A Great Day for Goodland

“It’s a great day for Goodland,” proclaimed Mike Barbush, vice-president of the Goodland Civic Association as he took the dais at the Goodland Drive Rehabilitation Project ribbon cutting ceremony. "No longer will we have to deal with the flooding on the road as we go in and out of our town.”

Barbush’s words captured the celebratory mood Wednesday morning, January 12, under a large white tent in the parking lot across the road from Goodland’s most famous landmark, Stan’s Idle Hour. It was a time to celebrate as a large contingent of residents joined with current and former county commissioners, county leaders, and leaders of the roadbuilding team, to celebrate a $3 million project that was delivered over a month early and almost $300,000 under budget.

You know you have a success on your hands when more than one person calls the project their “baby.”  Such is the case with the Goodland Drive project.

"This is kind of my baby,” said Jay Ahmad, Collier County’s Director of Transportation Engineering, prior to Wednesday’s program. "I’m glad it’s done. And I think the people are going to be happy with it.”

County Commissioner Rick LoCastro overheard Ahmad and couldn’t wait to chime in.

"It’s his baby project,” LoCastro interjected with a big smile, "but it felt like twins. It felt like twins, I’m telling you.”

“It’s his baby, too,” Ahmad agreed, in a nod to LoCastro. "A lot of people in this town feel it’s their baby project, too. This will serve the community for many, many years to come. The idea is not to flood from a normal high tide. From a major storm you can understand because everybody’s going to have water. But this roadway used to flood on a normal afternoon high tide. That’s not supposed to happen. It shouldn’t flood on a high tide for many, many years to come - well beyond our lifetimes, hopefully.”

Setting the tone for the celebration was the Gulf Coast Charter Academy South Singers, under the direction of music teacher Sarah Badger. One of the young singers said the best part of their singing appearance was getting some time off of school. Another said it was “being famous.” The United States Coast Guard’s Dylan Lambert and Jonathan Martinez presented the colors.

During the program, emceed by Deputy County Manager Amy Patterson, Ahmad gave a project overview to the standing room only crowd gathered under and around the tent. Ahmad was quick to praise the citizens of Goodland - a theme that would be carried out throughout the program.

“I got to see and got to know a lot of the folks on Goodland,” Ahmad stated. "And I want to thank you all for the hospitality that you offered me and all of the workers during construction. We are actually here on Stan’s property. Initially (Steve Gober) was very concerned about how this roadway was going to affect his business. And how it might be a detriment to the community and how we were going to get in and out of every phase. I think we are very pleased with Thomas Marine and how we maintained traffic.”

After the program, Gober hosted a party at Stan’s, where he provided free food for all takers. But Ahmad is right - Gober was not on board with the project at the beginning. Steve Gober is the son of the late Stan Gober, who owned and operated Stan’s for many years. Steve is a 53-year resident of Goodland. He’s run the show at Stan’s since 1997.

“In the beginning, I was very skeptical,” Gober said. "I actually disagreed with doing the road. Because I didn’t believe it when they came to me with this. I was like, ‘Why are we doing this, you know. Why don’t we just pave over what we’ve got and leave it alone. That kind of attitude. I was wrong. The county was right. It’s much better.”

Gober now talks about the project with zeal.

“Once it got going,” Gober said, "and they started doing the road, to me, it’s the single best project that’s ever been done in Goodland, in my opinion. Ever. For all of our businesses and for the residents of Goodland. They fixed the front out here. They made more rooms for the cabs to pull up without being on the road. That’s something that nobody talks about, but it’s a really big thing. Before, when they pulled up to let people out, they were in the road. It created a log jam. Now the road is wider, bigger trucks can get in. Boats going to Walker Marine can get in better. The whole thing is just a blessing for Goodland. I’m really, really, really surprised.

