News-Press from Fort Myers, Florida • Page 17

EH 3L(Q) Lucky three Lotto winners claim prizes 6B Almanac 4B Deaths 5B O) NEWS-PRESS WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 1989 Water usage in Bonita Springs drops barely ual water use is dropping, said Fred Partin, superintendent of the utility. "The difference in the flow is not very great," Partin said. "But you have to look further to see if people are conserving. You have to look at the individual households." The utility, which serves 11,500 homes and businesses, averaged 2.27 million gallons of water daily before Jan. 16, when severe water restrictions were imposed in Bonita Springs, he said.

Since the tougher restrictions were imposed, water flow dropped an By JENNIFER BECKNELL News-Press Staff Writer Water usage by the Bonita Springs Water System has dipped just 2 percent since severe restrictions were imposed last week but officials said that doesn't mean residents aren't conserving. The arrival of tourists and seasonal residents who use water, and the flushing of new water lines, make it difficult to tell if individ average of about 55,000 gallons daily, Partin said. Not all of that water is used by consumers, he said. Some is used to flush new water lines under construction and to test fire hydrants, and some is lost in leaks, he said. Partin said in the past, water usage usually drops 10 to 15 percent when restrictions are imposed.

However, he said past restrictions usually were imposed near the end of the winter tourist season, when people are leaving the area. A 30 percent drop in normal water use for the Bonita Springs area is the goal of the South Florida Water Management District, which imposes restrictions, said John Morgan, director of the Fort Myers office. "But I wouldn't be negative about getting 2 percent," he said. "They have come down. We'd like to see more." Morgan said the 30 percent reduction goal includes agricultural use, te Bonita Bay development, private wells, and mobile home parks that have separate systems.

"When you average them all out, you might see 30 percent," he said. Fixing 'Charlotte' WEVU, storks batSSe to ok aw on tower issue hi i I a Illil "miW "rat, frVf jf jf v-- THOMAS A. PRICENews-Press J8E WORKMAN Future turtles could be buried in bureaucracy The commotion didn't bother the big fellow. His visage was frozen into a half-grin, as if he was amused at the attention created by his presence. He just lay there, belly-down in the sand while tourists gawked.

Some of them got close enough to touch him. The more curious kids poked at him with sticks. But most just shot quick glances and kept walking, careful to stay out of smelling range. Landlords wanted him taken away. Bad for business, you know.

But having expired, the old loggerhead turtle was oblivious to the stir he had caused by making the tourist-tracked Fort Myers beachfront his final resting place. He had settled in the path of scores of our winter economy's northern boosters, who prefer to look at turtles in a soup bowl. He hadn't become intolerably offensive yet, but the hot sun and time soon would take care of that. The removal of the unwelcome cadaver had the wheels of government locked in a jurisdictional standstill. THE FORT MYERS Police Department claimed no responsibility.

He was far past the city limits. The Lee County Sheriff's Department said he hadn't broken any laws. The state Department of Natural Resources was interested in what might have caused his demise. Beyond that, he was on his own. The Florida Marine Patrol couldn't get at the problem.

It was beached. They were in the water. The county transportation directorstated his position succinctly: "Is it on a road?" It was not. After some publicity and a couple of days of official head scratching, a somewhat less-indecisive individual spirited the loggerhead away, presumably to preserve the shell. Although the anonymous person no doubt thought he had performed a good deed, he was advised to return the turtle.

Possessing its shell, even after its owner clearly is through with it, is illegal. It would be better to bury the turtle shell and all, he was told. At last word the loggerhead and the Good Samaritan were still at large. UNLESS TURTLES DISCOVER a secret to immortality, the incident will be repeated. And the aroma of departed loggerhead does little to enhance the enchantment of expensive beachfront lodging.

Obviously the bureaucratic view is that dead turtle removal is no small undertaking, certainly no pickup truck and shovel operation. The next time they are confronted with a similar incident, our public servants should not be stricken with paralysis. A typical government approach would be the establishment of a county Department of Turtle Affairs. Then if an inconsiderate loggerhead decides to lay down his earthly burden under the noses of our winter visitors, the matter will be settled the courthouse way. The Department of Turtle Affairs no doubt will need a director, assistant director, a squad of deputies, secretaries, computer operators and an attorney.

