Fight looms over proposed bill, impact to Lehigh

By Staff | Mar 25, 2015

Rep. Matt Caldwell

A battle is looming between the Community Council of Lehigh Acres and State Rep. Matt Caldwell over a bill Caldwell has introduced in the House that would dissolve the East County Water Control District (ECWCD) and establish a new name and role for that agency.

HB 1255 was introduced by Caldwell in early March and there has been public hearings regarding the bill.

Caldwell’s bill would bring about legislation that would help bring some of the local municipal services under one district and would provide the opportunity for these services to be locally governed. Some may say it gives Lehigh Acres the ability of more home rule since the community is unincorporated.

Caldwell was not asked by the ECWCD for the bill, according to Ken Thompson, a vice chairman of the board.

Caldwell’s proposal calls for changing East County Water Control District (ECWCD) to the Lehigh Acres Municipal Services Improvement District (LAMSID).

Mohamed Yasin

Caldwell says with this change, ECWCD would maintain its current powers and would be provided with a protocol to add further governing powers – sidewalks, streetlights, community planning, community signage and water and sewer services. The district would not be able to exercise its powers in these additional areas without prior approval from the Lee County Board of County Commissioners.

However, 41 members of the Community Council of Lehigh Acres on March 17 at its monthly meeting, voted unanimously to reject the legislation and have called on others to reject it, too. The community council board also has sent letters to the governor, the State House of Representatives, the State Senate, the Lee County Commission, the five members of the ECWCD, and at least three state committees to reject the bill before it would come to a vote.

Rick Anglickis, a member of the community council and Mohamed Yasin, its president, told members of the local council that the bill gives power to the new group formed from the ECWCD, rather than to the community council, which claims to be the representatives of the residents of Lehigh and the liaison with the Lee County Council and locally elected state officials.

In essence, the new special district, if approved in committees and if it works its way to the governor’s desk and is allowed to become law, would give legal and local control over several items, also including sewer and local planning powers.

Nathan Stout, chairman of the ECWCD, told The Citizen the Community Council of Lehigh Acres is opposed to the legislation because “they feel the legislation has misrepresentations, assumptions, flaws and a duplication of services.”

“They also think the bill would be damaging to their ongoing incorporation effort,” Stout said.

“Neither of these representations is true as the legislation does not contain misrepresentations and has nothing to do with incorporation.”

Stout noted that the ECWCD is a special district of the State of Florida operating according to state statutes and was formed in 1958. ECWCD commissioners are elected by registered voters within the district boundaries of Lehigh.

“Rep. Caldwell’s bill is designed to localize the decision making process for certain municipal services within ECWCD boundaries. There will be no duplication of services. The transfer of services will only occur by written agreement between Lee County and the newly formed Lehigh Acres Municipal Services Improvement District (LAMSID) and approval of the community. Currently there are community groups and committees that advise Lee County, but the final decision is made by Lee County,” Stout said.

He noted the proposed changes would allow the independent nonpartisan governmental entity of the proposed LAMSID to make the final decisions representing the citizens of Lehigh Acres. Members of the dissolved ECWCD would serve on the new LAMSID.

Stout is so convinced that the bill is good for Lehigh that he suggests citizens contact Rep. Caldwell or himself or the present ECWCD to get the facts. He can be contacted by calling 239-369-5877. The number for the ECWCD is 239-368-0044.

Caldwell, who has been in Tallahassee during the opening of the session, was asked by The Citizen to respond to the charges made by the Community Council.

He said he was disappointed in the actions taken by the Community Council.

” as a result of the clearly open process that engaged the community for their input and in which your organization (the Community Council) declined to involve themselves on multiple occasions, as well as the statements of facts provided herein, I can only view this resolution as an unserious and ill-thought out statement and would strongly recommend your reconsideration of said resolution, Caldwell said.

His complete response can be found on Page 5 in today’s Citizen.

Rick Anglickis, a past president of the Community Council, told members of his group that it was “all about politics.” He said that Caldwell’s bill was designed to take away the authority of the Community Council.

There are two special districts in Lehigh the ECWCD (proposed to become the LAMSID), and the Lehigh Acres Fire and Rescue District, whose board members are voted into office by the voters of Lehigh. The Community Council brings members on board with a vote of interested people in the community, but that vote is not sanctioned through the Board of Election Supervisors. Formed in 1968, the board contains 41 members of the community who come from various backgrounds. They also listen to citizens’ complaints about issues in Lehigh and they pass on information representing the people of Lehigh to the Lee County Commission.

In the resolution that was passed unanimously by the council, it urged that the council recommend that the members of the Florida House of Representatives and Senate vote “no” on HB 1255 and that the governor veto any such legislation that may pass, and that the Lee County commissioners not grant any powers that may be provided by the passage of the bill. It was signed March 16 by Mohamed Yasin, president and Melinda Lynch, secretary of the Community Council of Lehigh Acres.

In an attractive four page flyer put out by the East County Water Control District, the proposed legislation changes are explained further.

It is available at the ECWCD office on East County Lane, just off Lee Blvd., not far from Williams Ave.

In the letter to state officials, Anglickis also directed that the letter of protest be sent to the chairman and members of the Governmental Affairs Subcommittee, the Finance and Tax Subcommittee, and to the chairman and members of the local and Federal Affairs Committee.

“These three committees have scheduled hearings on this bill and will either support or reject the bill before it will come to vote,” Anglickis said.

In the response requested by The Lehigh Acres Citizen from Caldwell, he said he was “firstly disappointed to have received a copy of the resolution not from your organization, (the Community Council) but rather from a private citizen from our community. This resolution comes as a complete surprise and without warning. Before delving into the substance of the bill, I believe it prudent to review the steps taken to date to offer opportunities for public input and your organization’s interaction with these opportunities, or lack thereof.”

He also said: “In ensuring that ample public input was received in regard to these proposals, a public hearing was held in December, a meeting which your organization was specifically and personally invited to attend at my behest.

“To my recollection, only a small handful of your members availed themselves of this opportunity.”

: Mohamed Yasin