Fort Myers, FL
by Ed Ryan
This Wednesday could be the final meeting between the Gateway Services District Board of Supervisors and the Gateway Golf & Country Club regarding Wetland 47. The Meeting will be held at 5:30 in the G.S.D. building on Griffin Drive and it will be streamed so we will have the link for you. The next important deadline for Gateway residents is May 8th. That's the date SFWMD has set. And, it all hinges on whether or not the Country Club delivers a conservation easement to the district.
One piece of good news came from an e-mail I sent to SFWMD enforcement coordinator Melissa Roberts. Here is that exchange:
Melissa:
If absolutely nothing more happened on this issue - if it stayed exactly the same as it is - and April 15th passed and May 8th passed how much would the fine be on the residents?
Thanks
Ed Ryan
Ed
We are confident that all involved parties will work together to resolve the issues and no further civil penalties will need be assessed.
Melissa M. Roberts, P.E.
Enforcement Coordinator
Nobody from SFWMD will be in attendance in the Wednesday meeting, not officially anyway. The meeting should be the final get together before a resolution to the issue is put in place. So far, Gateway residents have been fined $11,500 and have paid out over $90,000 in engineering and attorney fees on the wetland that the country club damaged. This meeting will all come down to how much the G.S.D. board asks the Country Club to give back to the residents and how much the club is willing to give.
In a conversation I had with several district members Friday I was asked my opinion. I would now like to share that with you, my people. I believe Gateway residents should get at least $30,000 from the club and that's what the Supervisors should ask for Wednesday. The club is to blame for the damage and the fine but should not be blamed for the all of the board's mistakes, ie: its total inability to control engineering and attorney expenses. Bob Nielson's bumbling quote "how did we get here" comes to mind. In addition, the club should deliver the C.E. Wednesday night and agree to repair the wetlands under the supervision of SFWMD so no future fines are possible.
Nobody really believes that lawsuits, going after insurance companies or taking the property by eminent domain will result in anything other than more of our money spent, especially in the short-term. So it's vitally important that both sides come to an agreement on Wednesday night. The residents certainly do not want to waste any more money fixing what the country club screwed up in that bundle of weeds. And I have to believe that the negative publicity the Country Club is getting on the wetland is enough to make them want to settle the matter. In addition to the long list of country club members trying to get out of their memberships, some willing to pay $10,000 cash to dump them, the relentless pounding that the club is screwing the residents cannot be good.
It's time we got some of our money back from the club. It's time the Wetland 47 issue was put to bed once and for all. And its REALLY time the Board of Supervisors figure out how the question "how did we get here" is a question that never comes up again.
What do you think the Supervisors should be asking for?
Take our new poll to the left.
