Cape Coral Boat Ramp Changes Requested

To all of the Northwest Cape Coral Property-Owners:

Recently the NWNA President, sent an email to our City Leaders requesting a policy change, regarding the fee structure for the Boat Ramps in Cape Coral.

If this issue concerns you, please contact your City Leaders with your opinions. The email sent is as follows:

 Mayor, Council Members and City Manager,

 During the recent Snow-Bird season, I heard many complaints from our membership that there was no room to park their vehicles and trailers at the Burnt Store Boat Ramp.

 Apparently, these Boat Ramps are primarily being used by non-Cape residents, leaving no parking spaces for our property-owning, tax-paying residents.

As a resolution, we are requesting that the City Leadership consider changing its policies, whereby Cape Coral Property-Owners will be issued a free yearly pass to all Cape Coral Boat Ramps.

The charges to others could be increased to compensate for the loss of revenue. This would give preference to the Cape residents who are the tax-paying owners and maintenance supporters of these properties.

Please seriously consider this proposal.

John Jacobs

President

NW Cape Coral Neighborhood Assoc. Inc.

Please send your opinions to the following City Leaders:

Mayor

• Joe Coviello, Email: jcoviello@capecoral.net

City Manager:

• John Szerlag, Email: jszerlag@capecoral.net

City Council Members

• One email to all council members "Council Email"

-   OR individual emails to one or more of the following council members

• District 1 - John Gunter; Email:  jgunter@capecoral.net
• District 2 - John Carioscia; Email: jcarioscia@capecoral.net
• District 3 - Marilyn Stout; Email: mstout@capecoral.net
• District 4 - Jennifer Nelson; Email: jinelson@capecoral.net
• District 5 - Dave Stokes; Email: dstokes@capecoral.net
• District 6 - Rick Williams; Email: rwilliam@capecoral.net
• District 7 - Jessica Cosden; Email: jcosden@capecoral.net

Happy Birthday to the NWNA

We enter our 15th year still working hard to keep our members informed by monitoring our city leaders so we can bring transparency, information and facts so you will always be knowledgeable and able to make informed decisions that directly impact your family.

For more information, refer to Constant Contact NWNA Bulletin 28-19-W, emailed to members today (July 3, 2019 around 8:01 AM).

Red, White and Boom!

Come out with your family and friends to enjoy an evening of celebration and fun! THURSDAY, JULY 4Event Time - 5 to 10:00pm The City of Cape Coral Parks and Recreation Department is proud to bring you the largest single day event in Southwest Florida.

Join us for the 2019 Red, White, and Boom. Over 30,000 people come to the heart of Cape Coral and see Southwest Florida's best fireworks display. 

Where?: The event takes place on Cape Coral Parkway at the foot of Cape Coral Bridge.

The venue will be more people-friendly and provide the largest fireworks viewing area in the history at this location.

Free Musical Entertainment

 5:00 pm – NEON SUMMER*

6:30 pm - Hailey and Michaels8:00 pm – LOCASH

*Neon Summer is a local country band that plays throughout SW Florida and in Nashville, including many appearances at Blake Shelton’s Ole Red Tavern.

For more details on all that Cape Boom has to offer,please visit the website by clicking on -->: Cape Boom

Parks GO Bond Update

On June 17, 2019, at a special meeting, the Cape Coral City Council approved Resolution 135-19 for professional design services for the "Neighborhood Park" project, in an amount of ~$3M with AECOM Technical Services, Inc.  The funding will come from the parks $60M "GO Bond" approved by voters in 2018.

There are two (2) "Neighborhood Parks" that are part of the City Parks Plan located in the Northwest Cape:

1. Tropicana Neighborhood Park which is allocated at ~$2.9M
2. Crystal Lake Park which is allocated ~$3.2M. 

These amounts include costs for the master plan, design and permitting, and construction of/at each park, per City documents which are available to view on the Cape Coral Parks & Recreation website. 

There are five (5) other Neighborhood Parks and three (3) "Community Parks" planned by the City in other city locations.

A total of ~$46.7M is planned to be spent by the City on Neighborhood and Community Parks. Another ~$5.8M will be spent on upgrading existing parks and another $5.8M is allocated for an Environmental Park at Yellow Fever Creek and a Sports Park. (Total ~$58.3M net of $60M "GO Bond")

City officials will bring up funding professional design services for "Community Parks" at the next available Council meeting for approval.

According to the City Manager, AECOM Technical Services, Inc., will go from park "concept to design" and AECOM will hold community meetings to "take input" from the community. 

Nearby property owners will also be notified of the meetings. According to the City Manager, the same process will be followed for Community Parks.

Burnt Store Road Lighting Expedited

On April 16th 2019, at the Lee County Commissioners' meeting, the Northwest Cape Coral Neighborhood Association (NWNA) petitioned the Commissioners to expedite the installation of lights on the newly constructed Burnt Store Rd and to enhance the lighting plan for that construction.  The NWNA felt that the increased lighting would help to alleviate numerous safety issues.

Watch President John Jacobs Address the Commissioners

At that time, the Commissioners moved to have the county staff bring the details and cost back for consideration.

The NWNA was subsequently invited back to speak at their June 18^th meeting, where, during 3 minutes of public Input, we explained the dangers of the dark highway, sidewalks, crosswalks and multiuse paths that directly impact our residents.. 

