Bonita to get Sheriff's substation

Bonita Springs’ specialized officers are now one step closer to having a home.

The Bonita Springs City Council on Wednesday approved a lease agreement with Lee County that would move Bonita-specific sheriff’s deputies to their former building on Reynolds Street, near Old 41 Road.

Under the lease agreement, the county will renovate the building before handing control to the city. Once renovated, the city’s contracted deputies, whose number will increase to 16 by 2008, will move in.

Bonita Springs Councilman Richard Ferreira, a former captain with the East Providence Police Department in Rhode Island, said the move will be a good way to provide constant patrol in the heart of the city.

“There is no question in my mind they’ll be a visible presence 24/7,” Ferreira said. “I have big hopes for that area.”

The substation will be manned at all times by a clerk as the officers will be out patrolling.

The moving project will begin as soon as it gets County Commission approval, said Capt. Mike Clifton, head of facilities and special projects for the Sheriff’s Office. If permitting and building goes as planned, deputies may be in the new building by March 2007, Clifton said.

In addition to moving some South District deputies across town, the lease agreement is also one of the first steps in moving the rest of the South District out of Bonita Springs.

All South District deputies are now working out of 5,400-square-foot office at the southeast corner of Bonita Beach Road and U.S. 41, which the county leases for $64,000 a year.

The county’s lease on the building expires in July 2007, at which point all noncontracted deputies in the South District likely will be moved to Estero.

The county is working on building the Sheriff’s Office a 6,000- to 7,000-square-foot facility on 5 acres of land it owns just north of the South County Regional Library on Three Oaks Parkway.

Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott has applauded the idea because it will provide more space for the Sheriff’s Office and bring the force closer to other parts of the district. The South District has 38 deputies covering Bonita Springs, Estero, San Carlos Park and parts of South Fort Myers.

Conceptual plans for the new building are about 90 percent complete, said Baxter Rothell, project manger with Lee County Facilities Department.

Rothell said the county will meet with the Sheriff’s Office later this week in hopes of finalizing the plan for the building. Once that is done, they can move forward with permitting and building.

The new building is estimated to cost around $1 million, Rothell said. If all goes according to plan, it will be ready before the county’s lease at U.S. 41 and Bonita Beach Road expires.

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Staff writer Brad Kane contributed to this report.