Incorporate Lehigh Acres Boundaries sub committees Chairperson Dewitt Green made a huge statement at Monday night’s meeting, Green wants to not only to incorporate the community of Lehigh Acres but is looking to incorporate most of the parts of Alva and Buckingham into the “City of Lehigh Acres”.
Green went on to say that he wants Ft Myers to give up the corner of Lee Blvd and SR 82. According Mohammad Yasin the President of the Community Council the Incorporate Lehigh Acres movement can just take that taxing base away from Ft. Myers.
During a phone interview, Rep. Matt Caldwell said the only way for the Incorporate Lehigh Acres group to get the corner of Lee Blvd and SR 82 was if the City of Ft Myers would voluntarily give it up.
City of Ft Myers Councilman Tom Leonardo whose ward covers that area said, “It’s not going happen”, the city will not give up that tax base. Impact fee dollars have been paid to City of Ft. Myers for the other future development around that corner.
Leonardo went on to say, “Lehigh Acres should not incorporate at this time, the citizens should Lee County for more services instead.”
When ask about the Lehigh Acres industrial park Leonardo had no comment on Ft Myers future encroachment in Lehigh Acres.
President Alain Capucci of Incorporate Lehigh Acres stated that we need to get the feasibility study now to answer the questions the community is asking.
But if the feasibility study is done now it will be outdated by the time the Lee County Legislative Delegation needs to approve it in 2017, for the November 2018 ballot. And according Caldwell, the documents will most likely not going to be accepted by the Legislative Delegation if done that way.
When the Lehigh Acres Gazette started to ask some probing questions about all of this, Capucci said if we have to update feasibility study again for Lee County Legislative Delegation.
The cost of the feasibility study is $150.00 an hour not to exceed $27,500 dollars and second update who even knows what cost will be at this time.
According to the meeting minutes of the Incorporate Lehigh Acres group they have not filed there Company Corporation and / or their 501c3 documents yet and have spent more four meeting discussing their logo instead.
I don’t like the way Ft Myers is handling their relationship with the citizens if Lehigh. They will take all they can to prevent Lehigh from incorporating. Maybe a new approach would be better. Why not ask Ft Myers to take all of Lehigh, Alva and Buckingham and become a huge metropolitan area with more influence on the county and state. We are already getting the downside from Ft Myers so let’s try to get some upside.