Civic & Community Corner: ‘Meet the Primary Candidates’ forum set for Monday
Wait until you see the plans for the refurbished row of stores proposed for the former Sears-Kmart building at Merchants Crossing! At the monthly meeting of the NFM Design Review Panel conducted by President Dick Thomas on July 5, architects, planners, construction people and a Vice President, Al Rossi, of the new shopping center owner, R. D. Management, came from as far away as New York City to unveil their dramatic concept for exterior re-design of the former red brick big box 100,000-square-foot building, which will include three large stores, a smaller one and a restaurant. The leases are in the final stage of preparation so the names cannot yet be divulged, but the Panel was assured that the tenants will be familiar names.
The design includes removal of the old garden center fencing to be replaced by a store, re-arrangement of the loading docks and a captivating and creative front facade featuring white stucco entryways and signage blocks and a roofline with angular, geometric rises and falls. It shouts “creative” and “chic” and will certainly perk up that entire shopping center.
The Design Review Panel also heard an application to build a Burger King with 60-80 seats and drive-throughs at Shoppes of Del Prado immediately east of Walgreen’s. Coupled with the 7-11 Store already under construction at this same complex, these eateries should provide a welcome place to eat for all the residents of the gated communities that line both sides of Rt. 41 all the way north to the Charlotte County line, that until now have had to forage for restaurants near the bridge or in Cape Coral or Punta Gorda.
The DRP recommended to the county that both projects be approved, provided they incorporate some elements of the required “Old Florida” architecture that is becoming the hallmark of NFM.
The next major upcoming event of the NFM Civic Association is “Meet The Primary Election County Candidates” to be held next Monday night, July 18, 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the NFM Recreation Center behind the Library off Business 41. This is being conducted by a very active committee consisting of Ron Wilder, Bonnie and Gregg Makepeace, Dora Miller and Rudy Berndlmaier and co-chaired by Al Giacalone and Larry Murphy.
The moderator will be Skip Mitchell, who knows his way around a microphone, and the program features a new format with each candidate speaking for three minutes and then answering questions for another two minutes. It should be an interesting and informative evening because there are new faces with new ideas in the mix.
The first-ever “Fourth of July Festival,” open to the entire town, sponsored by the NFM Civic Association provided free food for everyone at the Football Field Concession Stand at NFM Community Park, a stone’s throw south of the Rec Center and the perfect venue with plenty of parking, bleachers for viewing the area fireworks (including some excellent amateurs at nearby Palmona Park) and a covered area with plenty of picnic tables and benches to prevent the sprinkling of rain from being a factor. The threatening skies all day, bleak weather predictions, thunder and lightning kept many away but a good time was had by all who attended.
Thanks to Richard Dunmire who provided the hot dogs, sausage, buns and condiments to go along with the baked beans, watermelons and cherries galore that the Civic Association furnished to assure that no one was still hungry; and especially for bringing his two sweet great-granddaughters, and granddaughter Jeanie Dunmire who was a pert ball of fire around the charcoal pit; to the Pop Warner League for use of their charcoal pit; to Colleen and Amy of Community Park for their attention to all of our needs; to Veep Rudy Berndlmaier for the scores of hours he devoted to shopping, soliciting, setting up and a million details; to a new friend we met, Don Woods, who helped us set up and became our newest member; to Sheriff Mike Scott and Bridgett from his staff who provided us with two sheriff’s officers, Deputy Michael Zazwirsky and Deputy Chase Bubley both of whom interacted well with the attendees and to Sailor Jerry Green whose vocals and strumming had everyone humming along for three hours. In addition to a few patriotic songs and his usual mix of country, The Beatles and pop classics, Jerry revealed a new aspect of his talent, singing a song that he composed, appropriately named “America.” Very good.
This event was also the unveiling of the Civic Association’s handsome new 4′ x 4′ green event banner which was displayed on the entry fence to the Rec Center along Business 41. Look for it at that location announcing various Civic Association meetings and events in the future.
I know that many readers have their own parties and barbecues to attend on the 4th of July, but for next year make a note to bring your gang down here, even if just for an hour, or just to get a better view of the area fireworks which were coming from all sides as it got dark- to mingle with others, celebrate our nation’s birth, singalong, dance-along and party hearty! This could be the first of many future free town-wide events to begin building a sense of civic pride, enthusiasm and participation-all necessary to make Our Town a town with a Heart! Who knows? Maybe we can make a yearly institution of this eventor a New Year’s Eve Party.
At the most recent NFM Civic Association meeting, on July 7, as a result of some sentiment from the audience at the previous meeting, we scheduled and heard from two eminently-qualified speakers on the issue of “Incorporating North Fort Myers.” This would of course require that we breakaway from unincorporated Lee County governed by the five county commissioners. The speakers were:
1.) Honorable Tom Richter, Mayor of Washington Park, North Carolina, population under 500 people, which has been incorporated for the last 80 years and functions very happily by sub-contracting essential services like fire and police from neighboring municipalities- and it all seems to work seamlessly.
2.) Joe Mazurkiewicz of B.J.M Consultants, Inc., a former mayor of Cape Coral who has been consultant to three successful campaigns to incorporate local municipalities- Fort Myers Beach, Estero and Bonita Springs. “Mayor Joe” walked the audience through the procedure involved, the benefits and drawbacks, the timetable and the estimated costs of $120,000 consultants’ fees plus legal, auditor and other expenses. Space constraints prevent more details in this column, but within the week there will be a detailed account of the presentations, questions and answers posted on www.northfortmyerscivicassociation.com, for your edification. I wish to stress that the Civic Association has taken no position on this issue. They are merely gathering information and giving the meeting attendees an opportunity for questions and input.
Other highlights of the meeting were the election of Andy Rosman as director and the approval of Buccaneer Estates as a “Community Member,” the 8th in our town encompassing over 5,000 residents in this category, which requires no dues but allows their residents to participate in meetings and events. All communities, houses of worship or charities located in NFM are entitled to join and we actively seek their participation.
“PUBLIC APATHY IS THE PLAGUE OF THE 21ST CENTURY! VOLUNTEER-IT’S GOOD FOR THE MIND AND THE HEART.” MIKE LAND
Contact me at 239-823-3631 or 0 if you have some event, project or idea that you would like in this column, or with any comments or questions.