When a turtle is sighted, the department will send out a field crew to establish whether the deceased is resting on federal, state, county or private property. Then it will be necessary to draw up specifications and advertise for bids from turtle eviction contractors. Bidders, of course, will be required to be licensed and bonded. Before the creature can be moved, the department will need to contract for an environmental impact study. This will require a series of public hearings to get the views of motel owners, beach concession operators, chambers of commerce, environmentalists and property owners within 1 00 feet of the route for transporting the turtle to its place of interment.

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT will be ordered for turtle handling because guidelines will prohibit employees or contract workers from lifting more than 40 pounds. The new department will pay consultants hundreds of thousands of dollars to study a proper turtle disposal site. The site purchase will require more legal advertisements, public hearings and negotiations before the landowner accepts the county's of fer of millions of dollars for a piece of scrub and swamp land. Preparations to protect water, vegetation, snakes and raccoons will run hundreds of thousands more. And surely a beach patrol will be formed to make certain somebody who likes shells and thinks he's helping out doesn't snatch a dead turtle before government sets its machine into motion.

Guys like that just get in the way of progress. Joe Workman's column appears Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuarv IMMOKALEE Ue County WEVU-TV tower Collier County Sanctuary, the plan approved by the governor and Cabinet states. Then, for the next five years, station officials are to watch to assure woodstorks aren't being killed by slamming into or becoming entangled in the tower or its guy wires. If more than five woodstorks are-killed in one year, station officials must take steps to try to stop the killings, the governor and Cabinet said.

Failure to act could result in a legal battle, the approved order states. See WEVU, page 2B North Captiva tribe used the island for religious ceremonies, said Mike Hansinger, the state museum's local field representative. Additional exploration may help unlock the mysteries of the tribe that ruled most of South Florida from Lee County to Cape Canaveral to Key West some 2,000 years ago, he said. While state officials will help decide what will be done with the island once the sale is officially consummated, Hansinger said the See ISLAND, page2B Tearful family accepts tribute for Langston Gannett Newsservice TALLAHASSEE The family of Norman E. Langston tearfully accepted a resolution Tuesday from Gov.

Bob Martinez and the Cabinet honoring the slain Charlotte County prosecutor for his "unselfish acts, honor, courage and service." "You don't know what this means to us," said Langston's brother, Richard, after Martinez read the resolution. "It makes us feel very good," Langston's mother, Belva, said as she wiped tears from her eyes following the brief ceremony. "We felt like he deserved it, but sometimes what we think should happen doesn't." It's been five months since Aug. 17, when Belva Langston's youngest son was abducted as he and another prosecutor left a tavern in Punta Gorda. Langston, 27, and fellow prosecutor Kathleen Finnegan were taken to an isolated field south of Punta Gorda and gunned down.

Finnegan, who was present at Tuesday's ceremony, still bears the scars of the attack. She suffered bullet wounds in both arms and wears a soft cast and brace on her right arm. rail! i mil BOKEELIA CAYO COSTA 'CCY vS) PINE ISLAND I Usoppa Island Part (Y ft lsland Cabbage (7 Key I JOSSLYN YU ISLAND Big Panther Key 3 By JANE MUSGRAVE Gannett News Service TALLAHASSEE The battle of the woodstork that for two years prevented WEVU-T from erecting a transmission tower in south Lee County was ended Tuesday by Gov. Bob Martinez and the Florida Cabinet. To the satisfaction of most concerned, Martinez and the Cabinet approved the television station's long-sought permit to erect a tower to expand its coverage area and better compete against other local television stations.

But before doing so, the governor and Cabinet ordered the Bonita Springs-based station to take steps to assure the planned tower doesn't contribute to the deaths of endangered woodstorks. The tower is in a flight path frequently used by the birds, environmentalists say. By Feb. 8, the station is to submit a plan to the state detailing how it intends to monitor the effects the tower has on the birds which frequent the nearby Corkscrew Swamp Cabinet OKs buying island By JANE MUSGRAVE Gannett News Service TALLAHASSEE To the delight of local archaeology buffs, Gov. Bob Martinez and the Florida Cabinet agreed Tuesday to pay $144,000 for an island in Pine Island Sound that was inhabited by Calusa Indians thousands of years ago.

