More than 1,500 Cape Coral residents applied for Yacht Club group; city decides on 14
With more than 1,500 residents applying to join a Cape Coral Yacht Club stakeholder group that will help determine what's preserved from the old ballroom building, the city council will let luck determine the 12 members at large.
Since so many residents applied, the residents will be chosen at random by a lottery system. Two additional spots will be occupied by members of the youth council and the Cape Coral Historical Society.
The figures were revealed at a Tuesday budget workshop meeting by Interim City Manager Michael Ilczyszyn. That places the odds of joining the group at less than 1 in 100.
Ilczyszyn clarified that the group is not a board or committee, and its scope is limited to the Yacht Club ballroom building with the goal of providing a list of recommendations on what should be preserved.
Ultimately, the council will look at the group's recommendations and vote to approve what to preserve.
Cape Coral Councilmember Tom Hayden expressed concerns about choosing participants via a lottery system because of the potential of some long-time residents not being included.
"We know there's been a lot of controversy over (the Yacht Club), and I really don't want to exclude the people that spent the most time in that building for the past 60 years," Hayden said.
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He favored continuing the lottery system and having council members nominate an additional person.
Councilmember Bill Steinke pushed to get the youth council a spot on the group.
Instead of having each councilmember choose an additional person, the council decided to add spots for the Cape Coral Historical Society and the youth council.
Several councilmembers also expressed interest in being a part of the group or having a representative but the idea was shot down by Mayor John Gunter who'd rather wait for resident's input and then discuss it with the rest of the councilmembers at a regular meeting.
"Either we are all involved, or we are not involved," Gunter said. "I don't think we should contribute to that conversation."
Background on status of Yacht Club
The Cape Coral Yacht Club Community Park is the city's premier gemstone, but Hurricane Ian, a Category 5 storm, devastated the area on Sept. 28, leading to the park's closure and community disagreement on what will happen with the property.
Cape Coral first discussed the future of the Yacht Club in January at a winter retreat meeting where the council decided to take a "clean slate" approach to renovate the area and its facilities after Hurricane Ian paused the initial renovation plans.
The discussion led to the city announcing in May the demolition of all buildings in the Yacht Club area.
Despite opposition from residents and groups, including the historical society, hoping to preserve the main Yacht Club Ballroom building, the council approved an amended contract with Kimley Horn in June.
Kimley Horn will oversee the "deconstructive preservation" of the buildings and site, permitting, bidding, and construction phase services.
Other services include fuel tank replacement designs, permitting, bidding and construction phase services, and a Master Plan update − bringing the cost to $262,743.50.
Cost may go up depending on how much of the original ballroom will be preserved, Ilczyszyn said.
He previously said the cost could go up as much as half a million for more extensive "surgical" preservation of the ballroom building.
What next?
Chosen participants who cannot make the stakeholder meetings or cannot participate cannot transfer their status to another resident, and in those cases, the city will choose another person at random.
Cape Coral Spokesperson Melissa Mickey said the lottery process will start this week.
The group will tour the interior of the building and then meet once near the end of August.
Luis Zambrano is a Watchdog/Cape Coral reporter for The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. You can reach Luis at Lzambrano@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @Lz2official.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Cape Coral narrows Yacht Club Stakeholders group to 14
