January elections get go-ahead on Marco

Islanders can look forward to a holiday season filled with shopping, good cheer and now, a political campaign, since the City Council voted Monday night to move municipal elections to January.

The change, which will sync local elections with the Florida Presidential Preference Primary, was approved 6-1.

Bill Trotter, who cast the only vote in dissent, reiterated concerns from previous meetings in which the election date was discussed, yet never voted on.

“Over half of cities in Florida will have their municipal elections in March or later,” Trotter said. He said Marco Island should keep elections in March “because of the need for campaigning and personal connections with the candidates when (seasonal residents) are back.”

He said that in his mind, these concerns outweigh the $30,000 — just over $7,000 a year over the next four years — that would be saved by moving elections to January.

Councilor Ted Forcht expressed his disagreement on this point, saying, “$7,000 is a lot of money where I came from. Everyone I have talked to wants this election in January.”

Councilor Rob Popoff pointed out that a March election, which would be conducted by mail, would not net much additional time before ballots are mailed out in February, just weeks after the proposed Jan. 29 election date.

Photo by QUENTIN ROUX, Eagle staff // Buy this photo

Albert Walton, a biologist with the Department of Environmental Protection based in Punta Gorda, closes the top on a bottle of water removed from a ground dewatering discharge site on Mayfield Court on Marco Island. Walton said the samples he took would be sent to Tallahassee for analysis, and that the results should be available within a few days.

“People are going to have plenty of time to check out candidates and look at Web sites,” Popoff said. “We’re not buying ourselves that much extra time.”

H2S contract awarded

One item added to the agenda at the last minute garnered nearly an hour of discussion and deliberation: the decision to award a contract to a company that will look into allegations of widespread hydrogen sulfide poisoning on the island.

The motion eventually passed 7-0, but only after numerous comments from residents asking that city council consider suspending construction and the related dewatering projects on the island until the concerns are investigated.

Council went back and forth, conjecturing on the wisdom of stopping the program while the firm, Environ, measures hydrogen sulfide levels. The work is expected to take 60 to 90 days and cost approximately $58,000, which Moss said will be absorbed by the residents of the affected districts as part of their assessment costs.

A field specialist from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection visited the island Tuesday to measure water being pumped out of the ground as part of dewatering.

Courtesy of Godfrey Davies

Hydrogen sulfide bubbles gurgle up from a storm grate on Abbeyville Court. This photo was one of several that resident Godfrey Davies e-mailed to City Council members and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection requesting action.

John Inglehart, director of the DEP’s south district, ordered the tests to follow up on phone calls from island residents raising concerns about the quality of the water that is going into canals.

Godfrey Davies, one such resident, presented the council with photos Monday of what he called a “mushroom” of foam that surged out of a storm grate on Abbeyville Court Friday. He linked the foam to a pump set up for the dewatering, and charged to the council that the water being removed was dangerous and even corrosive to metal and concrete.

DiSciullo sided with residents who called for the council to stop all construction until the city knows more about the perceived risks.

“If indeed this is a problem, I really think it’s got to be taken more seriously than just saying, ‘we’ll see in 60 to 90 days,’ “ DiSciullo said. She suggested halting construction for that long.

Councilor Trotter reasoned that such a move would be reactionary in the absence of evidence that the dewatering does pose a real health threat.

“I don’t see any reason to stop this until the health department of the DEP says, ‘well, this is a real concern,’ “ Trotter said. “We just don’t have that now, and I think to overreact to that and incur a significant cost in stopping it would be imprudent.”

Public Works Director Rony Joel said stopping dewatering would necessitate stopping all construction on the island, not just that related to the STRP.

“If you wanted to delay, you are delaying all projects,” he cautioned the council.

Inglehart said he expects results of his agency’s tests to be ready either Wednesday or Thursday.

Council agreed to the idea of calling a special emergency meeting in the event that the DEP’s prognosis confirms fears of an environmental and health threat.

See Thursday’s edition of the Eagle for a full story on the city’s contract with Environ to address hydrogen sulfide concerns.

POP petition denied

A petition before the council seeking to subject the city manager to a vote of confidence was rejected by the City Council on the advice of City Attorney Alan Gabriel.

Council voted 5-2, with councilors Ted Forcht and Chuck Kiester voting to approve the petition, which was prepared by the political action committee Preserve Our Paradise.

Committee Chair Russ Colombo went before council to plead POP’s case for the petition, addressing Gabriel’s qualms with the request.

“It’s only one man’s opinion,” Colombo told the council. “And some 3,000 people think otherwise that this petition should go to the voters.”

He asked the council to vote based on the petition’s fitness, not its subject matter.

Gabriel advised the councilors that the petition was not sufficient legally, and that they could vote whichever way they chose, but that a “no” vote would disregard the advise for which he was paid.

However, Gabriel said, “If you as a council move this forward, I will defend it.”