FGUA

Recently the Citizens of Lehigh Acres have heard negative things about Florida Governmental Utility Authority (FGUA) – Believe me things are about to get much worse –---

In a recent press release FGUA finally admitted the following –“On the water side, consumptive demand exceeded permitted treatment capacity in 2005.” and “On the wastewater side, the authority initially believed wastewater treatment capacity was sufficient through 2008. But growth has outpaced projections and in fiscal (year) 2005 the wastewater treatment plant exceeded its permitted flow capacity.”

When the FGUA was questioned about capacity earlier this year at a public board meeting they refused to comment on capacity and stated NO conveyance agreements on capacity where issued – but we know now that this was a smoke screen – FGUA has issued up to five different letters conveying they have capacity to developers – so who is blowing the smoke screen – FGUA telling the developers they have capacity or the FGUA on this press release stating they have exceeded permitted treatment capacity in 2005 to their investors. (The press release that I’m quoting from is from the Fitch Rating www.fitchratings.com a rating company that rates bonds.)

Fitch Rating assigned an 'A-' rating to Florida Governmental Utility Authority (FGUA) (Lehigh Utility System), FL's approximately $25 million utility revenue bonds, series 2005, and affirms the 'A-' rating on approximately $42.3 million outstanding debt. The series 2005 bonds are scheduled to sell on Dec. 5 via negotiation to Banc of America Securities LLC and UBS Financial Services, Inc. (Note: Bonds rated B or below are not investment grade -- in other words, institutions that invest other people's money may not buy them under most state laws.)

On the other hand, if growth has outpaced projections as stated above – then why is our Lee County Commissioners John E Albion (www.johnealbion.com) & Chairwoman Tammy Hall (www.tammyhall.org) allowing developers in Lehigh Acres to speed up growth and putting in over 7500 new homes in the next 5 years without increasing the needed infrastructure such as roads, schools, sidewalks, officers and etc. Why are the Commissioners destroying the lands needed for commercial development and turning the lands into residential planned developments – does Lehigh Acres need any more single family housing?? How about affordable family housing? How about commercial nodes throughout Lehigh Acres?

If FGUA needs money to pay for water and wastewater lines to all of the new 7500 homes in residential planned developments when why not increase impact fees to cover growth – since growth needs to pay for growth and stop harming the current rate payers with high water and sewer bills.

The Lehigh Acres Watchdog did a email survey on Nov 21st – 23rd about FGUA and received a better than average return – you now can see the results of the survey at www.lehighacreswatchdog.com

Sincerely,

Robert J Anderson
President
Lehigh Acres Watchdog, Inc

FGUA and our system

There are about 8,000 existing FGUA sewer customers in Lehigh Acres.
By FGUA's outdated, one-year old statistics, their existing 2.5 million gallon per day sewer plant was operating at a yearly (2004) effluent flow of 2.13 million gallons per day. We all know that there have been a substantial number of additional hookups in 2005, and our educated guess is that the existing plant is operating at, or over, its maximum allowable AVERAGE capacity.

According to your figures from the Lee County Planning records there are an additional 3,534 hookups, or Equivalent Residential Connections (ERC's) up for review represented by the five projects you detailed in your recent report as listed below:

Buckingham Villages 631
Section 10 1,750
Caloosa Lakes 800
Mirror Lakes Village 130
Prairie Creek 223

Just These 5 Equal 3,534

And that's only the residential units in those projects, not the commercial square footage, which will also have a huge impact on the FGUA sewer plant.

Now let's add a few more additional hookups that we know are coming soon:

Savanna Lakes 1,999
Mirror Lakes Golf Course 400
Admiral Lehigh Golf Course 250
Majestic Golf Course 170
Beth Stacey Multi Family 380
Copperhead Golf Course 400
Next Phases of Towne Lakes 230
Flint Farm 400

Just These 7 Equal 3,869

Again, this does not include commercial components, new schools, new businesses along Lee Blvd.and in the Industrial Park, smaller, pocket developments of townhouses and other multi-family projects, etc., etc., etc.