The commissioners unanimously approved to adopt the County staff's recommendations, which include:

• Moving the lighting installation date from late 2020 to September 2019.
• Installing 132 lights on the North and Central sections from Van Buren to Tropicana.
• Approval of lighting budget of $1,707,359 for the enhanced lighting, which will be funded by the Bridge Toll Fund.

A very warm thank you to the Board of Lee County Commissioners and the County Staff for taking action in this matter.  They have been exceptional in working in partnership with our Association.

Cape Coral's Surplus Land For Sale

Cape Coral's Surplus Land for Sale The city has numerous properties to sell for which they no longer have a need. Twenty-Seven (27) WATER FRONT PROPERTIES IN THE N.W., ARE NOW ON THE MULTIPLE LISTING SERVICE. Another 70+ properties will follow (per Ordinance 73.18). We expect to see more to follow as they are identified as surplus across the city . Clink on the link 'City Surplus Property Listings' and it will bring you directly to the property listings on the MLS. Be sure to save it to your web browser so you can check it for updates as more properties get listed. The link is provided by our city broker Dawn Andrews.  You may use your own realtor or deal directly with the city. Pursuant to requirements within the City’s Code of Ordinances and the Charter, any sale is subject to City Council approval via the ordinance process. Contracts will be presented to City Council at the next available City Council meeting after a 30-day listing period. If more than one contract is received, the highest and best offer will be recommended for approval. For more details, please reach out to: Stephanie Rei at: (239) 574-0541 or at Srei@capecoral.net Please be advised if you are not working with a Realtor already, I can work directly with you. If you have a Realtor, they can contact my office.  FOR THE RECORD: The NWNA is not being compensated for providing this information; Our goal is to see these properties sold and back on the tax rolls as soon as possible . John Karcher, Vice President Northwest Cape Coral Neighborhood Association, Inc.

Lighting and Sidewalks in NW Cape

At the Cape Coral City Council meeting on May x, John Jacobs spoke regarding the issue of inadequate street lighting and sidewalks in the Northwest Cape area.

President John Jacobs speaks to Cape Coral City Council regarding inufficient lighting and sidewalks

Feedback that we have received from the City Leaders indicates that several positive plans are being developed by the City Management to improve budgeting, for street lighting and sidewalks in the Northwest Cape area.

NWNA President's Letter to School Board Members

Dear School Board Members,

Hello, my name is John Jacobs and I am the President of the Northwest Cape Coral Neighborhood Association. I represent over 1200 members who are the taxpayers of the Northwest Cape area.

Considering recent events in the Cape regarding the safety of our school children, there are many changes being examined to improve their safety, including additional sidewalks, additional street lighting and adding benches at the school bus stops. These changes are currently being considered by the City of Cape Coral, which I commend them for.

Expecting Children to walk to the bus stops during pre-dawn times, in the streets with flashlights, is a complete disregard for their safety.

In the opinion of many of the Northwest Cape residents, there also needs to be changes adopted by the Lee County School Board.

The first change that we recommend is reducing the School of Choice offerings for the following reasons:

• It has created a logistics nightmare.
• It has created an unnecessary amount of school bus traffic.
• It has created an unnecessary amount of school bus stops. It has caused the schools to schedule pick-ups during pre-dawn times.
• It has created enormous budgetary costs for the School District of which could be better allocated to Teacher’s salaries.
• Some of the School offerings from the NW Cape area are a 13-15 mile bus trip each way.
• Offering 2-3 schools which are geographically closest to a student’s home, is more than reasonable.

The second change is figuring out how to stop the pre-dawn school bus pick-ups.

In the Cape, with a lack of sidewalks and streetlights, your scheduling methods are a major contribution to these unsafe conditions to our children.

Please seriously consider these recommendations from our Residents.

Sincerely,

John Jacobs, President
Northwest Cape Coral Neighborhood Association, Inc.

Urgent Care Facility Needed

Urgent Care Facility Needed

The following letter was sent on your behalf to Lee County Healthcare, to address the lack of Urgent Care Access in the Northwest Cape.

Ms. Everly and Ms. Clarke,

As Lee Health Board Members we urgently need your help! As President of the NWNA, I have received many complaints about the Urgent Care services that Lee Health has been providing to our community, especially during the past 15 months. The complaints greatly increase during the Snow-Bird season every year.

Cape Coral's population will soon be over 200,000 residents and that's not factoring in the influx of Snow-Birds and vacationers.

The largest amount of complaints that I've received are the wait times at the Cape Coral hospital.

Many are complaining that they've had to wait over 8 hours and that includes those with heart issues. 

Many have also complained, that the hospital does not have the qualified staff for many health issues and they are sent to another hospital in Fort Myers. The time has come for something to be done!

One of the fastest growing areas in Cape Coral is the Northwest area. We need an Urgent Care Center in the Northwest immediately!!

We are aware that Lee Health owns the property at 1200 Burnt Store Rd. on the Northwest corner of Yucatan Pkwy.

This location would be ideal for Lee Health to immediately build a much needed Urgent Care Center.

Our Northwest Cape Coral population deserves better service from the Lee Health organization.

Please feel free to express your preferences or concerns directly to them if you feel the same and want to have access to timely Urgent Care in our area. Their emails are:

Ms Everly - therese.everly@leehealth.org

Ms Clark - donna.clarke@leehealth.org