"It’s a win-win for all of these businesses,” Gober continued. "And especially the residents of Goodland. I came through that road many times and got saltwater all over the car. It was not a good thing. You could get trapped out here. You won’t have that anymore. I’d say don’t stay here during a hurricane, still, but as far as the road flooding three or four times a month, you’re not going to see that anymore. I think we might still get water on the road if there’s a super, super bad storm. But as far as a high tide, a spring high tide, a full moon high tide, or even a spring high tide and a full moon tide at the same time - and it’s raining - you’re not going to see the road flood anymore. Before, the road would have flooded. That was hurting people for getting in and out of Goodland, of course, but how many people turned around when they saw the road flooded when they were coming for lunch? I don’t know, but I’d be willing to bet there were a lot of people who said, ‘I’m not driving my car down that road.’ Or not even come in the first place because they think it’s going to be flooded every day. So that’s going to change."

Ahmad studied the road long before construction began. He gave the audience an inside glimpse of the project.

“This project is really a simple idea,” Ahmad said. "This roadway flooded during an afternoon high tide. I witnessed it through many, many events. The idea here is how we elevate it to a certain degree - to a certain elevation - and not impact the environment. There is a pristine environment on both sides. A bay on one side and mangroves surround it. So, what we had done through our designers was to elevate the roadway through culverts, almost bridges, under the roadway. There are two major crossings you will see as you drive down Goodland Drive. From one of them you can actually see the bay. We removed some of the trees. The idea is that we build these 42-inch culvert pipes, five of them at two locations, and the sea water moves from one side to the other. This way we’re not killing the mangroves on one side and we keep the water off of the roadway and flowing under the roadway. That’s really the concept. Two lanes as existed before. The roadway was elevated in some areas by more than two feet. Twenty-four inches of asphalt. Over 13,000 tons of asphalt was laid on this roadway. It is probably the strongest roadway that you’ll ever see in Collier County. Usually, we pave a roadway with an inch and a half or two inches. This has 24 inches in some areas. Thomas Marine was the low bidder. Commissioner LoCastro asked me how I worked with Thomas Marine in the past. I replied that they were probably the best firm that I’ve worked with throughout my career in Collier County. They brought in the project almost $300,000 under budget. We pay for items installed, not by a lump sum. The items installed were under budget. Minimal change orders. Frankly, it was open to traffic fully a month-to a month-and-a-half ahead of schedule.”

Keith Laakkonen, director of Rookery Bay Research Reserve, followed Ahmad. Laakkonen is intimately involved in the upcoming Fruit Farm Mangrove Restoration project, which celebrated its groundbreaking over the summer. The Fruit Farm project is located on the south side of San Marco Road, across the road from the Stevens Landing condominium complex. The mangroves continue east to Goodland Drive.

 “This is a real thrilling day to be here,” Laakkonen said. "Rookery Bay Research Reserve and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection are thrilled to have worked with the county so closely on this project. This project is really about resilience. It’s really about raising this road and making it safer for folks to get in and out. But as Jay mentioned, it’s also about restoring the tidal flow into these mangroves in this area. If you’ve driven down to Marco, you can see that these mangroves are in real trouble. So, helping restore the flow in this area is going to be very important to these mangrove estuaries that are so critical for our ecosystem and for our economy. Our fish, our birds, all these ecosystem services - including flood protection - come from these areas. We’re just so thrilled to have this project here. This, along with the Fruit Farm Creek project that you will see happening coming up in the next few months, is really going to help improve the mangrove ecosystem here. I bring my boat out here to go fishing out of Goodland - I’m happy not to be driving through puddles myself. I’m happy to see the mangrove system is going to be able to sustain over time. I commend the county for building resilience into this project from the very beginning. And it’s really going to benefit the research reserve and the citizens of Goodland and Collier County.”

When LoCastro took the dais, he wasted no time in deferring to former commissioner Donna Fiala, who served District One for 20 years before retiring last year.

