers, they started out by doing deep work and congested city street work in Ft. Myers. They answered the advertisements in 2001 for new contractors for our UEP. Since then they have slowly but steadily grown in size and become a worthy competitor in the bidding for our utility projects.

Their winning bid of $10,236,352.00 is a good sign, nearly 3 million below the engineers estimate. The engineer appeared to be very conservative, coming in at $13,156,521.00. All of the bids were priced well, the market price showing approximately $11.5 million dollars. SW Utilities came in at 11.2 million, Forsberg at 11.4 million, Diamond at 11.6 million and Mitchell and Stark at 12.6 million. The remaining bids were 13.9M (Reynolds), 15.9M (Westral) and D.N. Higgins came in the highest at $16,752,762.

Only one resident was in attendance before the opening, Councilwoman Bertolini. Just before opening, Joe Lentini arrived and just after, Lynn Rosko. Several members of the press were also in attendance.

All in all, a solid first opening, with a good outlook for this project. We’ve got more bidders and a highly competitive bidding environment. I believe it bodes well for the SW5 assessment amount. After all of the openings occur, we will get a final price from the city on the assessments. I will be watching every week until the openings are completed.

On a closing note, I’ve recently published copies of the memos from Mark Mason about price comparisons between Bonita Springs Utility and Marco Islands Utility with the Cape Coral Utility. The construction costs at the Cape were significantly lower than either of the two other cities. Please take a look at the memos and judge for yourselves. I think that the facts are proving that we’ve made a decent choice in MWH and we are coming in at a lower price than neighboring communities. Can we now work together and find a different way to PAY the costs, much like our neighbors have?

Bonita Springs

Marco Island

Edit: Low Bidder. Denco still has to pass final qualification. Thanks for pointing that out Ralph.

Download PDF

Just received a few moments ago. Please download it and take a look.

I received this after the council meeting yesterday. Mr. Stewart requested a comparison document from Mark Mason, Here is the result:

Download PDF File.

I uploaded to a free file hosting, I had to scan and assemble my paper copy as PDF. Hopefully it will show up on the official city site soon.

Here are a few highlights:

Bonita’s actual install cost for their 04 and 05 Sewer only installs came in at $16,995.16 and $16,667.57, while Cape Coral came in nearly 10k less in each year, $6772.78 and $6964.68.

Impact/Hookup Fees saw Cape Coral slightly higher on some and lower, or non existent fees in other cases.

Mr. Mason goes into detail about the debt service methodology that BSU chose to utilize and he also compares the entirety of the septic replacement in Bonita by size with SE1. It is a worthwhile read and provides a written source for some of the information I have tried to share for many months now.