Meeting the Town

The mayor announced a Town Meeting for last night, from 6 until 8 PM. I decided to drop in and try to pin down the topics that were of interest to Cape Coralians today. What I found was a surprisingly positive group, with only a couple of the 'usual suspects' who haunt the regular weekly City Council meetings. The tone of the entire event was one of jovial, upbeat questions and answers.

The meeting was attended by approximately 100 residents, two television crews, someone from the news-press, and myself. The City was represented by the Mayor, Terry Stewart, Chief Petrovich, and later, Carl Schwing, who came in late, due to a prior family commitment.

There were some real concerns for the residents who attended. I would say that the largest single portion of the city that was represented was that of the North West Cape. There were a number of individuals who spoke of that area, and their issues were primarily focused around issues on and around Burnt Store Road.

These residents questioned the new combined Fire/EMS station. This station will be a county facility, so there weren't many answers to be found here, other than reassurances that the city is working to make sure that the two different systems can offer in kind support for one another.

They also expressed grave concerns over the north spreader, and the mangroves nearby. One resident's impassioned plea went on for several minutes, while she lamented the dying trees. Her concerns were not lost on the City's representatives. Terry Stewart spoke at length about the difficulties that have accompanied the process of permitting the City to take action on this berm that is the responsibility of State agencies.

There was a little talk of the UEPs, but from a surprising source. A couple of residents near the Ceitus Parkway Neighborhood Park 4 area are concerned that they will have an assessment soon, because of the sewer and water extension coming from Burnt Store Road to the park will put them in a CIAC area. The City Manager said that he was looking for ways to defer the payments for these residents until the actual UEP comes to their area, but he also pointed out the fact that the CIAC should be less expensive than the actual Assessment that would come in the future.

Lastly, and likely the largest issue affecting the north west area, was construction sites. Apparently a large number of home sites are partially completed. Some for over two years. This may be representative of builders who have gone out of business, and in many cases, the land is no longer owned by the permit holders. Therefore, there is a great deal of research required to find the actual owner, so they can be noticed. This arduous process is ongoing for many sites in the north west, and residents were invited to call the City Manager's office with specific addresses, for updates.

The south of the Cape was also well represented. Residents were concerned about crime. Chief Petrovich said, in a very reassuring manner, "It's not a bad community, and we're gonna keep it that way." He was passionate about it, as was the Mayor. They reminded residents that the reporting in the news represented the Police doing their jobs correctly. By finding and busting the "Grow Houses" and successfully arresting the gang members of "Cash Feenz" they were taking the steps necessary to ensure ongoing safety. The Chief was also happy to report that he has seen no evidence of activity from the large, dangerous "national" gangs.

Another resident recommended setting up a "Community Resource Coalition" to help young people get more involved in the Arts, and other community activities. Chief Petrovich explained that we already have a wonderful organization in place for this, the CCYCIP. He was positively beaming when he spoke of the organization, and its many volunteers.

Definitely the largest group from the South Cape was the owners around the embattled golf course. Residents are seeking answers for the situation that they are in, and the Mayor provided some reassurance. He said he hopes that we can "Keep it a golf course" but he reminded residents that the zoning was R1 at this time. He has said that he hopes to work with Residents to find a compromise of a resort style hotel of "approximately 12 stories" to make the economic case for a business to come in and purchase the land. He assured the residents that he intended to make sure that the zoning matched the land use in any final project that made use of the golf course.

Someone brought up a question about Sunset towers. The Mayor hoped that the solution there would be a combination of "Willing Sellers and Willing Buyers." He was adamant about his belief that eminent domain would not be used to take away homes from these residents forcibly.

The Mayor repeated his sentiment that he had shared with me earlier in the day about Councilman Rosado's appointed replacement. Someone was wondering when the council would return to "full strength". The Mayor said that the "Decaf Council" will only last for a couple of weeks, and he hoped to have the appointment a week from Monday, but two weeks at most. He reiterated the fact that all residents are represented equally by all council members, because they are elected at large.

There was some discussion about the new Public Safety building. Chief Petrovich assured residents that the disrepair of the facility is from a combination of the age of the poorly constructed building, coupled with the damage it received from Hurricane Charlie. He dismissed the claims that the building was allowed to fall into disrepair. He insisted instead, that they have put repair after repair into the building, and we're finally reaching a point of diminishing returns.

Another resident was frustrated by the inability to reach someone during the call in show. Apparently a technical glitch kept people on a ringing line, with no way to get in to the show. The problem has been remedied, and they don't expect it to occur during the next two scheduled shows.

Terry Stewart had a rather colorful comment at one point in the evening, when discussing the difficulties in dealing with the many varied problems of a growing city. "If you're up to your butt in alligators, it's hard to remember your job is to drain the swamp." This elicited quite a bit of laughter, and more than one person said "I have to write that one down." Indeed, I wrote it down as well.

People were upbeat throughout the conversation, with few exceptions. One resident went as far as calling the Mayor and City Manager "Rock Stars" for their recent help in resolving a complaint she had. Overall, the residents left satisfied, even the gentleman who was upset about the call in program. I spoke to him after the meeting, and he said he was satisfied with the answers he had received during the evening.

It was nice sitting in a room of residents focused on the betterment of their city. It reinforced my belief that Cape Coral was a great choice for my family.