Minutes102501

Alva Community Meeting, 7 p.m. Oct. 25, 2001

Alva Middle School

FUTURE DATES:

November 8, 7 p.m. Alva Inc. Board Meeting. Alva Museum/Library

November 10, 3 - 10 p.m. Fund Raising Alva Country Dinner & Dance

November 17, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Workshop Envisioning our Future for all of the Alva community.

December 8: Rummage and other special items sale.

Signed in and present: Rob Andrys, Bill Bolek, Mike Buff, Anita Burr, Tom Colvin, Jean Colvin, Becky Crockett, Michael Dove, Jim English, Marilyn Fensterer, Roxanne Gause, Sarah Gillim, Dodie Hall, Kacy Hall, Hugh Heiler, Roberta Heiler, Lynda Kendrick, Julie Moore, Bob Oliver, Maria Pagan, Judy Paskvan, John Payne, Bev Reese, Chaney Reese, Barb Rehm, Mary Ann Spence, Jennie Taylor, Rosie Taylor.

Informal opening: Fund Raising Team introduced. Raised together with support, $3766.00. Cleared approximately $2,744.00. Each one was given a certificate of appreciation.

Announced that Cub Scout Pack 16 needs help for camping equipment.

Need tickets sold for the dinner dance on Nov. 10. Firemen need count for dinner reservations. Publicity is being emphasized.

T shirts must be paid first or they cannot be ordered.

Petition is being made up for securing an EMS ambulance service 24 hours. Watch for it.

Meeting called to order by Sarah Gillim.

Welcome. Approval of minutes from website. Motion approved.

Review of Oct. 11 board of directors meeting. John Payne introduced as new secretary. Jean Colvin thanked for her work as acting secretary. Sarah Gillim announced that the board recommends that Alva boundaries will be left nebulous and undetermined for the present until further discussions are completed about the community plan. All 33920 zip code residents will be invited to help participate in the development of the community plan which begins with the workshop on November 17.

Carol Cunningham, professional planner, was introduced and described the process for the development of the plan. A schedule (attached) was distributed. Goal is for the plan to be completed by mid-June before summer slump. Lee County requires that it be completed by September. Summary of schedule follows:

Nov. 17. 9 am - 3 pm. Starts at Alva Middle School. Workshop for whole community, Envisioning our Future. Background, information, maps will be available and placed in a form for context for the planning process. Focus will be on community character. Possible site plans, drawings, etc. will be part of the day's activities. Workshop is place both to learn the county=s policies and procedures as well as listen to one another about an approach to planning.

Jan 24. 7 pm. Regular community meeting which will be a follow up to Envisioning our Future, including discussion of illustrations and concepts from Nov. 17^th workshop. Two hour discussion. Further honing of the details. Continue writing policies.

Feb. 28. 7 pm Regular community meeting will distill details, dividing group into focus groups to work out policies in some detail. Issues to be resolved.

March 14 7 pm preliminary draft and overview of the community plan will be presented.

March 21: 7 p.m. Special meeting of the board of directors to comment on proposed plan.

Early April: Plan draft will be available for distribution and review by the community.

April 25: public meeting to provide comment on draft community plan.

May 9, 7 pm regular meeting of community to identify remaining issues and recommendations regarding how they might be resolved. Consultant will work with board of directors for final revisions.

Mid June: Target date for completion of final draft of the community

plan in presentation format to be submitted to Lee County.

Notification of the workshop and future meetings. Mass mailing to whole zip code area is planned. Will cost about $1,300.00. Volunteer, Patrick J. Caldwell, offered to work out details to cut costs and make mailing less expensive. Lynn will check on Lehigh Acres newspaper to carry public notice.

Treasurer's Report, Lynn Fensterer. Attached to the minutes. Reported that balance brought forward and October receipts total: 4613.07. Disbursements total $712.16. Leaving total of $3900.31. Receipts since total $200.00 leaving a balance on hand: $4100.31.

It was moved, seconded and approved unanimously to donate $200 to Alva Fire Department in recognition for their support and help, and $100 to Alva School in gratitude to be utilized for their courtyard.

Committee Reports:

Road Committee,. Roxanne Gause gave SR 80 update. Area researched is between Iverson and Joel. Priorities include the Packinghouse Rd. intersection, stop lights at Broadway and 80, sidewalks and landscaping. Committee met with DOT representatives who have been very cooperative.. Drawings of the 1990 plans are available, but the medians and other details are changed. Met with engineer of record. New planning contract signed Sept. 1, with 18 months to complete the design road. It was reported that it is virtually certain that warrants will bring full approval for stop light on Broadway and FR 80. It is less certain whether Joel Road intersection will meet warrants. Hy. 80 will be expanded in two phases: Hickey Creek to Iverson will be the first. All completed to date is only the survey. Sarah Clark requested that Lee County survey the park on 80 and Packing House Rd. to work out recommended road design. Roxanne stated that the Packing House Rd issue is being taken seriously by state. Landscaping and sidewalk planning is the responsibility of Lee County. Requested sidewalks not only for commercial area around 80, but for all of Alva. Letter of request for this program was sent. Bike paths by school as well as sidewalks are being discussed at County level. Meeting to discuss landscaping is yet to be scheduled. It was emphasized that all of this report is of a tentative nature. The committee will meet again in February to make sure the issues are kept alive. Public Hearing has been requested regarding many of the concerns, but no reply yet has been received.

Agriculture: Cheney Reese stated that funding for agricultural preservation is not forthcoming, as had been promised. Bill for the purpose is dead at present. Letter was sent to Secretary of Agriculture protest and in support of the agricultural preservation bill. It was asserted that farmers need incentives to help agricultural land owners maintain land for farming rather than sell it to developers who will turn it into concrete.

Fund Raising: Linda Kendrick and Maria Pagan. Nov. 10. Dinner- Dance: All are invited to bring unwrapped gift, toy for the Alva Angels. A Chinese Cowboy auction is planned - raffle tickets will be sold to use for bidding on items.

New event: The election of an honorary mayor of Alva. Nominate by submitting names before December. Candidates secure dollar votes. Announce new mayor Feb. 28 who will be in office for one year.

Alva, Inc. now has 58 paid members. Need other participants to become members and pay for membership.

Planning Committee. Rob Andrys, chair. Work is progressing well; Awe are on board. If we fail to act, outside real estate developers will do whatever will bring them the highest profit. Essential that we hold them to the highest standards. All are urged to be present Nov. 17 for the major start in planning. Need support and help from everyone interested. Please volunteer and see Rob Andrys to offer help and support.