From left, John Boardman, Mike Welch and Neal Horrom are shown at last week's meeting when a $7.5 million loan was discussed. Members Desmond Barrett is not shown and Nate Stout was not present. Photo by MEL TOADVINE

When the board of supervisors of the East County Water Control District meets on May 24, they should have news about the latest negotiations over the purchase of a building owned by I&E. The board authorized ECWCD Manager David Lindsay to continue negotiations and offer $620,000 for the 10,000 square foot building at 615 Williams St., which would become the water drainage District Headquarters. The amount is a counter offer from I&E’s last request for $780,000. Presently the ECWCD works out of two trailers on E. County Lane and pays $1,637 a month to rent them. They have been without a building for at least a decade.

The topic to buy a site and borrow $7.5 million to pay for the building and ailing weirs, culverts and other improvements has been the subject of controversy now for months.

The board has to vote to borrow the $7.5 million and many in the community have objected and have made their voices known.

Still others say the ECWCD needs the building and money to repair failing water structures in Lehigh Acres.

The meeting last week brought out a record crowd of people, mostly those who were against borrowing the $7.5 million. Some favored doing whatever had to be done.

The small trailer where the meeting was held will only hold 35 people, including audience and staff. The local fire marshal has put a limit of 35 people that can in the trailer meeting room at one time. After that, nobody else was allowed in unless someone left the trailer.

The meeting began at 6:30 p.m. with a packed trailer meeting room while another 64 were outside on the lawn, mostly there to object to the $7.5 million loan. The ECWCD provided speakers for the outside crowd to hear everything taking place in the meeting.

They were even called on to come in if they wished to speak their opinions. When they entered, someone had to step out.

Outside, the group called themselves The Tea Bag Express and they had arrived too late to get inside the trailer. The tour bus that brought about half of them is owned by Steve Baker of Lehigh.

If Lindsay and his staff negotiate with the Pfuner family which owns the I&E building and they agrees to the new offer, it still won’t be official until the board votes to borrow the money.

At the start of the meeting, several people spoke during the public session. ECWCD Chairman Neil Horrom asked people not to make personal attacks, but to stick to the issue at hand. The crowd was civil and several people spoke. Although ECWCD board members are not required to answer critics at a public meeting, they did so after several complaints, defending the water control district and how it has handled money.

Robert J. Anderson of Lehigh, was the first to speak. He said he had no problem with his taxes going up $2.50 a year on his home’s one-quarter acre lot.

“We have 32 culverts in critical need of repair. I would also hate to see a hurricane hit us this season with the ECWCD in these trailers. I don’t mind spending $2.50 more on my yearly tax bill. let’s look at the real numbers. Let’s get the culverts fixed and get you a stable building,” he said. He said most people would pay a small tax fee because of the size of their lots.

Others like Kevin Shea of Lehigh reminded the board of the unemployment rate in Lehigh which he said was more than 20 percent. He said Lehigh was at the “epic-center” in the nation in the number of foreclosures and that before the ECWCD borrows money on a longterm basis, the issue should be put on the ballot this fall in a referendum asking the voters of Lehigh if they want the water board to go in debt, saying the $7.5 million loan through interest rates would cost double over 30 years with interest.

Former member of the ECWCD board Damon Shelor said he was in favor of the projects planned by the ECWCD. He noted that some 370 culverts throughout Lehigh are 40 years old and have not been repaired or replaced. He said that the ECWCD “had not been aggressive in the past.”

Another speaker, David Detscreek, said that while he realized individual homeowners on quarter acre lots would pay $2.50 more per lot annually, there are business people in Lehigh and others who own several lots and the increase in the taxes would be much higher.

“We need to know how the Chamber of Commerce feels and how does this affect business owners,” he said. I think we should take the $7.5 million loan to the people through referendum. Detscreek has announced his candidacy to win a seat on the board in November. One woman asked if the agency had considered renting the I&E building and if not, could the loan wait.

David Lindsay, ECWCD manager, said that if they waited, the costs to repair culverts and to buy a building could go up from $2 to $3 million when the economy improves. He noted that the ECWCD was only interested in the office building and not the restaurant next to it.

And Frank LaRosa, the last to speak, asked why money had not been set aside for the future.

“I am a strong supporter for a referendum,” he said. LaRosa also said he thought the ECWCD was using the “failing culverts” as a scare tactic, but Supervisor Desmond Barrett defended the workings of the district. “I think we have been responsible,” he said.

Lindsay reminded the group that there are 22 bridges in Lehigh that the ECWCD maintains and each will cost $5 million to repair or replace and soon some of these bridges are going to go up,” he said.

The ECWCD probably needs to make a decision by the May meeting, according to its comptroller, who said interest rates are low and they change and rise as bonds are sought.

When all the back and forth was over, the Board of Supervisors made a decision with a vote to continue with negotiations for the new I&E building and to come back and vote on the loan.

All the supervisors were present except for Nate Stout, who was on vacation. Supervisor Mike Welch, who defeated Damon Shelor in the last election, asked the board for the right to call for a referendum at the next meeting, if they decide to go forward to borrow $7.5 million.

The vote to continue to move ahead and make a decision on the loan and the building was 3 to 1 with Welsh voting nay. Others on the board include John Boardman, Neal Horrom, Desmond Barrett and Nate Stout.

If the board decides to move head to buy the I&E building, the purchase would be financed with a loan from the Florida Municipal Loan Council, which was applied for in March. At the next meeting, the board could vote to seek the loan and the purchase of the building. It could not move forward however if a majority of the five-member board votes to take it to referendum.

If that should occur, it is believed that Supervisor Mike Welch would make the motion. He would need a second to bring it to a vote.

Rep. Paige Kreegel, who represents a part of Lehigh, had written a letter a week before to the ECWCD urging them to take the issue to referendum. His full letter was carried first on The Citizen’s lehighacrescitizen.com website.

The meeting on May 24 has been changed from a regularsly scheduled meeting of May 17. The meetings begin at 6:30 p.m. and are held in the trailers on E. County Lane.

The Special Meeting scheduled for tonight (Monday, April 26) at 6:30 p.m. at the District office has been canceled.