To Pine Island and Matlacha
To the Editor:
My wife and I have loved the island, since back in 1999 when a house was advertised on the Internet and we decided to see it. We arrived late at night. A key was waiting for us under the mat at the Bridgewater Inn. In the morning I was not sure where we had landed, but I knew this, we were in a most unique and beautiful place. We did not buy the house, but we found out the owner knew my wife from many years ago in Maryland. We made permanent friends here, who later, in lieu of family, attended our official wedding ceremony at the Sun and Moon in Matlacha. Later, we brought some land and a house and look forward to being permanent neighbors one day.
Over the years we have followed the news through the Pine Island Eagle. Many times wanting to comment and did not because we live elsewhere. Now is a good time to speak.
Pine Island is the last of its kind here or maybe anywhere in the world. It is the last piece of pie at a very hungry table. To a developer it’s a blank canvas ready to be covered. Will it be painted with a roller or with a small instrument in the hands of people who will be thoughtful and wise before taking a stroke? History proves that people with the rollers will shop up first.
Every time I pick up the paper there is someone or some organization out to sully the local environs in one form or another. I have followed the efforts of Mr. Phil Buchanan. He seems to be a voice of reason. One who understands the laws and municipal process and who has the island’s best interest out in front of an issue. He has deflected or at least delayed the progress of questionable ideas.
From what I’ve read, attempts are made to buffalo residents into some bogus reward for giving a green light to a project. Kind of like being offered a park if you let someone cut down your forest. I’ve read about the 400-slip floating marina in a hurricane zone, a high rise parking garage in Bokeelia, warehousing of farm workers and now fluoride in your water. An opportunity to do the wrong thing for the right reason.
You have a place on the earth where the air is pure, the land is green and the water has been satisfying the thirst of a community quite satisfactorily and safely. It appears that fear (in the case of tooth decay) wins as a tool for paving the way to implement another piece of nonsense. Will little Johnny be saving his teeth drinking fluoridated water, or is it more likely he and scores of kids will be drinking sodas long before they touch one drop of water? Who can say other than to note there is plenty of fluoride in toothpaste and in some food? You might want to go online and check out among other sites, FriendsOfWater.com and fluoride action network. The information there tells an interesting story.
Tom Wynkoop
Bokeelia