Adding only the RPD's listed above, that accounts for an additional 7,403 hookups - almost DOUBLE the existing FGUA customer base in Lehigh Acres.

No wonder FGUA is in such a hurry to expand! Even their additional 1 million gallon per day expansion is not enough to handle the increase caused by the Lee County government's reckless disregard for concurrency, the Red Zone and their own Comprehensive Plan. They are simply rubber stamping development orders for more residential units than FGUA can possibly handle. Something, or someone has to give!

Yes, FGUA is planning a 7+ million-dollar deep well injection project to handle the increased effluent (at our expense). Whether you think deep well injection is safe, or not, everyone agrees that it will take at least three to four years to permit and build it. By then all the RPD's listed above will be completed.

So what happens if FGUA, Lee County and the FDEP continue to ignore the obvious math here? The excess "production" has to go someplace.

1. More effluent will be dumped into Lehigh Acres' canals, and ultimately into the Orange River and the Caloosahatchee River. Commissioner John Albion is suing the South Florida Water Management District to stop the dumping of polluted runoff from Lake Okeechobee, but the ugly truth is that 70% of the pollution is coming from the Caloosahatchee watershed, downriver from Lake O, caused by runoff from overdevelopment in Southwest Florida. This is nothing short of an environmental crime against the people of Florida. Albion is not trying to fix the problem. As usual, he is trying to fix the blame.

2. Our community will be placed at considerable health and safety risks because the water pressure in Lehigh Acres will drop to dangerous levels. According to the FDEP the minimum safe water pressure is 20 pounds per square inch (psi). The water pressure in my neighborhood has been recently measured at 22 psi, dangerously close to the level where the water will backflow causing contamination. My home was built 14 years ago, before backflow safety valves were required in new construction. Like many homeowners in Lehigh, we will have to boil our water before using it if the water pressure drops below 20 psi.

3. With low water pressure, our fire hydrants will fail, and there will be no way to sprinkle the top floors of all those Lehigh multi-family projects in the pipeline.

4. With no adequate fire flow our insurance rates will go up, and worse, we won't even be able to fight brush fires and house fires with our garden hoses.

Somebody is lying through their teeth and endangering the entire community.

We already know that Albion and Darth Stilwell won't listen. FGUA won't admit to its failure to plan ahead years ago. FGUA is not responsible to the PSC like other utilities are. Our only recourse is to hold the State Department of Environmental Protection accountable for this looming environmental catastrophe.

I suggest that we start a petition drive to demand that the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement launch an immediate investigation into this urgent matter.

To do less would increase the threat to the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of Lehigh Acres.

Thank you for your time, interest and thoughtful consideration.

Warmest Team Lehigh Acres Regards,

Jim Fleming

Opinion --- Rail system necessary

On your Nov. 8 front page, you talk about transportation plans for the next 30 years. Most of this involves widening current roads, advanced traveler information, upgraded traffic lights and bus lanes. Commissioner John Albion said, "Our current transportation system is like riding the bull. We're just trying to hold on." However, if the county does not implement a rail transportation system, it will still be trying to ride the bull when the population surpasses 1 million.

The county commissioners and officials need to wake up and look around at other regions of the country where rail transportation along with integrated, seamless systems (light rail, commuter rail, Amtrak) are making a difference. One rail line can handle the traffic of a 10-lane highway.
There are so many examples of successful rail transportation stories in this country. Why can't we look beyond our region for help?

Cost of congestion is $78 billion/year in wasted time and gas. With mass transit more cars will be sitting at home or in parking lots.

In highway versus rail costs, you get 10 times the capacity for each dollar invested. For every dollar invested in mass transit, the economic return is at least five times when you consider economic development.

