Commissioners Judah and Bigelow supported Pine Island big time at the Ceitus Boat Lift/Barrier meeting on 6/7/2010. The county staff supports the Cape Coral proposal to neither replace the barrier nor do anything meaningful about the siltation, pollution, and excess fresh water flows from the North Cape into Matlacha Pass. The vote on the staff position will be at the regular weekly commissioner meeting Tuesday, 15 June at 9:30 a.m.in the Old Lee County Courthouse Chambers, 2120 Main St., Ft Myers, FL  33901. I will be there, and I think the people most affected by this (Matlacha) should try to be there as well. If you attend, fill out the request-to-speak form at the entrance, and you will be given 3 minutes to say whatever you like (if it's relevant and polite, of course). Because of the death of Commissioner Janes (who would have supported us), there are only 4 votes on the item. We already have 2 of the 4 votes promised to us, so the worst that can happen to us is that the commissioners have a tie vote, which means that the item (approving the Cape Coral Proposal) does not pass. If either Commissioner Hall or Mann votes with us, the vote is to put the barrier back and we win.

By: Phil Buchanan