Civic holds first meeting of season
The Greater Pine Island Civic Association’s first meeting of the season was held last Tuesday, Oct. 4, at 7 p.m.
GPICA president Roger Wood opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance and an explanation of the purpose of the GPICA.
“I’m going to read the purpose of the GPICA because we may be shifting our emphasis a bit,” Wood said. “The GPICA shall promote environmentally responsible planning or smart growth.
“We’ve been successful with the Pine Island Plan and have preserved the quality and character of the island,” Wood said. “We’ve maintained the height restrictions of the island and those are really important things for us. Our bylaws state, GPICA ‘shall promote preservation of sensitive natural areas and shall recognize and promote the unique character or our rural island community.’ The GPICA will enter into a new phase. We are surrounded by water and the use of our waters needs to be protected.”
Wood presented the background history Pine Island and Matlacha have faced with water runoff from northwest Cape Coral.
“A primary concern is the northwest section of Cape Coral, which includes over 100 square miles with extensive canals that drain into the north spreader,” Wood said. “Those contaminated waters then drain into the canal behind Miceli’s Restaurant and empty into Matlacha Pass.
“Years ago Cape Coral agreed to build a boat lift that provided a dam keeping those waters from entering Matlacha Pass,” Wood said. “But after a number of years the boat lift began to leak until it didn’t serve any purpose. Finally Cape Coral took it out entirely. The lawsuit filed by Phil Buchanan and some environmental groups would rebuild the boat lift but Cape Coral refuses to comply. We’ve been through mediation to arbitration and back to mediation. The GPICA would like to present the County Commissioners with a “Water Quality Letter:”
A RESOLUTION BY THE BOARD
OF COMMISSIONERS OF LEE COUNTY
Whereas, Lee County strives to provide its citizens and visitors with safe clean water for drinking, swimming, fishing and shellfish harvesting.
Therefore, be it resolved that the Lee County Commissioners DISAPPROVE of the proposal by Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to allow INCREASE in the amount of toxic and/or carcinogenic chemicals in Florida’s waters.”
Motion:_____ 2nd:_____ Aye:_____ Nay:_____
“This is timely because there’s discussion about fracking in Florida and there’s been a huge radioactive water spill into a sinkhole up north that affects our aquifer,” Wood said.
Wood asked for a motion and a 2nd on the proposal to present the letter to the commission.
The members of the GPICA voted unanimously to request that the Lee County Board of County Commissioners send the resolution to the Federal Environmental Protection Agency.
Calusa Land Trust
John Kendall, president of the Calusa Land Trust, made a presentation regarding rezoning land owned by the CLT. To comply with the law the Land Trust needs to provide community residents an opportunity to review the proposed change and seek input on the issue.
“The Calusa Land Trust, Pine Island’s all-volunteer land conservancy, holds title to some 2,100 acres of preserved land, most of which are wetlands,” Kendall said. “However, CLT’s inventory also includes properties for the use of the public in a park setting such as Fritts Park and the planned Wigert/Barron Preserve, both in Bokeelia.
“The St. Jude Nature Trail, within the 395-acre St. James Creek Preserve, has long been a favorite hike for those in St. James City. In the last several years various donors have gifted to CLT eight building lots adjacent to this preserve. In order to allow some improvements for visitors, CLT cleared the lots of invasives and replaced them with native plantings. CLT then contracted to construct two tiki huts, a pedestrian pathway and a bridge from the cleared area onto the nature trail.
“During the process of permitting with Lee County, we discovered that the parcels are zoned either residential or commercial, which will not allow such park uses,” Kendall said. “Thus, CLT has applied to ‘downzone’ the improvement area and the nature trail to an ‘Environmentally Critical’ classification. This will essentially prohibit traditional development while at the same time allow us to build the tiki huts, pedestrian pathway and the bridge. As a requirement, CLT must provide community residents an opportunity to review the proposed change and seek input on the issue. So that’s what I am asking for tonight.”
GPICA members present voted unanimously to move forward with the rezoning.
Calusa Indians and native plants
Martha “Marty” Kendall, president of the Pine Island Garden Club, made a presentation on native plants and their uses by the Calusa Indians. Kendall is a retired clinical psychologist who volunteers at the Calusa Heritage Trail at Pineland as a docent. Her interest in the Calusa Indians and their plant use led her to become a Master Gardener and Florida Master Naturalist. She and her husband John reside on Pine Island.
“I’ve been asked to talk about native plants,” Kendall said. “My book, ‘The Plant World of the Calusa,’ is all about native plants and how people and plants relate to each other. Did the Calusa use these plants as food, or medicines or for ceremonial rights, etc.? My book talks about every single plant that was existent on the mounds when the Calusa were there.”
She said there are about 100 different seeds catalogued by the University of Florida.
“By cataloging the plants and studying how other native cultures use them, we can presume the Calusa Indians used them in the same way,” Kendall said.
The red mangroves were a vital plant to the Calusa
“They are the nursery and the way that everything that grows in our estuary lives in the roots of the mangroves,” she said. “The Calusa used this as an insect repellant. The wood was also used to make oars, houses and used a fuel. Plus the tannins can be used for dyes.
“On the Key Marcos site we found bald cypress bowls, and cups and tubs 1,500 years old,” Kendall said. “They also used cypress to build houses, canoes, coffins, bows and arrows and many more things. The sap provides a resin that will ease the pain of a wound and speed up the recovery. Aleviate the pain of a toothache and the bark will relieve itch.
“The Pineland excavation had deposits that were from 100 AD,” Kendall said. “We found a carved crane head made of cypress that dates from around 900 AD.”
Kendall’s book is available at the Randell Center in Pineland.
The purpose of the GPICA is to promote environmentally responsible planning for smart growth and promote preservation of sensitive natural areas. The organization recognizes and promotes the unique character of our rural and agricultural island community.
The GPICA has been active for over 40 years and is responsible for the retention of the “Old Florida” charm and atmosphere that attracted most of us to this location. All civic meetings are open to the public at no charge. Meetings are at 7 p.m. the first Tuesday of the month at the Elks Lodge on Pine Island Road, west of Stringfellow Road.All meetings are open to the public at no charge. for additional information, contact Wood at 920-421-3984.