Tuesday, December 27, 2016

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

Volunteers needed..... to help with our Petition Drive at the Cape Coral, Farmer's Market located at SE 47th Ter and SE 10th PL in the lot behind the Royal Palm Board of Realtors building.  Bring your own lawn chair, sunscreen and water.

Saturday, December 31 from 7:40 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Saturday, January 7th from 7:40 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Also the Yacht Club... January 4th from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Please contact; Carl Veaux at 239-549-7265 or CVeaux@aol.com


Saturday, December 17, 2016

Subject: Paradise Lost? The golf course

Dear Mayor and City Council Members,

First of all, thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope to make appointments to speak to Council Members after the holidays. This letter will serve to give you knowledge of where I stand on this issue so our future conversations will be productive. I would appreciate it if you also send a brief email to me, summarizing your views on this situation. I recently spoke to a gentleman named Steve Chupnck at a Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife Meeting. He told me how hardworking and dedicated you all are to your mission and said that he thought you would be happy to set aside time to see me.

Discovering and experiencing "The Golf Club"  has been one of my good fortunes and greatest joys since moving to Cape Coral in October of 2015. Believe it-this area is already a diverse, thriving wildlife ready-made preserve. In the span of ten short years Nature has taken over and handed the citizens of Cape Coral a jewel. As an active Birder, Butterfly Enthusiast and Environmentalist and one who exercises regularly, I quickly realized the value of these 175 acres. This jewel is priceless and I would like to explain why it is worth throwing a life ring to it before it drowns.

My husband Russ and I visited friends who had moved to Cape Coral back in the late 1990s. As avid boaters, we were immediately enthralled by the notion that for a fraction of the cost of waterfront property on Long Island, N.Y. we could have a beautiful home on the water with our boat (ready to jump into) right in our backyard. We vacationed here a few times since then and fell in love, vowing to move here after our retirements. So we did. We have been getting to know our beautiful City over the past year. Neighbors mentioned that they enjoyed walking and bicycling on the Golf Course property. We walked through once and were smitten. Having investigated several of the parks in Cape Coral, we quickly realized there was nothing like it. Cape Coral, as a primarily residential community has not included a true wildlife preserve into its plan. (with the exception of Four Mile Cove and the Rotary Park).

We are developing several ideas regarding how the property can be designed to meet the recreational, educational and health needs of the people of Cape Coral, including several for funding sources. Preserving it will also necessarily improve the air and water quality in our area.

I would like to plan a Council walkthrough of the Course before we meet.  It is vital that you all experience this place before making a final decision.

Thanks for "listening." I look forward to getting to know each of you in the coming months.

Sincerely,

Lori Haus-Bulcock

Tuesday, December 06, 2016

Citizen Letter to the Mayor & Council


November 29, 2016


Mayor and Council Members
City of Cape Coral
1016 Cultural Park Blvd.
Cape Coral  FL  33990

Dear Mayor and Council Members:

My wife, Denise, and I purchased a condo in the Banyan Trace development on Palm Tree Blvd. in
July 2015. We are planning on only staying the winters for the time being, but eventually, we hope to
become permanent residents of Cape Coral. As you know, the Banyan Trace condominiums are
surrounded by the former Cape Coral Golf Course.
Before making comments, we would like to give you some background information on our experience.
Denise has seven years’ experience in the Finance Department of city government and for the past 20
years has been a Partner in Public Administration Associates, LLC, (PAA). PAA has served several
municipalities as a consultant on a wide range of concerns, but most of our consulting experience has
been to assist municipalities and counties in the recruitment of professional administrators. So far, we
have assisted over 230 governmental bodies in recruiting their administrators; most of which have been
in Wisconsin or neighboring states, although a few years ago we assisted Crystal River, Florida in their
recruitment of a new City Manager. You can get further information about us and about P AA at our
website
, www.public-administration.com.
I have an extensive background in city engineering, planning and management. I started my municipal
career as the City Engineer of Council Bluffs, Iowa in 1962. They didn't have a city planner and I was
moved into that role along with my engineering duties. Being young and ambitious, the Mayor and
City Council added duties throughout my six-year tenure, which included being Public Works Director
as well as Assistant City Manager. I was designated as the Acting City Manager in
1967 and shortly
thereafter
, I decided that the career I wanted was in City Management. Subsequently, I served as the
City Manager of Newton
, New Jersey; Shawnee, Oklahoma and Oshkosh, Wisconsin. After 20 years’ service as the City Manager of the City of Oshkosh, I retired in 1996.  Denise and I then formed our
consulting businesses, P AA as well as an Enginee
ring and Land Surveying business, (Frueh Consulting Services, LLC). (I am also a licensed Professional Engineer and Land Surveyor in Wisconsin.)
Being familiar with city operations, before purchasing the condo in Banyan Trace, we were concerned
about the future of the former golf course. We consulted the city's comprehensive plan and found that
the golf course was designated for redevelopment. It was to be purchased by the City of Cape Coral
and used for park and open space purposes. The redevelopment plan was updated in 2014, (a year
before our purchase), and it again noted that the plan was for city purchase and use for open space
purposes.
In good faith, we made our investment relying on the City of Cape Coral plans
. We now


