Lynn Hall Memorial Park scheduled to open in April

Lee County Parks and Recreation has announced that it plans to reopen Lynn Hall Memorial Park on Fort Myers Beach in mid-April, with Crescent Beach Family Park and Bowditch Point Park expected to open in May.

Lee County Natural Resources is overseeing the restoration of the natural elem e n t s w h i l e L e e C o u n t y P a r k s & Recreation is overseeing the beach parks restoration, including facilities and amenities, the county announced through a press release Tuesday

“The hurricane damaged Lee County’s beaches and the sensitive ecosystems with storm debris, pollution and the removal of healthy, safe sand and dune vegetation

The county is ensuring that the many elements of the beach restoration process are being rigorously documented to support full reimbursement through federal funds This involves assessing and inventorying the damages, meeting FEMA criteria and participating in FEMA inspections, and determining eligibility for public assistance funding The same goes for beach park facilities, which also were severely impacted Parks & Recreation is following the important process involving docu-

Parking

“The hurricane damaged Lee County’s beaches and the sensitive ecosystems with storm debris, pollution and the removal of healthy, safe sand and dune vegetation The county is ensuring that the many elements of the beach restoration process are being rigorously documented to support full reimbursement through federal funds This involves assessing and inventorying the damages, meeting FEMA criteria and participating in FEMA inspections, and determining eligibility for public assistance funding. The same goes for beach park facilities, which also were severely impacted. Parks & Recreation is following the important process involving documentation and inspections per FEMA standards to ensure local taxpayer dollars are not depleted on repairs.”

Lee County Communications Director Betsy Clayton mentation and inspections per FEMA standards to ensure local taxpayer dollars are not depleted on repairs,” Lee County Communications Director Betsy Clayton stated

Beach erosion assessments have been completed and transmitted to the U S

A r m y C o r p s o f E n g i n e e r s ( U S A C E ) , F lorida D epartment of Environmental Protection (FDEP) and FEMA

Residents and visitors are advised:

■ Beaches and beach parks have not been restored to pre-Hurricane Ian condi-

From page 1 town’s parking spot and not pay the fee and leave my car there all day and pay $35,” Allers said

“I agree,” Councilmember Karen Woodson said.

“It doesn’t seem to make sense,” Allers said

During season, some lots may charge that high though it is not the norm During the offseason, parking lots charge much less, especially since Hurricane Ian Some parking violation fines are $50

“I just wanted to have the discussion to see if there was any will of the council to want to bring that back at a meeting, get staff to put something together and put it on an agenda so the public can speak to it,” Allers said “I was not a fan of the increase from $3 to $5 to park (per hour) We already eliminated the two-hour time period

From page 1 total answer yet They have said we can fit them all in there but programmatically it might not be best for the kids well programmatically what our kids are dealing with now is not best for them,” Koss said

C u r r e n t l y , a p p r o x i m a t e l y 5 0 F o r t

Myers Beach Elementary School students are attending classes at San Carlos Park Elementary School, which is about an hour’s drive with traffic About 20 or so students who were attending Fort Myers B e a c h E l e m e n t a r y S c h o o l b e f o r e

Hurricane Ian are not attending classes in the Lee County School District

Koss said district officials have been communicating to the committee a goal of increasing the school’s enrollment to 150 students within five years before fully rebuilding the school

“I told them if I don’t have a school it’s going to hinder me in building my enrollment If I don’t have the facilities, how are we as a community going to go out to parents that are building multi-million dollar homes which we know is going to happen and talk them into sending their kids into our school when we don’t have a school?”

T o w n o f F o r t M y e r s B e a c h C o u n c i l m e m b e r B i l l V e a c h s a i d t h e s c h o o l d i s t r i c t c o u l d d e t e r m i n e t h e s c h o o l ’ s e n r o l l m e n t b y c h a n g i n g t h e boundaries

One of the headwinds we have is our town is shrinking Between the 2010 and 2020 census, we lost (11%) of our popu- updates

The tentative opening plans for the county beaches and beach parks are:

Early March

■ Dog Beach

■ Boca Grande beach accesses

Mid-March

■ Alison Hagerup Beach Park on Captiva

■ S a n C a r l o s B a y / B u n c h e B e a c h Preserve, south Fort Myers

■ Bonita Beach Accesses 1, 4, 5, 6 and 9

Mid-April

■ Lynne Hall Memorial Park on Fort Myers Beach tions.

