Cost of moving bats is drop in the bucket
To the editor:
Commissioner Mann’s comments regarding the cost of providing bat houses is curious, suspect and misguided. He seems to be grandstanding on this issue.
Pine Islanders (including Matlacha) are overwhelmingly sensitive to environmental issues, including the protection of endangered species. The bat relocation plan is environmentally sensitive and promotes eco-tourism. Bats provide a multitude of ecological benefits in the area. The Matlacha bridge replacement is an approximately $20 million project, and the money spent to provide a new home for the bats is a miniscule percentage of that budget.
An informal poll of Pine Island residents demonstrated a clear consensus in favor of the plan to relocate the bats as close as possible to where they are going to be displaced. Dealing with the bats is not an optional, arbitrary aspect of this project; it is a mandated requirement for the project to move forward (and rightly so). Perhaps Commissioner Mann should pay the proper taxes on his $1,219,350 riverfront property. Most Lee County citizens can only dream of living at his elite level on waterfront property. He has taken advantage of a loophole in property tax law by claiming an $861,760 “agriculture” exemption on that property.
I am tired of politicians distracting us with smoke and mirrors, while they continue to feed from the public trough. Commissioner Mann seems to be a politician who wants to emphasize minor issues like this while he and his well-heeled backers take advantage of any and all opportunities to benefit themselves at the expense of the middle-class citizens.
Thankfully, some people are looking out for environmental issues in Lee County. Pine Islanders take note, it’s not Frank Mann.
Scrod Johnson
Bokeelia