Mayor Joanne Ribble presented Estero High School student Kaitlyn Mancini with a letter of recognition for her outstanding achievements and positive contributions to the community. Her dedication both on and off the soccer field reflects her strong character and commitment to excellence.

Mayor Joanne Ribble presented Estero resident and Bonita High School student with a letter of recognition for her outstanding achievements and positive contributions to the community.  Avery is an active participant in athletics, demonstrating teamwork, responsibility, and perseverance both on and off the field.

Public comment on non-agenda items: A representative of Engage Estero spoke of the Don Eslick award ceremony on Feb. 2 at Estero Country Club, Holiday cards have been provided to Estero schools to include in the 10,000 cards for our troops, and Engage Estero will be providing funds to pay for graduation cap & gown and prom clothes for Estero High School seniors through the Sponsor a High School Senior Program.  A former board member of the Happehatchee asked for an update on the property (located on Corkscrew Road), which Village Manager Steve Sarkozy provided.

Action Items

Audit services Request for Proposal

Council approved the scoring, ranking and award of a contract to the top scoring firm of CBIZ CPAs P.C. to provide audit services for the Village.  Should negotiations fail with the top scoring firm, Council authorized negotiations to begin with the second scoring firm and award a mutually agreeable contract.

Resolution 2025-23 second and final budget amendment FY2024-2025

As Florida Statute Chapter 166.241(2) prohibits expenditures that exceed budgeted amounts, the Village performs a year-end budget reconciliation. Through this process, staff discovered an amendment was needed in three funds, general fund, building fee fund and the driving range fund.

Council adopted this resolution.

Resolution 2025-26 supporting construction of an FDOT noise wall to serve The Brooks community

FDOT will be expanding Interstate 75 to include portions of the interstate within the Village. The project’s scope includes a portion of interstate lying to the immediate east of the Brooks neighborhoods.

FDOT has published a proposal to erect three short portions of sound barrier walls along only some portions of the Brooks neighborhoods.  FDOT’s own staff analysis confirmed that “to effectively reduce traffic noise, a barrier must be relatively long, continuous (with no intermittent openings for driveways, etc.) and of sufficient height.”

Public comment: 1 eComment was placed into the record.

Council adopted this resolution which supports the efforts of The Brooks to convince FDOT to modify its project to include a continuous noise wall.

First Reading

Ordinance 2025-13 adopting a new Parks & Recreation Code

Upon incorporation, the Village adopted a placeholder parks code modeled after the Lee County code. However, the County’s code is designed for a much different parks system and contains provisions not related to the Village’s current and planned future parks and recreation facilities and operational model.

Public comment: 4 eComment cards were placed into the record.

Council adopted the first reading of this ordinance and scheduled a second reading and public hearing for December 3.

 

Second Readings & Public Hearings

Ordinance 2025-07 Pelican Sound

This is an amendment to the zoning for Pelican Sound at the River Club to allow for the permanent (overnight) mooring of two pontoon boats along the Estero River  This change would reduce the number of trips necessary to make up and down the river. The zoning resolution approved by Lee County only allowed “temporary” mooring.

The applicant provided this presentation.

Public comment:  266 eComment cards in favor of this ordinance and 1 eComment card against this ordinance were placed into the record. A resident spoke in favor of this ordinance.

Council adopted this ordinance.

Ordinance 2025-14 creating legislatively mandated regulations regarding recovery residence accommodation requests

Council is obligated to adopt this ordinance containing the minimum requirements set forth in Florida Statutes § 397.487. While the Ordinance does contain the statutory minimum requirements, it also provides a provision for the payment of an application fee to help the Village defray the cost of administering this state mandate. It also clarifies that the granting of an accommodation is not intended to create a property right in the granted accommodation.

Council adopted this ordinance.

Workshops

Village-wide traffic study

Village consultant Leah Holmes with Johnson Engineering presented an update on the area-wide traffic study.

Based on the 2024 roadway analysis, Tamiami Trail and Three Oaks Parkway from Williams Road to Corkscrew Road currently exceeds capacity. By the year 2034, the following roadways are also anticipated to exceed capacity:

• Williams Road (Via Coconut Point to Three Oaks Parkway)
• Ben Hill Griffin Parkway (Corkscrew Road to Estero Parkway)
• Corkscrew Road

Public comment: A Fountain Lakes resident spoke of the difficulty existing north from his community. A resident of Bella Terra stated there should be more focus on cyclists and pedestrians rather than just cars.  A resident of The Colony stated the study should consider all the traffic issues on Coconut Road West.

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, December 10, 2025.