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Action is needed now to save the Caloosahatchee and Everglades
With the beginning o f a new legislative
session, the Conservancy of Southwest
Florida and conservation partners are urg
ing legislators to take advantage of a his
toric opportunity to buy land in the
Everglades A gricultural Area (EA A j,
located south of Lake Okeechobee to sup
port Everglades restoration and redirect
harmfully high flows that are destroying
the Caloosahatchee River and estuaries.
Why Southwest Florida needs
the State to buy land in the EAA
EAA land is in a strategic location, just
south of Lake Okeechobee, which makes it
absolutely necessary for any realistic solu
tion to redirect, store and convey water to
Southwest Florida and into the Everglades.
Enormous amounts of polluted water
are forced from Lake Okeechobee into the
Caloosahatchee River, instead of to the
south where it should naturally flow. To stop the harm
fully contaminated water discharges that are destroying
the Caloosahatchee, killing our wildlife and dumping
pollutants on to our beaches, more land is needed south
of Lake Okeechobee to provide an alternate path to store
and treat our water.
Timing is critical
Purchasing this land now makes good business sense.
The State o f Florida must appropriate the funds to pur
chase the lands in the EAA currently under option by
May 1 or it will miss the October 12 deadline to finalize
the purchase at the agreed upon price.
This land is being eyed for expanded mining and
development, so it may never be cheaper or available
again.
This land is essential to any permanent solution for
restoring the Caloosahatchee ahd the Everglades.
Why take a risk of losing this opportunity for the per
Robert Moher
Guest
Com m entary
manent solution w e’ve been waiting
decades for?
Why wait and pay more for something
we know we need now? Purchasing the
land now while we know we have the
opportunity to do so and at a relatively
low price is in the best interest of Florida
taxpayers.
The missing piece of the puzzle
for fixing the Caloosahatchee
and the Everglades
For Southwest Florida two projects
must be funded to fully realize improved
water quality:
1)
The purchase of at least 26,
1000 acres of EAA land currently under
option south of Lake Okeechobee.
2)
Building the C-43 Reservoir
to the west of Lake O, near LaBelle. This
reservoir will store and cleanse water before it is released
down the Caloosahatchee and onto our shores.
We commend the state’s support and stated commit
ment to fund the C-43 Reservoir, which is vitally impor
tant for providing water to the Caloosahatchee during dry
periods when it is receiving too little flow.
However, without the EAA land, we will never be
able to redirect the harmfully high flows that are also
destroying the Caloosahatchee; therefore, this purchase is
vital to a healthy Caloosahatchee River and Estuary.
The State’s purchase o f EAA lands is the missing
piece to restoring the Everglades and the Caloosahatchee.
It works together with existing Everglades projects and
we absolutely need both if we are to be successful.
What needs to be done
The Governor needs to direct the state water manage
ment agency for our region to immediately initiate
appraisals to know the fair market value of the land.
Without that, the legislators cannot know how much
to appropriate before the end of legislative session May
1 st. The state legislators need to fund the purchase, either
through using funds available from the passage of
Amendment 1 or bonding as has been done for other state
land purchases.
What you can do to help
Our state leaders need to hear from you right away.
Please
visit
http://w w w .conservancy.org/policy/alert/everglades-
agricultural-area to write a quick email to the governor
and legislators asking them to make good on their prom
ise to restore our waters and the Everglades through the
purchase of this land.
The state needs to act now. Without this land, the
other Everglades restoration projects cannot work togeth
er to produce the collective benefit intended and needed.
Furthermore, the Caloosahatchee will be doomed to con
tinue to receive devastating high discharges that pollute,
kill its aquatic life, and contribute to unsightly' harmful
algae blooms dangerous to our wildlife and public health.
About the Conservancy’s Water Work
The Conservancy of Southwest Florida has a long his
tory monitoring and protecting our water, including the
first landmark Naples Bay study conducted in 1979.
Water quality monitoring and research are still large
parts o f the work we do. Throughout the five-county
region, we work with planners and decision-makers to
ensure they are educated on the that stringent water man
agement tools and best practices are in place, utilized and
enforced across the region, and that they base their deci
sions on best-available science.
For information about the Conservancy of Southwest
Florida, call 239-262-0304 or visit www.conservan-
cy.org.
—
Robert Moher is the President and CEO o f the
Conservancy o f Southwest Florida
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BUSINESS
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Report your news to CAPTIVASANIBEL.COM
John Wood Realty names top producers for February
John Wood Realty named its top producers for last
month, they included:
Top Closed Sales: Phaidra M cDermott - A true
“Florida girl”, Phaidra has lived on Sanibel Island
since she was three.
Growing up surrounded by Sanibel’s unparalleled
natural beauty helps to set her apart from the majority
of island Realtors. She enjoys sharing her vast know l
edge of this island paradise with her clients, and her
deep love for Sanibel and Captiva is positively conta
gious.
She com bines a world-based perspective with her
local knowledge and island real estate expertise. As a
cham pion com petitive athlete, Phaidra offers her
clients the kind of determ ination, enthusiasm , and
extreme dedication that helped her to become an All
American Athlete.
O f course, when it comes to real estate, her clients
always come first.