ROBERT J. STEWART
Fort Myers

My aplogizes to Commisioner John E Albion

I aplogize to Commissioner Albion for calling him a RAT in one of the past posts -- I believe he's not a rat but a WEASEL ----- When it comes Lehigh Acres -----

Doesn't the weasel look like

Commissioner John E Albion

----- Citizen Alert -----

Opinion ---- Developers rule

Your story "We get up to speed," had some statements that were almost laughable, if traffic wasn't such a serious problem in Lee County. Mr. Albion said controlling development was the key to congestion. So where have Mr. Albion and the other commissioners been for the last five years while developers have taken over all of south Lee County and east Lee County?

I guess we can only assume that this was classified as "Dumb Growth," as we are now going to introduce "Smart Growth." I think it might be time to say "No Growth" until we can bring the infrastructure up to date.

Treeline opened this summer and is already obsolete as it only has four lanes, and is going to be developed on the west side. When the west side is developed, it will mean more traffic lights leading to more congestion. I cannot find anywhere in the story the word "expressway." If we are truly going to solve the traffic congestion we must build expressways that don't have a traffic light every 100 yards.

This season when you are sitting in traffic or moving at 5 mph, enjoy the sights of all the developments along the way.

KEN REESE, Lehigh Acres

Opinion --- That's some bull

That's some bull Re: "We get up to speed," Nov. 8. Commissioner John Albion said, "Our current transportation system is like riding the bull. We're just trying to hold on." To me and my long neglected neighbors in Lehigh Acres, we wonder if that's the same bull Commissioner Albion has been feeding us for over a decade.

To him, "Smart Growth" apparently means — if you're smart enough to be a big developer and make big money, you get to dictate where all the growth goes. It's the golden rule in Lee County. The guys with the gold make the rules.

The double-talk in this article from Albion and Lee County's very smart, Smart Growth guru, Wayne Daltry, was laughable.

C'mon Wayne! You know the bottlenecks in Lee County haven't been caused by "jurisdictional funding issues," but the county government's misguided policies of fighting with the state and federal governments, and allowing the foxes (the developers) to guard the hen house.

Everyone stuck in traffic behind a 221/2-ton dump truck knows development is out of control in Lee County.

And it is far outstripping the local government's ability to provide the infrastructure needed to accommodate the bulls already out of the barn, let alone the planned developments.

In fewer than four years, Lehigh's population has doubled, but we still have poor and deteriorating access to the rest of Southwest Florida. This condition will only get worse because only 2 percent of the land in Lehigh is properly zoned for any use other than housing — no more parks, schools, fire stations, shopping centers, greenways — nothing! It's all gone.

JIM FLEMING, Lehigh Acres

Albion breaks the silence on Lehigh Acres -------

Commisioner Albion --- calls Lehigh Acres a Donor Area ---

does this mean that Lehigh Acres will be a Bedroom Community forever???

contact him today ----

Phone: 335-2225 FAX: 335-2892

Mailing Address: Box 398, Ft. Myers, Florida 33902-0398

Office Location: Old Lee County Courthouse 2120 Main Street, Fort Myers, Florida 33901

E-Mail: dist5@leegov.com

Albion and the Chamber of Lehigh

Whats going on with Albion and the Chamber ---- The Cat is out the the bag Mr. Albion -----

John E Albion and 951

Ask Commisioner John E Albion

about this piece of equipment that

will be removing houses for the 951 project

Lehigh Acres Biggest Rat ---

JOHN E ALBION --

Lehigh Acres

BIGGEST RAT --

YOU CAN NOT TRUST RATS

they just get into everthing

Does the Citizens of Lehigh Acres need to hire

a Pest Control Company to control the RAT issue?????

JOHN E ALBION

JOHN E ALBION NO SHOW AT THE FGUA BOARD MEETING ON LEHIGH ACRES TODAY ---WHY JOHN ???? DO YOU REALLY CARE ABOUT THE CITIZENS OF LEHIGH ACRES ????