Front left to right; Mayor Joanne Ribble, Michael DiPierro, Immediate Past Flotilla Commander, and Chuck Moore, Flotilla Vice Commander. Back, left to right: Councilmembers Lori Fayhee, Jeff Hunt, Jon McLain, Rafael Lopez and Vice-Mayor George Zalucki.
The meeting started with Mayor Joanne Ribble presenting a proclamation for National Boat Safety Week recognizing the Flotilla 96 of the US Coast Guard Auxiliary offering boating safety classes, vessel safety checks and other boating safety awareness programs during the week of May 17-23.
Action Items
Comprehensive Plan evaluation & appraisal notification letter
State law requires that each local government regularly review its Comprehensive Plan at least once every seven years and determine if any Plan amendments are necessary.
Staff has evaluated the Plan and believes it complies and no amendments are needed. A notification letter and affidavit signed by Mayor Ribble will be sent to the Florida Department of Commerce.
Eco-Historic Planning Study
Lee County awarded Estero a Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) grant for $450,000 to prepare an Eco-Historic Planning Study for the Village of Estero. The plan will provide the basis for how the Study Area can be developed/redeveloped to better utilize the properties located along US 41 to create a destination for residents.
Council approved a contract with LandDesign, Inc. to prepare the Village of Estero Eco-Historic planning study for $430,000, with a contingency of $43,000. This is a 12-month contract which will include input from the public as well as local landowners.
Landscaping, mowing & irrigation services
Council approved the award of a purchase order for landscaping, mowing and irrigation services along Village roadways to P & T Lawn & Tractor, for an amount not to exceed $2,896,517 annually, with a contingency of $200,000.
Public Comment: A resident suggested getting the Estero High School students involved and using plastic grass.
Estero River North Branch Regional Pond Project
On June 1, 2022, the Village entered a continuing contract for miscellaneous professional services with JR Evans Engineering, P.A. Work under the contract is to be assigned by individual task orders, with total “not to exceed” project amounts to be negotiated on a project-by-project basis.
In November 2024, Council issued Task Order No. 4, which related to the Estero River North Branch Regional Pond Stormwater/Flood Risk Reduction Project. This will address flooding issues which had been experienced during Hurricane Ian. The total amount of that Task Order was $471,100.
Council approved an amendment to Task Order No. 4 for an additional $295,000 to cover the continued services of engineering, environmental, surveying and permitting assistance on the proposed drainage and flood mitigation project.
Entertainment Campus
The Entertainment District project was initially designed by RWA in 2024. As part of the initial phase, a Guaranteed Maximum Price was established and approved by Council to authorize site preparation work, which was awarded to Wright Construction.
During the early stages of implementation, the Village acquired an adjacent parcel of land which prompted a re-evaluation of the original site design to fully integrate the newly acquired land into the campus layout.
Once the revised design was completed, Wright Construction re-evaluated the updated scope and submitted a revised proposal, which encompasses the installation of utilities and related infrastructure elements necessary to support the next phase of development.
Trenton Gaskins, Vieste LLC, and Robbie Powell, Wright Construction, presented an update on the revised design.
Council approved an addendum to the contract for Wright Construction to complete the site work and utility installation for the Estero Entertainment Campus for $9,536,910.
Workshops
Impact Fee forecast 2025-2032
David Farmer, CEO of Metro Forecasting, described how the Village has used their forecasting models in the past, first to assist with population projections for Estero’s Comprehensive Plan, and then to prepare impact fee revenue forecasts. He presented this draft Impact Fee Analysis Report.
The company uses its local knowledge of the real estate market in conjunction with detailed land use analyses to project expected growth and impact fee revenue from that growth, utilizing an “Interactive Growth Model”.
Public Comment: 1 eComment card was entered into the record.
Cypress Bend & Sunny Grove Utility Expansion Project update
Robert Wiley, Public Works Project Manager, presented an update on Estero’s Utility Expansion Project focusing on Cypress Bend and Sunny Grove.
Cypress Bend, off of Corkscrew Road, will have their existing lift station upgraded, percolating ponds removed and a new sewer main force line and new water line connected to Lee County Utilities.
Sunny Grove, off of US 41, improvements include construction of a new lift station, a new force main and connection to a new force main to Corkscrew Road.
Public Comment: A Cascades resident expressed concerns regarding the time table.
Estero RiverPark
Proposed monument sign for Estero RiverPark
John Zander, Manhattan Construction; Brad Picard, Respec; Nathalie White and Daniel Lutarewych, Schenkel Schultz, gave an update on the project.
The Estero RiverPark Phase 1 improvements are currently being built which include the entry road, parking lot, utilities, restroom building, 120-foot-long pedestrian bridge and nature trails.
Manhattan is also working on the design for the Phase 2 improvements which will include additional nature trails, US 41 sidewalk, Corkscrew Road sidewalk, and a 6-foot-tall perimeter fence around the park property located south of the Estero River.
Two monument sign designs were presented for consideration. Council came to a consensus on the monument sign above.
Public Comment: A resident stated all the sidewalks along the roadways should be straight.
Establishing a policy re Council approved proclamations
In light of the many proclamation requests received by the Village each year, Village Manager Steve Sarkozy requested a draft resolution formalizing a policy on the subject so that, moving forward, there will be known criteria and a uniform method of review. Village Attorney Robert Eschenfelder surveyed a wide variety of similar policies from around the state and this draft resolution is a compilation of the best of those policies.
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, May 21, 2025.