"Before I say anything,” LoCastro began, "it would be inappropriate if I started talking and we didn’t start at the top. This was an 11-year project. This is a total team effort. So, let’s look at this like a football team. The players are great. The workers, the engineers and what not. But it starts with the owner, it starts with the general manager, and she’s sitting right here. Donna Fiala.”

The largest applause of the morning came when LoCastro honored Fiala.

"I’m honored to be following in Donna’s footsteps - which is really an impossibility,” LoCastro told the audience. "A lot of times people don’t see the behind-the-scenes stuff. I’m not saying it’s easy to raise a road and get all these trucks out here and do all of the engineering type of things. But it’s the stuff, sometimes, that you don’t see. Donna’s the person you should really hear from. Commissioner Fiala, ma’am, the podium is yours.”

Fiala was visibly moved by LoCastro’s introduction. LoCastro even adjusted the microphone to accommodate Fiala’s petite size.

"I’m thankful that they invited me to be part of this,” Fiala said in her typical unpretentious way, thanking everyone involved in making the project happen. “This project was a very big part of my life. I’d never known anything about Goodland, except that it was a fun place to go. Then we started on this project. We have people like Jay Ahmad; he took a hold of this thing like a dynamo. And he kept moving it, moving it, moving it. And it was not easy, believe me, to move it. But he did it. He got the best team together. So, when I left the county about a year ago, there was a new person to take my place. And thank heavens it was Rick because he kept right on pushing that thing. And wouldn’t let it go until it was done. We needed that person to push it. You can’t just do it by yourself, ever. There’s been many obstacles we had to overcome. Those who live here, they know the obstacles. I just want to thank the great team we have in Collier County, and the transportation department. And the great commissioner you have taking over that made this happen. I hated to leave when I hadn’t finished the job yet. But you have to go sometime. He took right over. And by the way, the Goodlanders really like him, too. And that’s a good thing. Thanks for allowing me to come and talk to you.

Following the program, Fiala spoke of the Goodland residents fondly.

"These people are the salt of the earth people,” Fiala said. "They’re down to earth and they’re real. It was one of the greatest pleasures I had to work with the people of Goodland. I really feel that way.”

LoCastro followed Fiala and told of how the project unfolded.

"I want to give a shout out to Jay Ahmad,” LoCastro said. "Using the sports analogy, he was the most valuable player on this project. I could name others. But he definitely was. Whenever I would call last minute and say, ’The Goodland Civic Association is going to have a meeting. Let’s not just send them an email. Let’s go there.’ Jay was just like, ‘When do you need me there?’ We'd show up in person and answer all their questions. We are the first people to get there and the last people to leave. And a lot of times we’d meet out front, 30 minutes prior to the meeting, and just talk. And he brought Thomas Marine, who I just have to say, the key is picking a capable contractor. Whether you’re painting your house or power washing your driveway. How often do you shop around? That’s the same thing we need to do at the county to get our best bang for the buck. There was so much going on with this road that just a small amount of people know about. We would be out here at 2:00 AM and Thomas Marine would say, ‘You know what? We’re going to have a full cadre of workers out here at oh dark thirty and get ahead of schedule and get some things done. At no additional cost. We want to be good stewards of the county.'  That’s what we look for in a contractor. They really did put their money where their mouth is. I also want to thank the residents of Goodland. You gave us such good input. And your patience. We promised you this wouldn’t be a mess, and cars wouldn’t be backed up for an hour. That we knew how to do it, but you have to have some patience. My mantra is all contracts on time and on budget—or better. I love this little fishing village. Tell me where you hear of this anywhere. I actually would come here on my Harley, hang out and talk to the workers from Thomas Marine. We would hear from the workers, ‘Wow, the citizens are amazing. They actually stop and say, Hey, here’s a banana. Can I give you a bottle of water?’ Where else are you going to have that? I get emails all the time complaining. Here we had citizens going out, saying to the workers, ‘How can we help you?’”

Barbush put a bow on the celebration.

"Goodlanders should be proud of everybody who was involved with this project,” Barbush said, "God bless Goodland.”