find out that this trust is threatened to be misplaced and that the city is considering modifying the plan so that the approximately 175 acres of the former golf course would be redeveloped into single family housing.
In our opinion, the possibility of purchasing the old Cape Coral Golf Course represents a unique
opportunity to the city government. We are impressed with the obviously good city planning that has
served Cape Coral so well in the past. We were amazed to learn of the rapid growth of the city and we understand that the "build out" population of Cape Coral is projected to be about 500,000. Since it is such a great place to live, we are confident that the city will meet that expectation sometime in the
future.
In my many years working as a City Manager in four city governments and knowing of experiences in
many cities throughout the United States, I find one phenomenon to be true. No city has ever regretted
purchasing land for future parks.
It might be controversial at the time of purchase, but a few years
later, you inevitably hear laudatory comments about the wisdom and foresight of civic leaders who
took the risk of purchasing property for city parks. (Think of New York City and Central Park.)
As an example, in 1871 Oshkosh, Wisconsin had no parks. Mayor E.E. Stevens purchased 40 acres
abutting Lake Winnebago for $20,000. It was very controversial and Mayor Stevens was hounded out
of office because of the park purchase. Over the years, the park (now called Menominee Park) was expanded and it now covers more than 175 acres. It is a multi-purpose park and is the "crown jewel" in the Oshkosh Park system. Everyone in Oshkosh now gratefully remembers Mayor Stevens, in fact a few years later, around 1920, a neighborhood park was created
not far from Menominee Park and it was named Stevens Park in honor of the man who had the vision to create this now much appreciated city asset.
In Denise's and my opinion, you as the leaders this beautiful city of Cape Coral face a similar
opportunity represented by the 175 acres of the former golf course. A comprehensive plan could be developed for the area which could reflect the wishes of your citizens.
Also, having an inventory of under-utilized land is always a wise plan for city government,
Immediately, the area could be used for park and open space uses. As public officials, you know that
future opportunities always present themselves. Before reaching the built-out population of 500,000,
how many times will there be requests for additional land and buildings to accommodate the need for
public works and utility services or other cultural needs besides park land? (Perhaps a horticultural par
k or botanical gardens). Literally, you never presently know the opportunities that the future will present for the growth of the city, and having an inventory of land available to accommodate those opportunities would allow you to take advantage of those future opportunities.
I urge you to fulfill the expectation of city purchase and use as park/open space uses, as reflected in the City’s South Cape Downtown Redevelopment Plan; which is still on record as being valid, even as I write this letter.
At the risk of being presumptuous, if I were your City Manager and with your approval and permission, I would be exploring ways of financing the purchase of the former golf course. There are several federal, state and private grants for park land purchases. I am not familiar with Florida laws, but in many states development impact fees are levied against new housing subdivisions and developments. A Parks Impact fee could be levied on future developments to finance the city's share of the cost. Perhaps a public fund raising effort would be appropriate to fund part of the purchase. I would be happy to volunteer to work with your city staff in devising a funding plan for the purchase for no
remuneration.

Thank you for your consideration. We will be in Cape Coral until next April. If you have any
questions, please feel free to contact us. Our Cape Coral address is
: 4007 Cape Coral Blvd., Unit 208,
and my cell phone number is 920-216-2130.
Respectfully submitted,

William D. Frueh, Partner
Public Administration Associates, LLC


Cc:  John Szerlag, City Manager

The Palms Application

https://capecoral.box.com/s/ppm5tjb2yasbeux1o7r0235i9pew97hz

Monday, December 05, 2016

Update and Petition Download

There are two items we wanted to let everyone know about that can use action on your part. 

First, we are circulating a petition opposing the future land use map amendment that DR Horton filed to change it from Parks and Recreation to Single Family Residential.  Attached is the Petition and Add to Email Updates/Volunteer sheet.  We ask that at a minimum you sign it and return it.  However, even better would be to print it out and get it filled up with signatures from friends, neighbors or family.   Please hand deliver or mail the originals to, Mary Neilson c/o RE/MAX Realty Partners, 3501 Del Prado Blvd S., Cape Coral, FL  33904.  If you’d like to have the petition picked up, please call or email Mary at 239-243-5989 mary@maryneilson.com or Anne Carney at 708-363-5413 brenanne95@aol.com.  

Second, the City Council has for approval this Monday, December 5 at 4:30 pm in the Council Chambers at 1015 Cultural Park Blvd. the Master Parks Plan.  It would be good to have lots of people there to support the plan and to urge making the golf course part of the plan.  Our preference was for the plan to specifically address the golf course and that it should be kept as Parks and Rec and included in the planning process as the city moves forward.  Due to the status of the golf course being under contract the golf course was not something that was addressed specifically in the plan even though we know the city’s consultant thinks it is a great piece of property that fits well with the Parks and Recreation plan.  However, approving the plan as submitted is still good as it basically says the city needs to add lots more park land and that they should plan on purchasing large tracts to meet this need.  As such, we will have someone address our interest to have it specifically included in the Master Parks Plan before it is adopted, but reiterate our general support for the Master Parks Plan whether it is in or not.  Certainly, members of the public are welcome to speak as well in the Citizen’s Input session.  We urge anyone who speaks to do so both professionally and respectfully.  Our city leaders, whether we may agree with them on an issue or not, are doing their best to do what is right for our city.  Our voice can and will be heard, but doing so professionally and respectfully gives us the best chance to really be listened to.

Thank you,