■ Some amenities such as restroom facilities, piers and walkovers have not been repaired or replaced at this time

■ Debris continues to wash onshore and quickly may be obscured by sand

■ Beach shoes should be worn at all times

■ Debris can still be found in nearshore areas, such as dunes or mangrovelined coastlines

Closure signs are posted where necessary, and www.leeparks.org has status

(limit for parking) which I did not agree with also ”

Allers suggested going back to the $3 per hour parking rate and redoing the town’s signs.

Vice Mayor Jim Atterholt suggested the town have a grace period of five to 10 minutes for parking meter violation offenders if the town could adjust its software for its parking enforcement

“I want to show a sense of hospitality here as opposed to a sort-of punitive gotcha mindset,” Atterholt said “To me, that’s a big piece to the welcoming puzzle ”

Allers said the parking app that motorists use to pay the parking meters already notifies people as time gets close to expiring

The town has software that notifies the town’s parking

■ Bonita Beach Park

May

■ Bowditch Point Park on Fort Myers Beach

■ Bonita Beach accesses 2,3, 7, 8 and 10, also known as Little Hickory Island Park

■ Crescent Beach Family Park on Fort Myers Beach enforcement of whether a vehicle is in a parking spot in which the meter has expired

Atterholt further suggested that the town issue a $3 rate for residents and a $5 rate for visitors in light of the town’s fiscal issues Allers said the town could extend parking passes for residents

Councilmember John King said he supported lowering the parking meter rates back to $3 per hour

Councilmember Bill Veach said lowering the parking meter rate would be a “huge budget buster ”

Allers asked town staff to bring back budget numbers and budget impacts of the town changed the meter rates

“I feel strongly that the historical building can be renovated to get our students back on this island next year, maybe all in that building They haven’t given us a total answer yet They have said we can fit them all in there but programmatically it might not be best for the kids well programmatically what our kids are dealing with now is not best for them.”

John Koss, parent

sibly using the top floor of the Fort Myers Beach Library for overflow classroom space if they can’t fit all of the students in the historic building while the rest of the school is rebuilt, Koss said

The Lee County School District budgeted $352 million for its 31 elementary schools this year lation,” Veach said

Fort Myers Beach Vice Mayor Jim Atterholt noted that the elementary school on Sanibel opened last week while Fort Myers Beach families waited more than an hour for the bus in the morning In the afternoon, Koss said the students waited two hours for the bus On Thursday, the bus was half an hour late, Koss said

“Traffic is getting worse in this area If we have to bus our kids off the island, that’s the reality we are going to be dealing with,” Koss said Atterholt said the committee has been discussing expanding boundaries, workforce housing in the town, turning the school into a magnet school and other ideas that could increase enrollment of the school to approximately 176 students over five years which would lower the average cost per student to $9,600 per student which is less than half the current number

“The other issue is we need a school, physical school, to attract these kind of numbers,” Atterholt said “We have a path to reach that enrollment goal.”

Atterholt said the school district has the funds through insurance and through t h e F e d e r a l E m e r g e n c y M a n a g e m e n t Agency to rebuild the school

“The funds are there,” he said

Atterholt said that committee members have said they would go along with a charter school in five years if the school doesn’t meet its enrollment objective

C o u n c i l m e m b e r K a r e n W o o d s o n asked if it was possible to utilize the elementary school on Sanibel for some classroom space

The district has been rehabbing the historic building of the school after the elem e n t a r y s c h o o l w a s d a m a g e d b y

Hurricane Ian

There have been discussions between the committee and district officials of pos-

The Fort Myers Beach Elementary School represents $1 75 million of that total and calculations by some district officials and school board members on the Beach Elementary School’s cost-per-student and suggestions the school's population is not viable long-term suggests the school is among the smallest in the district, if not the smallest

Yet its small population also means the district spends less overall on the school than most, if not all the other schools in the district

The Fort Myers Beach Observer has requested budget totals for the other 30 elementary schools which the school district has not yet provided