Top Pending Sales: Mike Newes & Pat M esserich -
A fter beginning his career as a sports writing journal
ist in M innesota, Newes moved into advertising,
where he won a coveted CLEO Award for advertising
excellence.
He was head o f International Sales for a banking
software com pany, and he has had first-hand experi
ences in the M iddle East, Africa, Latin America and
the Austral-Asian region.
He views his role in the real estate process as more
of a consultant than a sales person, first providing
clients with the information and data they need to
make educated real estate buying and selling deci
sions, then following through on all the details neces
sary to complete the transaction successfully.
Messerich purchased his condo in G ulf Harbour in
1998 and has been a full time resident in Fort Myers
since 20 0 0 . After selling his two businesses, a com
puter consulting company in 1996 and his com puter
Dave Russ
Phaidra McDermott
Paul Cohen
Mike Newes and Pat Messerich
training company in 2 0 0 0 , he em barked in his real
estate career in SW Florida early in 20 0 2 .
He has done most o f his business in Fort M yers,
Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel and the Bonita areas, con
centrating on residential sales. Being an avid golfer he
has extensive knowledge o f both the bundled and
equity golf com m unities that populate much o f SW
Florida.
Top Listings: Dave Russ & Paul Cohen - Russ is
from M innesota and relocated to Fort M yers in 1995.
He loves people and knows Fort M yers, so real estate
is a perfect fit.
With home sales/purchases for more than 4 0 0 fam
ilies over the past 30 years, he understands the unique
real estate business. Russ works hard to get what you
w ant, and will succeed
because he has taken sev
eral N egotiating classes
offered by the American
M anagem ent Association.
For all his successes he
earned
the
aw ard
of
Entrepreneur o f year for
the M idwest, showing he can get you results and
knows how to market.
Cohen has over 30 years experience in the banking
industry and knows how to navigate the often confus
ing residential and com m ercial real estate underw rit
ing, legal and regulatory requirem ents that are part of
qualifying for a home (as a prim ary residence, vaca
tion home or investm ent property), or commercial
property, purchasing a foreclosure or short sale and
negotiating loan terms.
He has served on the zoning board, planning board,
and environm ental com m ission and was president of
two condom inium associations. He is also a recog
nized instructor in the various areas of credit and
banking law for the past fifteen years.
The Sanibel Captiva Trust
Company hosts WOW program
The Sanibel Captiva Trust Company
hosted a WOW presentation last week at
The Sanctuary with 52 local women in
attendance.
The presentation, entitled “Strategies
To Protect Your Assets (Identity Theft
& Insurance, Home, Liability, Etc.)”
was led by Gerald J. McNulty from the
Lee County S heriff’s O ffice - W est
D istrict and Kim Kovacs from Heidrick
& Company Insurance.
“The
inform ative
presentation
focused on the latest safety measures to
take in order to lessen the risk o f identi
ty theft,” said The Sanibel Captiva Trust
C om pany’s Executive Vice President
Robin L. Cook. “With current technol
ogy it is important to learn how to pro
tect ourselves from fraud and what to do
if we become a victim.
“We also learned about the latest in
home insurance including the planned
rate increases for flood insurance and
how to protect our assets with the cor
rect types and amount of insurance.”
The
WOW
W om en’s
Series
(W om en.
O pportunity.
W ealth.)
empowers women to be better informed
and prepared to handle their lives inde
pendently and dynamically.
RE/MAX of the Islands
announce top producers
RE/MAX of the Islands announced
that Deb Stone was their most produc
tive Sales Associate in February.
Art Corace, an owner of RE/MAX of
the Islands said, “We are very proud of
Deb. She is a very thorough person that
takes pride in her work. Deb had a very
good year in 2014 and she’s off to a
great start this year. She has a loyal
clientele that is growing because of the
many referrals she receives. We wish
Deb continued success.”
Originally from Duluth, MN., Stone
relocated to Sanibel as a full-time resi
dent in 1985 and obtained-her real
estate license. She joined RE/MAX of
the Islands in 2008.
Over the years, Stone has become
one of the top Realtors on Sanibel and
Captiva Islands.
Most recently she was honored by
RE/MAX International by achieving
membership in the prestigious RE/MAX
100-percent Club.
RE/MAX
of the
Islands
also
announced that Bruce Cochrane was the
top marketing associate at their office in
February.
Corace, said, “Bruce has in-depth
knowledge of our real estate market and
has been involved in the construction
business on the islands. He also man
aged a resort on the island for many
years so he knows the true meaning of
‘customer service’.
“His clients enjoy working with him
because he has an abundance of knowl
edge providing them with the facts
about the market so they can make their
own informed decision. Bruce is simply
a great guy that his clients trust and with
whom they enjoy working.”
Cochran has been an island resident
since 1976 and a consistent top
RE/MAX
Realtor
since
joining
RE/MAX of the Islands in January,
2002. He is also heavily involved with
the Sanibel Island community.
He is a Fire Commissioner for the
Sanibel Fire and Rescue District, serv
ing since 2006. He is also the immedi
ate Past President o f the local Lions
Club and a Past-President of the Sanibel
and Captiva Islands Association of
Realtors.
PH OTO PRO V ID ED
Robin L. Cook (right) and Kim
Kovacs of Personal Lines Account
Executive from Heidrick Insurance.
Report your news to
THE ISLAND REPORTER:
captivasanibel.com