Marco Island City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to postpone the first vote of an amendment to the city s sea turtle ordinance that would have increased fines up to $5,000.
Maria Lamb, chairwoman of the coastal resources committee, said she opposes the proposed amendment because either version of the ordinance will fail if council does not assign adequate resources to enforce them.
Lamb said the city should first measure the wavelength of artificial lights along the coastline using a spectrometer it bought last year and use the data collected as evidence at code enforcement hearings.
Artificial light that shines on the beach at night can disrupt sea turtles from nesting and cause hatchlings to not be able to find their way to the Gulf of Mexico.
Marco Island City Council unanimously passed a motion Monday in support of a dredging and restoration plan for Tigertail lagoon to improve tidal flow and protect its ecosystem.
Marco Island City Council unanimously passed a motion Monday in support of a dredging and restoration plan for Tigertail lagoon to improve tidal flow and protect its ecosystem.
The motion also instructed city staff to work with Collier County, owner of the Tigertail Beach Park, to move the project forward.
Councilor Erik Brechnitz said the county could
use tourist tax dollars, a 5% charge on hotel and other short-term rental stays, to fund the project. It is the county s responsibility to maintain this and to keep it as a tourist development attraction, Brechnitz said.
A 2018 study by Humiston & Moore Engineers and other firms concluded tidal exchange at Tigertail has decreased since 2003, endangering its ecosystem.
NCH, the current owner of the parcel, would subsequently sell five of its 10 acres to finance the construction of a new health facility building, replacing the existing one, Chancey said. NCH would renovate the building next door that houses medical offices. The only net new building will be the assisted living facility because the urgent care will be a replacement of an existing building, Chancey said.
NCH would sell more than three of the remaining five acres to Marco Island Senior Living LLC, leaving the rest for the construction of a park, as stated in the report. Proceeds of the land sale would stay on Marco Island to be used to help fund the construction of a proposed new urgent care center pending NCH Board approval, Shawn McConnell, director of marketing and communications with NCH, wrote in an email Wednesday.