Pictured above, left to right: Estero High School Cambridge AICE Coordinator/AICE Exams Officer Carolyn Hutto, Bryce Krohnfeldt, Peter Waszkowski, Mayor Katy Errington, Askar Rice, Jack Calder and Estero High School Principal Michael Amabile. See slide show at the end of this article for the remaining photos of this presentation.
The meeting started with Mayor Katy Errington reading a proclamation for the Estero High School and high school students who were awarded the Cambridge Outstanding Learners Awards. These are a group of awards which recognize exceptional learner achievement in Cambridge examinations around the world. Four of the 51 student honorees were present for this reading.
Jack Calder received the “Top in the USA” awarded to learners who have achieved the highest exam score in the country in an individual subject and was recognized with merit for receiving an “A” in level psychology.
Natalie Brogdon, Bryce Krohnfeldt, Askar Rice and Peter Waszkowski all received awards with distinction for A grades or higher on Cambridge International exams in one exam series.
Comment on non-agenda items: A resident spoke about the poor turnout for the recent election, with only 4,252 voting out of over 28,000 registered voters in Estero, and recommended changing the election day to the same date as the state and national elections.
Action Items
Disaster management services
To ensure maximum FEMA reimbursement in the event of hurricane or other natural disaster, the Village contracts with a firm to assist in the reimbursement process by providing professional FEMA disaster management services. The Village paid $7 million for debris pickup following Hurricane Ian; FEMA will reimburse the Village for this expenditure.
Council voted to authorize staff to execute contracts with the Number 1 ranked firm Hagerty Consulting, Inc. as the primary vendor and the Number 2 ranked firm Rostan Solutions, LLC as the secondary vendor to provide professional FEMA Disaster Management Services for a one year period at the rates listed in the contracts. Expenditures will be determined by the amount of usage of the awarded firms should an event occur requiring their services.
US 41 median landscaping
The Village of Estero installed landscaping along US 41 through a Florida Department of Transportation Joint Participation Agreement. At the time, FDOT would not allow the installation of any trees. Recently, they have agreed to allow the installation of a limited number of trees within some medians.
Council voted to approve a contract for $61,949 with P&T Lawn & Tractor Services to install landscaping within US 41 medians 1-5, including a 10% contingency at $6,200. P&T Lawn & Tractor Services also maintain Village-owned roads.
Bruce Howard is currently working on the design for the medians between Coconut Road and Corkscrew Road. Plans for those median improvements will be coming to Council over the next several months.
Public Comment: A resident suggested using grass in areas where some of the plants are not growing.
Recreational proposals for Village-owned Williams Road property
The Village purchased the 20 acres on Williams with the idea of utilizing the property for some of the recreational needs of the community. Rather than developing facilities at the Village’s sole expense and incurring the on-going maintenance and operational expenses, the Village decided to solicit private proposals for recreational facilities under the Florida Public-Private-Partnership Act.
Four proposals were received by the deadline from: High 5 Entertainment, Chicken N Pickle, Crystal Lagoons and Pickle and Social. In addition, consideration also will be given to the continued operation of the Golf Coast Driving Range.
The Village will be looking for input from the community for multi-generational recreational programs during the planning process.
Public Comment: 1 eComment card was placed into the record and two Estero residents spoke in support of adding pickleball courts to the property.
Workshops
Planning, Zoning & Design Board annual Report
Scotty Wood, chair of the Board, provided Council an annual report with a status on different projects that have been reviewed over the year. He opened his presentation by acknowledging Don Eslick who initiated the planning process in Estero before the Village was incorporated.
Update on development projects
Community Development staff provided a status update on development projects in the Village, including those that have been recently completed or under construction, as well as pending and future projects.
Residents may view the archived meeting by going to the Village website.
The next Council meeting will be held at 9:30 a.m., Wednesday, April 5, 2023. The new Councilmembers Jon McLain District 3, Lori Fayhee District 4, Rafael Lopez District 5, and George Zalucki District 7 will be sworn in on that date.
Slide show