The Lee County School District Board will next meet Feb. 22 at 6 p.m. in the board room of the Lee County Public Education Center at 2855 Colonial Blvd in Fort Myers

A final decision by the school board on the school’s future is not expected until March the State of the Union speech given by her husband President Joe Biden last week at the U S House of Representatives in Washington D C Liszak was also invited to dinner at the White House, which she attended with her husband Scott Safford and sister-in-law Jon Ingle Liszak first met the president and his wife in October when they visited Fort Myers Beach shortly after Hurricane Ian

The Fort Myers Beach Observer caught up with Ms Liszak to catch up on how it all went

“It was an amazing evening,” Liszak said “What an honor and a privilege ”

The night began with a visit to the White House, which preceded the State of the Union speech “The guests entered from the East Wing of the White House after extensive security checkpoints, and we were able to explore the first and second floor A cocktail reception was held in the gallery on the second floor with music by the United States Marine Corps Band,” Liszak said

“Throughout the evening, the president and first lady were warm, engaging and attentive,” Liszak said “They took the time to speak to each guest and really listened to their story ”

After the State of the Union speech, Liszak met with President Biden “All of the invitees were included in a photo op with the President and when I walked into the room, he greeted me warmly and thanked me for coming I, in turn, thanked him for the invitation, told him the pleasure was all mine, and thanked him for all of the assistance that has been given to Southwest Florida,” Liszak said. “I also reminded him that we still have a long way to go and that we will need his support and funding in the coming months and years ”

Liszak said she communicated to the first lady the help Fort Myers Beach needs with the Federal Emergency Agency and for trailers “Businesses need clarity on FEMA’s rules for trailers so that they can continue to operate in a compliant manner while trying to rebuild their businesses ” She also delivered a letter from Mayor Dan Allers. Liszak has also stated that she would share stories and photos of friends who were impacted by Hurricane Ian Liszak also communicated to the first lady the trouble of rebuilding Fort Myers Beach Elementary School and issues with the Small Business Administration loan process

Liszak described the dinner at the White House as “delicious ” The dinner was held in the State Dining Room on the second floor The dining room was once used by President Thomas Jefferson as an office and became a dining room during the presidency of James Madison, accord- ing to a history provided by the White House Historical Association

At dinner, were the 25 other invitees of the first lady and their guests Also in attendance was Douglas Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris There were also various Marine Corp members and other White House staff, Liszak said “The room was filled with interesting people from around the world,” she said.

“By the end of the evening, we all felt like old friends,” Liszak said The dinner included “a fresh green salad and a flaky, crusty chicken pot pie, complete with small star-shaped pieces of buttery crust on the top followed by a tasty assortment of cookies all served on beautiful White House china ”

The speech

“I am endlessly fascinated by our democratic process and I really enjoyed getting to watch the State of the Union address in person, as a guest in the First Lady’s box,” Liszak said

“I really enjoy watching our political system in process,” Liszak said “It was fascinating to look down on the House floor and see the interaction and reactions of the Congress and other attendees as the President was giving his speech On occasion, the loud comments and opinions that were shouted out from the floor made some of the attendees uncomfortable, however, that is how our forefathers intended the process to be ”

Seated in the gallery in a box in the first lady’s box in the balcony to the right side of Biden (facing him), Liszak noted there were “a number of lapses in decorum.”

One of the most widely reported outbursts was from right-wing Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who shouted at Biden

“The audience was generally respectful,” Liszak said

“The evening ended with a personal meet and photo shoot with the President after the address and a speedy ride, escorted by Secret Service back to the White House (from the Capitol) ”

“Holy cow do they drive fast,” Liszak said Liszak met back up with her husband and sister-in-law in the Theatre Room at the White House and gave farewell to her new friends She received a gift from the first lady, an official cup with the White House emblem

“The first lady was gracious and engaging It was clear that she really cared about the invitees and she was truly interested in them as individuals and interested in the story or platform that they were representing I was honored to have received her invitation to represent our Southwest Florida community,” Liszak stated

“It was a magical evening,” Liszak said “Sort of like Cinderella going to the ball except I didn’t lose a slipper ”