East County Water Control District David Lindsay told members of the board of commissioners that architects Owen, Ames & Kimball of Fort Myers, are working to slightly “shrink” the size of the proposed administrative building that is planned on ECWCD property on East County Lane.

The plan was for a 6,900 square foot building, Lindsay said at last week’s regular meeting. The architects are going to “shrink” it down to 6,500 feet, he said.

He said the architects will bring drawings of the proposed building to the next meeting in June for approval by the board.

Brenda Fallon, ECWCD’s comptroller, explained that the authorization to terminate the sale and purchase agreement for 615 Williams Ave. will be processed with commissioners noting that he agreement with a receiver would have to be amended to allow them to continue leasing the building at 615 Williams Ave. until the construction, which is yet to start, on the new administration building on the ECWCD sit e on East County Lane. The cost of the building is not to exceed $850,000, according to a vote in April by the board of commissioners.

Fallon also explained that the financial advisory committee of the ECWCD had met and was scheduled to meet later last week with the mission to choose an auditor. Each member of the committee was given proposals from auditors and each committee member was to rate the auditor and come back with their choices with one being chosen and recommended to the ECWCD board.

Those members on the board include Frank Lohlein, Damon Shelor, Terry Busson and John Boardman. Both Shelor and Board have served on the water district control board. Lohlein heads a group called CAIT or Citizens Against Increased Taxes and Busson, who was elected chairman, is a professor of public administration at Florida Gulf Coast University.

Fallon also explained a matter that had come up by one of the advisory committee members through emails. She explained that the committee’s chairman should request information in emails or contacts with the ECWCD.

She said she would then distribute the information to each of the committee members. There had been some misunderstanding how individual members of the committee could obtain financial information from the ECWCD.

She said the information that is available is there for anyone in the public to view, but the staff is not able to prepare analyses of economic matters.

The meeting was one of the shorter meetings held at the ECWCD’s new meeting site, a small building next to the Eagles club building site, two doors from where the ECWCD is now leasing one-half of the building on Williams Ave.

At the end of the meeting when the public may speak concerning anything to do with the East County Water Control District, a Lehigh woman began making personal attacks on one of the members.

The board’s attorney made it clear that comments could only be made if it had something to with the ECWCD.

Members of the public can also speak at the beginning of a meeting on any item on the agenda for three minutes and then at the end, again for three minutes, on anything to do with the operations of the East County Water Control District.