Fred Burson, our Ward 5 Councilman, and various city officials updated our community at the Community Relations Committee January event. Various departments represented included Police, Fire, Public Works, Economic and Public Utilities.
Fred gave an overview of future projects for the city. Fort Myers approved a $75 M bond for more parks including walking trails, exercise equipment, and pickleball courts, all of which are awaiting permits. The rest have yet to be determined but may include an athletic field, dog park, and playground. The News Press building was purchased by the city for $10M and sold to developers for $13M to build mixed use projects near downtown. The new state-of-the-art police headquarters will house all the departments, and include a shooting range, drone launch pad, green space, and community rooms.
After an overview of what is going on around Lee County, Fred opened the meeting to questions and “How can I help you as residents?” The questions centered around the rapid growth in this area, and the repercussions to our community like traffic, water availability and treatment, and crime. Traffic continues to frustrate everyone, but the diamond exchange should be finalized in the near future. Eleven new wells have increased pressure to over 60 psi. A water treatment plant expansion is in the works close to I-75 and MLK. Deep injection well systems cost $50M, but selling reclaimed water to Cape Coral offsets the cost. There have been no spikes in crime despite the growth. Violent crime has been down 50% over the past five years, giving police more time to focus on traffic violations. The exchange with all the department heads and our members was engaging and informative.
