County officials provide update on Bat House Park
Several Lee County officials met with about a dozen residents of Matlacha about the Bat House Park funding delay last Wednesday at Matlacha Park Arts building.
Representing the county were Dave Harner, director of Lee County Parks & Recreation; Dana Kasler, Deputy Director; Betsie Hiatt, Environmental Manager and Jason Lamey, Senior Planner.
Bat House Park is located at the southwest corner of Matlacha Bridge next to Gold Key Properties. The planned park includes all that remains of the Old Snook Inn. The Inn was built next to the Matlacha Bridge in the late 1930s and was originally a fish house that became a restaurant. In 2009, a fire started in the tike hut of the restaurant and destroyed most of the building. Today the small portion that remains is considered a historic property.
“The Bat House Park project was originally under Department of Transportation when they were building the bridge,” Harner said. “The plan then was to move the historic portion of the Snook Inn, turn it into a restroom, and build a park. Once DOT completed the park it was supposed to be turned over to Parks and Recreation but at that time the funding was kind of fuzzy. They dedicated $50,000 for the permitting and design of the park. Then as the project lingered on, the park was transferred over to us (Parks and Recreation) without funding. That’s when we started to do some of the design work and some of the permitting.
“A little recent history is this year I had a list of six CIP (Capital Improvement Projects) projects I needed to get completed. Only three projects made it through when we had our budget discussions. Those were Caloosahatchee Regional Park, Manatee Park and Pine Island Commercial Marina. Those projects went through because they didn’t take any General Fund dollars.
“The three remaining projects, Brooks Park, Kelly Road and Bat House Park, were all approved but all those projects got pushed back another year,” he continued. “That changed when the board (Board of County Commissioners) discussed maintaining reserves at 20 percent. Our reserves are approximately $90 million. With the reserves at 20 percent, it comes to about $70 million. They were also going to take that money and do one-time projects and then use some of the money to offset the deficit in the budget.
“At this point we have approval for the permitting and the design process so what’s happening right now is we are moving forward we’re going to finish up with the money allocated for permitting and design,” he added. “We have asked for funding to get the project completed in 2015-2016 from Tourist Development (TDC) dollars and the parking will be completed with General Fund dollars. We will begin building in 2015-2016, unless the board decides something different, which they can do. I believe, however, that the board wants this project done.”
At the time of the meeting, Parks and Recreation added several trash cans to the park and a question was raised about portable toilets. The portable toilets were installed two days later (Friday). Once the park is completed the bathrooms will be in the Snook Inn building.
Because the historic Snook Inn is on the property an “educational” aspect will be included in the completed park.
“It’s a small space but we can do a lot with it,” Harner said. “This is what we call a ‘passive park.’ It will have educational aspects, restrooms, walkways, parking for about 6-9 cars. We are still working on the conceptual plan and when we get going we will be looking for input from all of you when we hold an advertised workshop to review the concept plans.
“In summary, we will begin working on the money for the project in January,” he said. “That money will be ready in January 2016 and construction will begin shortly afterwards. Barring any serious downturn in the economy this project will get done. In my experience once TDC approves this I’ve never seen the board turn down a TDC project.”
The Lee County Board of County Commissioners budget hearing is today, Sept. 17, at 5:05 PM. It is open to the public.
The meeting will be in the Old Lee Courthouse, iin Commission Chambers, at 2120 Main St., Fort Myers.