Bonita City Council approves sweeping plans for road and drainage improvements
Bonita Springs City Council approved sweeping plans for a major road and drainage improvement by Goodwin Street and down Matheson Street in Old Bonita Springs.
In April American Structurepoint conducted a public input workshop and presented three concepts to the public. On Wednesday, council members heard about the three proposals and the one the public liked best. Plans for the street were sparked by six crashes, including one fatality. Council members were concerned about the lack of pedestrian and bike accommodations, the age of the Matheson Street Bridge, the speed of vehicles along that road and the need for stormwater improvements.
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The recommended plan includes buffer space between the road and pedestrian/bike area, an eight foot shared use path, landscaping, leaving the road on its current alignment, removing on street parking and replacing the bridge.
Nick Harrison, Vice President of American Structurepoint, told the council that the bridge has reached its 75-year design life. He also explained that the modified Plan 2, that he is suggesting, has the best safety factors and the lowest cost.
Councilmembers voted unanimously to approve the plan, but they did have some concerns.
“How long is the longest time on the inconvenience?” asked councilman Jesse Purdon, as he hoped for a short construction time.
“The project will take a couple of years,” Harrison explained. “That is a large project. It is a very major infrastructure project.”
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Plan execution for the park
Bonita Springs City council members can’t agree on whether plans for the park by the banyan tree should be done in small steps, or in one big splash. The Bonita Springs Historical Society has money to enhance the banyan tree.
The simple plan includes LED lights that would change for each holiday and would light up the tree at night all year. Plans also include a sidewalk and little sitting area by the tree.
“The Bonita Springs Historical Society is concerned about the overall banyan tree,” said historical society president Derrick Botana at Wednesday’s city council meeting. “We are not concerned with entire park. We would like to be in partnership to come up with a plan.”
Botana says the tree, that was planted in 1921, is the second most historic tree in Southwest Florida. Only the one at the Edison home is older. He said the historical society has a $15,000 donation and is ready to start the project once they get city council approval. But members are divided on what to do.
“I am not ready to move on this yet,” said councilwoman Amy Quaremba. “We wanted to have a total plan for the area, not just focus on one area. Everyone on the council reveres that tree. I am for featuring it as much as possible. It is a long process. Before we do a little bit here and a little bit there, we need a total package.”
Councilman Jesse Purdon agrees.
“I agree that the heart of the downtown is the banyan tree,” Purdon said. “I think this is a larger discussion. We want a whole picture of this, but that is a key piece so it needs to go along with the whole plan. I think moving ahead with the main part without looking at the whole part isn’t something I want to go ahead with. We want to make sure we get the final product that everybody would like.”
Councilman Chris Corrie, disagrees.
“The best way to do this is to phase it,” he said. “We would also work on the parking spaces around it to add to the parking downtown. It seems to me that we can move ahead with the parking and the lighting. Regardless with what direction we go, we know we want to do the lighting and the parking.”
“We have a lot of jewels downtown, but this is a special one,” added councilwoman Laura Carr. It would be nice to have benches and chairs and tables to sit at so families could go to the library and get a book, go to Rooftop and get something to eat and then sit there as a family and read a book. I don’t know why we can’t do this in stages to get the process started which would also tell other investors that we are dedicated to downtown coming alive again.”
Councilmembers did not take a vote and just left everything for future discussion. That frustrated Botana.
“It was informative to hear that they are going to have a workshop in October which unfortunately is going to postpone this proposal,” Botana began. “I have to follow what council wants to do, but I don't want this to go by the wayside while council decides what they want to do. I am disappointed. This is a nonprofit that wants to give back to Bonita. I don't want it to be 20 years. I don’t understand the concept of why there is all this turmoil in council. If you have a nonprofit that is willing to step up and take charge, lets at least get phase one going. I am not sure what the holdup is.”
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Taxpayers won’t see their utility bills to go down as promised
A one percent tax added to their bill five years ago as a temporary extra fee to help bring down Bonita Springs’ debt was set to sunset this year, but on Wednesday, four of the seven council members voted to keep it in place. The tax sparked debate among council members who wavered for a while before casting their votes.
“It was a mechanism that was supposed to be short term,” stressed councilman Jesse Purdon. “We set it up to be a sunset. By not allowing it to die, that is an increase. There is no other logical way.”
The three percent tax was raised to four percent but was supposed to return to three percent after the five years were done. Purdon was upset that taxpayers will have to continue to pay the higher price.
“They never do sunset,” he said. “That is a running joke. With the sunset provision when it ends suddenly those funds become something that is counted on.
It is a budget trick that people use to get things done and then you end up in a situation where we are here and we are raising taxes. If we say something, we should mean it. We set it up to be a sunset and it should sunset. Why go back on our own words and intent. It just is wrong for us.
Councilwoman Amy Quaremba wavered a bit before voting to continue with the tax.
“To have the most stable revenue patterns you need to have mixture of the kinds of revenues you bring into municipalities,” she said. “Nobody wants an ad valorem tax. Some people did not want to raise taxes when we really needed to raise taxes so we put in a sunset.”
When asked about how taxpayers would believe them next time they put in a tax that is promised a sunset, Quaremba replied, “That is a problem. It’s going to be hard.”
But the councilwoman said the city relies on the money from that tax. She wants to make sure there is enough money in the emergency fund and operating budget. She wants a decent balance in the general fund for use when needed. She is worried about the economy and the future of money the city brings in.
“All the projections - everybody is telling us we are going to be heading to a rough patch,” she said. “There is a bubble that is going to burst.”
That’s why she wants to be prepared with the extra funding.
“Sometimes things come up that you want to be able to be spending,” she explained. “You always keep something. That gives you some flexibility so you can work in a more reliable way.”
Quaremba said the vote does not mean the extra tax is forever.
“What could have been done is we could have extended it,” she said. “We are free to change it.”
During the meeting Mayor Rick Steinmeyer stressed the need of citizens over the needs of government.
“I don’t think the city needs the money as much as the people need the money to buy groceries,” he said.
He also said the city could get more utility tax money without keeping the extra percent in taxes
“We have more people living in Bonita, so we have more people paying an electric bill,” he stated.
Fred Forbes wavered for a while before voting to keep the extra tax.
“I have mixed emotions on it,” he said.
He pointed out that recently in Hunter’s Ridge four homes did not sell as quickly as expected so the selling price was decreased.
“So we will have a lower ad valorum projecting,” he said. “Maybe a compromise to extend the sunset date so we can see what is going on.”
In the end council simply voted four to three to keep the extra tax in place.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Bonita approves sweeping plans for road and drainage improvements
