Special meeting called to address UEP frustrations
By GRAY ROHRER, grohrer@breezenewspapers.comCape Coral city council members have called a special meeting on the utilities expansion project in answer to residents who walked out of a meeting designed to outline the payment options for the SW 6/7 portion of the UEP.
Many residents angrily left the council chambers Tuesday when they were informed the meeting would not deal with the UEP itself.
Councilmember Eric Grill asked to have the meeting after hearing from residents in SW 6/7 and North 1-8, areas which face average assessments and fees of $17,058 and $6,000, respectively.
"I guess what I want to come out of it was the people who are affected by it feel like they're voices have been heard," Grill said.
The special meeting is set for July 14 at 6:30 p.m. in council chambers, six days before the council is slated to make its final vote on the UEP. The meeting will be televised on CapeTV, channel 98.
Other council members agreed to a special meeting after Grill, who sponsored the resolutions that will bring water, sewer, and irrigation utilities to SW 6/7 and water utilities to North 1-8, proposed the idea.
"I voted for it to give the people a chance to be heard and try to diffuse the situation. I sense a lot of frustration and anger out there," Deile said.
Besides the special meeting, there will be ample opportunity for people to voice their opposition to the project.
Opponents of the UEP will hold a protest in front of city hall on July 13 at 4 p.m., and there will be public input allowed at council's July 20 meeting before they vote on the project.
There is a sense of deja vu for some council members, however, after nearly a year of endless debate and stop and go votes on the UEP.
Councilmember Dolores Bertolini said she welcomes the meeting but wants to hear new arguments from the opposition.
"We've gone through this before with 6/7. We've heard the people before," Bertolini said.
SW 6/7 was halted in October after initial votes for the project when Grill changed his vote.
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RLofCC
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07-04-09 3:02 PM
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Johnny are you the same John Kolb from Jupiter who owns 5 properties in the Cape and another in Leigh Acres..... As far as the large parcel discount you mention...Ord. 17-93 most Cape residents of any knowledge viewed this as probably one of the least equitable ordinances in the Cape for almost two decades and much has been written about that inequity.
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johnny
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07-04-09 1:49 PM
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The city bases its assessments on square footage. If you have acreage, you pay more. In expansion areas before 2006, the city recognized that it would not be fair to assess the owners of large acreage for the entire parcel. So the city assessed these larger parcels at 30 percent of the actual square footage. The change eliminating the "discount" flew beneath the radar because few were affected. Now, particularly in the north, the impact of the change has become apparent, especially to those who own in the Cape's only rural area. The owners of small parcels of grazing land - as little as nine acres - are looking at a water-only assessment of $88,000-plus. An owner of one home on a similar small parcel is at looking at $98,000 for water only. Some common sense, please. Water-only is not worth six figures to any property owner, much less one home in the lone low-density area of Cape Coral.
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RetiredAuditor
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07-04-09 9:10 AM
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It doesn't have to be like this in Cape Coral. The city has been in the grip of some people who put other interests ahead of the common good. There MUST be a general housecleaning of both council and more inmportantly city staff. This debacle reminds me of the "big dig" in Boston a few years ago. Dispite huge cost overuns, shoddy workmanship and materials resulted in innocent death. No one has died in Cape Coral but the same attitude prevails and its' all about making money at the expense of the taxpayer without the interference of local officials who should be protecting the taxpayers.
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Bouv1Cape
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07-04-09 8:30 AM
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That special meeting probably should not be at the Council Chambers but at the Mariner High School. I think their may be more than the chambers can handle! Everyone come to the protest in front of the City Hall on the 13th at 4:00PM. Let's show them how we feel.
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Bouv1Cape
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07-04-09 8:24 AM
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If councillors from 1-4-6 are voting for the UEP expantion, they must be replaced. Also the mayor. Up north, in Massachusetts, they sell bonds to finance the sewer projects and take it out of property taxes, a little at a time. Not at $6 or 17 thousand dollar increments. They don't put themselves in a hole like Cape Coral did. I now know it was a mistake to move to Cape Coral 5 years ago. A boating community, but you can't keep your boat in your yard unless it's behind your house. If you have a pool, it don't fit. Who made that rule??
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johnny
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07-03-09 1:16 PM
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Moving forward in Cape Coral: 9.5 acres = $88,000 Cash, or $20,000 a year for 20 years, or $325,000 due in ten years, Moving forward? Can you help a brother out make a donation for my water bill? Moving forward is moving backwards! Putting my family in the poor house and saying good by to the family farm!
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