Marco joins Naples in fight against county's use of beach repair money to buy land

Marco City Council members voteed unanimously at their Nov. 10 meeting -- a session that lasted six hours -- to fire off a letter opposing an Oct. 14 Collier County Commission decision to tie beach renourishment to beach access.

City Manager Bill Moss told the council that while two of the county's major advisory committees, the Coastal Advisory Committee (CAC) and the Tourist Development Council (TDC,) worked to develop a policy for funding beach renourishment and maintenance, their efforts were rejected.

"There was a recent move by county staff and several county commissioners to try and shift these funds from renourishment and maintenance to the purchasing of beach property in North Naples for the purpose of increasing beach access in that area," Moss said.

"This was a move which would satisfy residents in the North Naples area at the cost of keeping the beaches of Naples and Marco Island properly maintained. Although the county staff is not expected to finalize their policy until the end of November, they made a policy recommendation in May that would have resulted in some 78 percent of Marco Island's beaches not being eligible for full TDC funding."

The TDC gets its money from a tax imposed in 1992.

Marco contributes 28 percent of the TDC's annual take.

Under the recommendation offered in May, Marco would have received 5 percent of TDC funds for beach maintenance.

Council members agreed that is hardly an equitable return, and voted to send the same letter to the county commissioners that Naples City Council members voted to send Nov. 6.

The letter states that both communities have worked cooperatively with the county to increase beach availability to all residents, but the county has "breached this cooperative spirit and has placed the integrity of our beaches at risk."

"Using tourist tax (money) to acquire beach access property in North Naples is being sought for purely local political purposes and will not improve tourism," the letter states.

"The county's actions have sacrificed the integrity of our beaches to fulfill the political needs of others."

District 1 County Commissioner Donna Fiala, who represents Marco, attended the City Council meeting, and while she didn't speak publicly, after the session, she said she was there to offer her support.

"Marco has to take a stand and has to stick to its guns," Fiala said, applauding the council's decision. "I'm here tonight to show support. I can't believe the three commissioners who voted (no) really believe they did the right thing."

Fiala was on the losing end of the 3-2 vote on Oct. 14.

At the Oct. 14 meeting, commissioners voted 3-2 against CAC proposals to increase the amount of tourist tax money private beaches could apply for to use for renourishment.

County Commission members Jim Coletta and Frank Halas and Chairman Tom Henning voted against the policy revision, calling for more public beach access. Commissioner Fred Coyle voted with Fiala, favoring the CAC proposals.

Marco Councilman John Arceri resigned from the CAC in protest, as did Naples CAC member Ron Pennington, but Marco council members will likely appoint someone to take his place.

Councilwoman Vickie Kelber urged appointing a replacement so Marco can continue to work out its differences with county staff.

Bedford Biles, one of the two remaining Marco representatives on the CAC, agreed that the city must appoint a replacement for Arceri. Marco cannot afford to relinquish control by not being a part of the process, Biles said after the Monday night session.

Councilman Glenn Tucker, a TDC member, echoed that sentiment.

"If there's a process going on, we ought to be players, even if we are ignored," Tucker said.

However, Tucker also said the letter should be sent. Creating a paper trail is a good idea, said Tucker, an attorney, since the issue could end up in litigation.

The nine-member CAC was created in February 2001 to review requests for tourist development tax money -- three representatives come from Marco, three from Naples, and three from unincorporated Collier.

The CAC spent five months reviewing the issues and brought back a plan that would reduce the amount property owners who live on or near beaches with limited public access pay for renourishment projects. Their share would go from 75 percent to 60 percent, as long as they agreed to pay to provide public access to their beaches.

That's the plan commissioners defeated 3-2 on Oct. 14.

Marco attorneys will also investigate several other possibilities, including cutting a deal with the state or county to get a negotiated percentage of TDC funds paid directly to city coffers, an arrangment that has a well-defined model up the coast. Longboat Key and Sarasota County maintain an interlocal agreement that guarantees the beach community at least one-third of tourist tax contributed to the county.

In 2002, Collier County collected $8.2 million in tourist tax, to which Marco contributed $2 million.

Some council members are worried that if Marco was forced by finances to renourish its own beaches, the entire southwest coastline would suffer the consequences.