The action, which came without discussion, ended more than 10 years of efforts by a Pine Island man to persuade the state to buy 9.3-acre Josslyn Island so it could be protected. "I'm pleased it's finally over," said Donald Randell, the Pine Island man who bought the land in the early 1970s with the intention of developing it. However, after visiting the island, dotted with Indian mounds and flat-topped pyramids, he scrapped his development plans. "I just wanted it preserved," he said. He already has spent some $20,000 so researchers at the Florida Museum of Natural History could explore it.

The digs, supported also by the sweat of members of the Southwest Florida Archaeological Society, turned up various treasures that indicate the fees are the only way to keep up." Several council members also said the city's present impact fees for water pale in comparison with those charged by Lee County and other cities within the county. There is no expected increase in sewer impact fees. City consultants recommended these remain at their current rate, set in 1984, of $1,016 because there are no major sewage treatment improvement projects planned that result from growth. At the urging of Councilwoman Ann Knight, the council agreed to consider waiving or reducing the water impact fee for some, such as low-income families. in fraud case No matter what Lawrence pleads to.

Shearer said, the 30-month sentence won't change. Shearer said Lawrence is broke, so he won't be able to make any restitution payments if the court orders him to. Lawrence brought hundreds of investors some from Southwest Florida and others from as far away as the Bahamas and Canada, into his scheme. Among those investors were State Attorney Joseph D'Alessandro's mother and state appellate Judge Thomas Barkdull. Offices built by Lawrence included Minor's Corner Office Park on Kelly Road in south Lee County, and the Twin Oaks office buildingon Evans Avenue in Fort Myers.

Second-grader Kimberley Gloster, 8, daughter of Barbara Poole of Fort Myers, adjusts Charlotte the spider in her web while classmate Shaun Elkins, 7, son of Sheila Elkins of Fort Myers, watches. The display of characters from E.B. White's classic children's novel "Charlotte's Web" was set up Tuesday by teachers and students at Tice Elementary School to bolster interest in the Young Authors Conference to be held this spring at the University of South Florida. turn up water impact fee City ready to By LOUISE HENIGMAN News-Press Staff Writer The cost to own a new Fort Myers home soon could increase by $1,000, compliments of the Fort Myers City Council. A proposed 160 percent increase in the one-time water impact fee which must be paid for each new residential dwelling within Fort Myers is scheduled to be considered by the council at its Jan.

30 meeting. The council discussed the proposed increase during a workshop session Tuesday night. If approved, the present $616 water im Businessman plans guilty plea pact fee will skyrocket to $1,616, city rate consultant Michael E. Burton said. The increase is needed to help finance a $17 million water treatment plant which will replace the current plant.

Construction of the new plant is expected to be completed in about a year. Impact fees can only be used to recover the cost of new facilities which are required because of growth. They weren't always as popular as they now appear to be with council members. "When impact fees first came up in 1984, the council was very reluctant to pass them," Councilman Bruce Grady said. "But with this burst of growth in the last five years, impact of violating Florida's anti-racketeering laws known as Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).

The RICO charge is a first-degree felony. The other charges are third-degree felonies. The indictment charged Lawrence and his partner Kenneth Rager, also of Fort Myers, with comingling 25 separate limited partnerships. It alleges that they used the funds from one account to pay the expenses of another. Rager's case is pending.

Fort Myers attorney John Shearer, who was court-appointed to represent Lawrence, said Lawrence likely will plead to the racketeering charge. However, Shearer said, there is a possibility he could plead to the grand theft or security fraud charges instead. By WILLIAM SABO News-Press Staff Writer A Fort Myers businessman, accused of bilking dozens of investors in a series of office building construction projects in 1985 and 1986, is scheduled to plead guilty in Lee Circuit Court today. Lloyd Lawrence, 41, of Fort Myers, is expected to receive 30 months in prison in return for his plea. Had Lawrence gone to trial and been convicted on all 55 counts against him, he could have faced between 27 and 40 years behind bars.

Lawrence was indicted by a statewide grand jury in May on 27 counts of securities fraud, 27 counts of grand theft and one count.