COMMISSIONERS' ITEMS

Commissioner Greenwell

• CDBG-DR Planning & Infrastructure Evaluation Committee; Municipal Appointments.

Commissioner Hamman

• Announcement of upcoming Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission public hearing 
• Update on town hall with Lee Health & the Greater Community Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance

Approves executing a SHIP Disaster Assistance Grant Agreement to provide $1,025,000 to Lee County Housing Development Corporation, a nonprofit housing development organization.  This funding will assist a minimum of eight very low, low and moderate-households affected by the tornados in 2022 and by Hurricane Ian with mobile home replacement or down-payment assistance. 

The State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) program is solely funded by the State and is locally governed by the strategies in the Local Housing Assistance Plan (LHAP) adopted by the Board on March 17, 2020. The program places a priority on serving very low, low and special needs households.

Approves an agreement in the amount of $30,100 for the purchase of one acre of County-owned surplus property located at 704 Monet Street, Lehigh Acres. The purchaser, Abdalrahim Ahmadi, submitted the highest bid for the property. Staff recommends acceptance of this agreement.

Approves rejecting bids for the purchase of County-owned surplus properties located at 3627 Michigan Avenue, Fort Myers, and 8372 Bartholomew Drive, North Fort Myers. These bids were not considered financially reasonable.

Approves a change order to the contact with Kisinger Campo & Associates, Corp. for the Able Canal Pathway design.  This change order will increase the contract time by 729 days, to total 1,641 days, and provide additional post design services.  These items will increase compensation by $297,802.10, and bring the contract total to $1,232,337.56. This portion of the project will be funded through Regional Parks Impact Fees.

 
Kisinger Campo & Associates, Corp. will provide on-going administration, project coordination, and supervision of the construction process. The vendor will attend and be involved in the pre-bid meeting, bid opening, field review, and construction meetings, as well as the final completion walk-through, close-out document review, and post-completion inspection.

This project is part of the Lee-Collier Joint Regional Pathway Network to create additional access and connections for pedestrians and bicyclists and will connect to Harns Marsh, Lehigh Acres Park/Barbara Ferrell Park, Lehigh Elementary School, and Lehigh Acres Trailhead Park. 

Approves amending Lee County's 2021 and 2022 Annual Action Plans for U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). 

The 2021 Annual Action Plan is being amended to transfer $22,000 from HOME Project Delivery to support non-profit housing improvement projects. 

The 2022 Annual Action Plan is being amended to transfer $109,213 to Rapid Rehousing to ensure timely expenditures and increase direct services to the public.

Authorizes staff to submit an application to the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) to obtain funding through the 2024 Criminal Justice, Mental Health and Substance Abuse (CJMHSA) Reinvestment Grant Program.

Funding from the 2023 CJMHSA Planning Grant is used to develop a strategic plan and increase community collaboration. If approved, Lee County will receive $1,200,000 over four years to support the strategic plan and support a comprehensive approach to offer services to individuals in shelter who live with mental illness, substance use disorder, or co-occurring disorders and are in, or at risk of entering, the criminal justice system. There is $1 - $1 match requirement for the three-year period that is shared with partnering agencies such as Lee Health, Park Royal and Salvation Army. 

Awards annual plumbing, HVAC, and electrical professional services contracts from a competitive solicitation process to six firms. The scope of services includes design, construction drawings (AutoCAD), construction specifications, permitting, bidding and negotiation services, construction observation/administration, energy management program evaluations, conceptual estimates for new construction and renovation/retrofit projects, analysis of existing systems, as-built drawings (AutoCAD drawing), and performance of eleventh-month warranty inspections.

The services will be used on an as-needed basis, for an initial term of three years with the option to renew the contracts up to two additional years.

Total expenditures for these services for Fiscal Year 2022-2023 were $141,392.50. Contracts used primarily by the Facilities Management department.

The awarded firms are: BCER Engineering, Inc., Diversified Technology Consultants, Inc., Engineers and Associates, LLC, Matern Professional Engineering, Inc., McKim & Creed, Inc., and TLC Engineering Solutions, Inc.

Awards competitively bid contract for the purchase and delivery of carbon dioxide to Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc. as the primary vendor, and Airgas USA, LLC as the secondary vendor. The initial contract is for a three-year period, with the option to renew for up to three additional years. Carbon dioxide is used at the Corkscrew and North Lee County water treatment facilities to control the acidity of the finished water prior to distribution. The purchase of Carbon Dioxide is budgeted annually within the Utilities' Operating Budget. Total expenditures for the prior twelve-month period were $263,050.92.

In December 2022, the Board approved the formation of an ad-hoc committee to address the long-term recovery needs of the community in the wake of Hurricane Ian.  In the 15 months following, the Long-Term Recovery Task Force met and, through the work of Recovery Branches, community partners, and staff, created the ResilientLee Recovery and Resilience Plan.  The plan contains 43 core initiatives identified as medium- and long-term needs to help assist the community through recovery and encourage resilience from future impacts of natural and human-made disasters.  While the Board can accept portions of the plan, staff recommends adopting the plan in its entirety.

Approves the piggyback purchase of ten (10) custom ambulances using pricing from the competitively solicited Florida Sheriff’s Association contract with ETR, LLC, in the amount of $2,586,950.00. These units will be mounted onto the previously Board approved and purchased new/replacement Ford F-550 chassis. Two of these units are new and a part of the Board’s current strategic priorities to expand and enhance the public’s safety. The remaining eight (8) units will replace current aging and totaled units. A market analysis was completed and the purchase under this contract will represent a savings of $275,570.00, equivalent to 9.63%.

Accept grant funds in the amount of $1,500,000 from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) for the Billy Creek & Orange River Septic System Conversion Project. This project will convert 85 residential septic systems to central sewer to reduce nitrogen loading to impaired waters and improve protection and restoration of the water quality in the impaired water area.  This project was identified as the highest priority area within the Countywide Wastewater Management Plan approved by the BoCC in 2023. FDEP Legislative Appropriation grant funding requires a match of $2,000,000 which is included in the FY25 Utilities Capital Improvement Program for a total estimated project cost of $6,000,000.

Conducts a public hearing to approve a fare increase for Mobility-On-Demand (MoD) service from $1.50 per trip to $3.00 per trip. LeeTran is piloting MoD service within the City of Bonita Spring and Lehigh Acres. Paratransit and Transportation Disadvantaged (TD) fares are $3.00 per trip whereas MoD is the same as the fixed route at $1.50 per trip.

Mobility-On-Demand is a curb to curb, shared-ride service within a defined service zone that uses a phone app or call-in service for scheduling.

MoD is a more expensive service to operate as compared to fixed route. It is, however, much more convenient and a very similar service to LeeTran’s paratransit ADA and Transportation Disadvantaged service, bringing passengers to and from their home or any location within the service area.

The Lehigh Acres MoD is partially funded with a FDOT Service Development Grant that is set to expire 12/31/2025.  The fare increase will represent additional monthly revenue of $7,725.00 to help cover expenses not covered by the FDOT grant and the Interlocal Agreement with the City of Bonita Springs.