City Council Recognizes Calusa Garden Club

City Councilors may have been anticipating a shortened meeting on Monday evening, but as author Robert Burns once wrote in 1786, “The best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry,” as they struggled to get out of council chambers at what they thought would be a reasonable time.

An important meeting cancellation was brought up by City Attorney Alan Gabriel. It had been announced that attorneys for Marco Club LLC, petitioner and owners of the proposed new restaurant at 1202 Bald Eagle Drive in Old Marco, requested a reopening of the Mediation Process to dispute provisions City Council put on the restaurant’s approval. The requested reopened mediation was scheduled for March 24th, but the petitioner’s attorneys are now requesting more time to prepare, so the March 24th mediation has been canceled. An alternate date has not been announced.

Under Proclamations and Presentations, it was only fitting that on the first day of spring, the Calusa Garden Club was recognized for a long list of accomplishments during their 40 years of existence. That list of civic accomplishments dates back to 1982 when they partnered with Collier County to develop and establish Leigh Plummer Park as a bird sanctuary and arboretum of native Florida trees prior to Marco Island incorporating as a city.

In addition to those early accomplishments, they donated the Blue Star Memorial and maintained a garden at Veterans Park. They also maintain three memorial markers: the Plaque at Leigh Plummer Park, the Pineapple Plantation marker on South Barfield Drive and the Calusa Park Marker on Winterberry Drive. They established and maintain the Butterfly Garden in Calusa Park on Winterberry Drive and an orchid and bromeliad garden at Leigh Plummer Park. They also plant native Florida trees in Leigh Plummer Park for Arbor Days as well as designing and maintaining planters at Marco Town Center Plaza.

With a mission that includes education, the Calusa Garden Club has offered annual public workshops on topics that include gardening, landscaping, floral design, and horticulture. In addition, each year the Club presents two college scholarships to graduating high school seniors.

Council quickly disposed of the Consent Agenda, approving a purchase order for replacing a stormwater pipe on Giralda Court for $85,568 and awarded a contract to Master Pyro Display for the 2023 July 4th Celebration in the amount of $75,000. They also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the American Legion Post 404 regarding the sale of pavers in Veterans Community Park.

A presentation by the City’s Public Works Director, in concert with Lina Ryan of the Hideaway Beach Taxing District and Mohamed Dabees, Ph.D., P.E., of Humiston and Moore Engineers, walked councilors through an update of the Tigertail Lagoon/Sand Dollar Island Ecosystem Restoration Project.

The project began in November of 2022 at a cost of $3.3 million, funded entirely by the Hideaway Beach Residents. No tax dollars from Marco Island are being utilized as a part of this project. 

Hurricane Ian seriously affected the area, and due to the impact on Tigertail Beach Park, the County appropriated an additional $921,000 in Tourist Tax Funding, raising the project’s total cost to $4,221,000. The Coastal Breeze News will be doing an onsite review and bringing an in-depth report in next week’s edition with updated progress photos.

City staff convinced a majority of councilors that it would be prudent to proceed with initial engineering to convert the remaining Racquet Center Courts for Pickleball usage. The final decision will be debated during the 2023-2024 budgeting process.

There was a prolonged two-hour discussion over parking in Old Marco. Next week’s edition of the Coastal Breeze News will cover this ongoing debate and residents’ efforts to save the idyllic small village feel of the area.