| By Linda
Fudala-Tucker
Lee
County Commissioners, following an extensive presentation
Monday, decided to hold a public hearing on the Gasparilla
Island iguana issue on March 14, 5 p.m. in the commission
chambers in Fort Myers.
The commissioners will decide then whether or
not to set up a special tax that will be part of the Boca Grande
Lighting District taxing unit to eradicate or control the island
population of the Mexican spiney tail estimated to be about
10,000.
Commissioner Bob Janes told the Boca Banner
that he "wants to do what the community wants"
regarding the issue. "I'm trying to expedite the solution
and we need to start |
somewhere." By putting in
place a tax to fund the eradication or whatever the community
wants, the process of dealing with the problem can begin as soon
as early summer, said Janes. "We don't have to wait until
the taxes are collected. The county is always willing to help
out in a situation like this."
Janes said that state funding and help from
Charlotte County would be pursued. "Once we know what level
of service the community wants, we can set up a budget to fund
it. If say, they only wanted a consultant to answer phones at a
cost of $50,000, the bill on a tax-valued home of $1 million
would be $36.70. If the budget was established at $200,000 a
year for |
total eradication, the bill would be
$146."
Once a budget is established, a bidding
process for a vendor to do the job would be the likely course of
action, he said.
The problem is unique to Gasparilla Island,
said Janes, who added that taxpayers in Lehigh Acres would not
want to fund an iguana problem in Boca Grande. "This would
be something outside the core services the county
provides." |
