Public Comment: A resident spoke informing Council of the Estero Republic Club, stating there are currently 300 members of this club which focuses on the U.S. Constitution.
Council started their meeting approving Resolution 2021-23 which is the final budget amendment of the fiscal year 2020/2021 to align certain budgeted line items within the General Fund and the Capital Improvement Fund.
There was then a first reading of Ordinance 2021-11 to repeal the “transitional” ordinances which were put in place when the Village incorporated. This was passed to a second reading on December 1, 2021.
Council approved a second reading and public hearing for Ordinance 2021-12 amending West Bay Club’s residential planned development zoning to increase the maximum building height for a proposed 88-unit high rise building on 5 acres located west of US 41 at the end of Williams Road. The building is proposed to be 23 stories over one level of parking featuring Florida Vernacular architectural design with non-glare/non-reflective windows.
Public Comment: 3 residents spoke in favor of this amendment; 10 eComment cards were received in opposition to the amendment and 2 eComment cards were received in favor of the amendment which will be placed in the record along with the 52 eComment cards received previously.
Workshop
Ben Hill Parkway landscape concept
The portion of Ben Hill Griffin Parkway between Estero Parkway and Ben Hill Griffin Parkway is located within the Village of Estero but owned and maintained by Lee County. A significant amount of vegetation along the roadway has died and has never been replaced.
The Village hired Bruce Howard & Associates, Inc. to study the corridor and provide landscaping improvement recommendations.
Bruce Howard gave Council a presentation on their recommendations. There are underground utilities on each side of the road which makes it impossible to plant shade trees in these areas. They recommend using palm trees, shrubs and/or native plants. The royal palms that are currently there will stay. They are concentrating on plant materials which require little to no maintenance. They are also reviewing the possibility of a meandering sidewalk in three areas of the parkway on the east side.
Once the project is completed, the Village will provide maintenance of the roadway from Estero Parkway down to Corkscrew Road.
Public Comment: a resident of Grandezza stated his community welcomes this project and recommended replacing the existing sidewalks.
No voting occurs during workshops.
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 1, 2021.