MINUTES OF A.L.V.A. INC. BOARD MEETING, November 8, 2001

7:00 p.m., Alva Museum

Those present:  Sarah Gillim, Lynn Fensterer, Rob Andrys, Martin Call, Lynda

Kendrick, Maria Pagan, Mike Buff, Anita Buff, Becky Crockett, Julie Moore,

Jack Liddell, Mike Dove, David Turkel, Jean Colvin, Carol Cunningham, Bill

Spikowski.

Sarah Gillim, President, turned the meeting over to our planner, Carol

Cunningham, who introduced Bill Spikowski, who has spent many years as a

planner with various Lee County departments and is now a private consultant.

He is very highly respected in the state of Florida for his expertise in

land

use planning. Since he cannot attend our workshop on November 17, Carol

asked

him to speak to the Board tonight.  He understands approaches that can be

used to encourage the preservation of natural areas, conservation areas, and

agricultural areas and still not upset a person's property rights.

Mr. Spikowski stated that Lee County's interest in community planning comes

and goes.  They were very interested in the late 1980's and early 1990's,

and

then their interest waned. This was evidenced by Bonita Springs, Pine

Island,

Buckingham, and Alva who worked on community plans, some of which were not

approved. Now they are interested again, so we should take advantage of this

window of opportunity. The issue of rural planning is probably the most

controversial for us. We should not upset the large landowners, but we

should

deal with this issue now before the pressure is on to pass the Lee County

Comprehensive Plan. We should try to look at the land the way the landowner

does, and also the governmental role in land use planning and zoning and

regulatory controls. We have several groups that are legally purchasing

land.

One is the 2020 program, which buys land with government money in order to

preserve it. We should evaluate the land in our community to ascertain what

could be purchased under this program.  Another way is through a land trust,

which is a non-profit conservation program and a membership organization. He

explained the Calusa Land Trust group on Pine Island, which was formed

because someone wanted to donate some land but nobody would take it. Now it

has over 600 members who find land worth preserving and encourage Lee County

to buy it. Such an organization could eventually be formed in Alva.

Buckingham has formed the Buckingham Conservancy, Inc., which provides

conservation easements. The landowner gives to the organization the

development rights of the property and agrees not to develop the property.

This is a good way to preserve farmland.

He stressed that once the Lee County Comprehensive Plan is adopted,

everything has to follow this plan.  He mentioned that the state legislature

has passed granting conservation easements to agricultural operations, but

provided no money for it. The state has created rural land stewardship areas

to protect anything from being developed haphazardly. For this to work,

there has to be 50,000 acres of land. Although Alva does not have 50,000 acres of

land, this is a tool that has a potential for us to use. Mr. Spikowski had a

large chart of the county showing various sections by color. The center of

Alva, i.e., the schools and "downtown" area, are designated as urban

community, which the county considers suitable for urban development. The

urban land use category allows for up to 6 units per acre. He explained the

designation for each area of the county. He also explained the Bert Harris

Private Property Rights Protection Act passed in 1995, which created a new

standard for preventing overly strict regulations on land.

Any regulation that is determined to place an "inordinate burden" on a

landowner may now require compensation, even though it is not a "taking" of

all property rights.

He also stressed that even though the county commissioners have the last

say, there are a lot more of "us" (voters) and we can prevail if we come together

as a community. We should watch what happens to the Pine Island rural

preservation plan, which comes up before the commissioners in January.  We

can check their progress on: http://www.Spilowski.com/pineisland.htm, or

http://www.PineIslandNews.com.

He explained good clustering and bad clustering.  If we were to have a

category such as "coastal rural," we could combine the best features of

conservation land purchases, larger lots in rural areas, and cluster

development. The density would drop to one unit per 10 acres.  If one

preserves large portions of this area, the more development rights would be

returned to that person. Alva has a better potential for this than Pine

Island.

Spikowski feels that the boundary should be decided at the end of the plan

and the county should not force us to define a boundary until we are ready

to submit the plan. In the rural community preserve created by Buckingham,

every lot has to be an acre. Collier County is creating giant residential

communities within the rural communities. He indicated an area in the Alva

district that could be made into a golf course community if we did not

change the designation. He discussed the Babcock property with the recommendation

that we watch what is going on there, as it could be beneficial to us if we

approached it correctly. Lee and Charlotte counties should combine to figure

out what would be best for both counties.  In order to preserve greenways,

we should investigate creating larger permitted clustered areas, which could be

self-contained villages on the model of Alva.

We have to provide clear-cut proposals on what we want for the Alva area

when we submit our plan to be incorporated into the comprehensive plan.  We have

to tell the commissioners exactly what we want and we have to have definite

boundaries designated.

Sarah called the meeting to order at 8:20 p.m.

MINUTES:  Rob Andrys made the motion to accept; Lynda Kendrick seconded;

passed.

TREASURER'S REPORT: At the October meeting, we had $4100.31. Expenditures

were $1843.07, which included the money for the mass mailing.  We deposited

$2330.00, which gives us a balance of $4587.24.  Lee County will be mailing

us the $8000 on November 13; however, Lynn received 6 pages in the form of

an application to be sent in for this amount. We will donate approved monies to

the Alva Fire Department and to the Alva schools for their memorial garden.

Lynn Fensterer made a motion to give $100 to the Alva Garden Club for the

use of their building for the Board meetings; Lynda Kendrick seconded; passed.

Indemnification for Board members was brought up; in our charter each person

is indemnified.

November 17 Workshop: Notification has been emailed to every member.  Also,

the mass mailing went out to all Alva zip code addresses.  We are estimating

that perhaps 200 people will attend.  Carol Cunningham stated that the

workshop has to be productive and creative in order to produce a vision for

Alva.  When the workshop is over, she should be able to take way enough

information to write in words that this is what the community would like to

see in the future.  This will be the foundation from which to work in

developing our plan. When we are finished, we should be able to look back on

the foundation to see what we have accomplished.  The members of the Board

should be the ones to lead in the group discussions and be able to bring

each group together for a final consensus. The center of our "village" includes

the schools and the park; central Alva is designated urban. When we work on

our plan, we can be as restrictive as we want in order to achieve our goals.

Lynn Fensterer recommended that we discuss including professional businesses

in the "urban" area of Alva. We can envision doctors, lawyers, accountants,

and other professionals eventually establishing a practice within our

community, so we should provide a suitable wording for this. This was

considered an excellent suggestion.  All of these things can be discussed at

the Workshop.

Rob Andrys went through the list of required items for the Workshop.  Mike

Dove has placed signs on SR 80 and SR 78, and the Alva schools will post it

on their outside sign.

Alva Diner and Tom's Restaurant are providing sandwiches. The charge will be

$4 per person; however, it was recommended that we suggest paying $5. Mike

asked for permission to order pizzas from Dominos as he thinks we might not

have enough food.  He will purchase the soft drinks.  Coffee and tea will be

provided in the morning and throughout the day.  Mike will check on using

items from the cafeteria, and also on obtaining tables for the workshop,

microphone, projector table and screen and easels.  Lynn will obtain the

sign-in forms from Susan Brookman.  Mike Buff will obtain all the necessary

clerical items. Carol Cunningham is having large maps made to be used on the

tables.  Rob will arrange for the tissue paper overlays on which ideas can

be sketched for the areas on the maps.  Check on someone to do the videotapes.

Also check on whether we can set up everything at the school on the night of

the 16th.  Lynda suggested that a category be added to the sign-in sheet,

which would be to indicate whether a person is a member or a visitor.

Rob presented a quote of $750 from the person who will do renderings from

the ideas created at the workshop. Since this was for 6 hours of work and

considered expensive, it was suggested that we ask him to work only from

1:00 p.m. to the end of the workshop.  Rob will obtain another figure from him.

It is hoped that at the end of the day he can make a general rendering to

incorporate the pertinent ideas projected during the day. His work is highly

recommended, and Carol stressed that this is a worthwhile expenditure.

Fundraising:  Lynda Kendrick spoke of the radio and TV advertisements for

the Dinner and Dance on November 10.  Tickets are selling well.  The Fire

Department is purchasing 240 steaks, and those that are not used will be on

sale that night for $5 each.  All proceeds for this sale will go to the Fire

Department.  If one wants to secure a good parking place and a good seat for

the event, he should think about being there around 2:30 p.m.  Everything

begins at 3 p.m. She reminded everyone to stop by the cook shack in order to

sign the birthday card for Charles Foster.   Also, do not forget to bring an

unwrapped toy.

A Craft, Bake and Rummage Sale will be held at the Fire House/Community

Center on Dec. 8.  She reminded everyone to vote for the Mayor of Alva.

Rob Andrys invited everyone to the Calusa River Watch bike ride along SR 78

on Nov. 18.  Afterwards, a picnic will be held at the Regional Park. This

will be announced at the dinner on November 10.  He also read a letter from

the Florida DOT.  They have requested a public meeting in order to discuss

SR 80 and their plans for it.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:20 p.m.

                            Respectfully submitted,

                            Jean W. Colvin, Acting Secretary