News-Press from Fort Myers, Florida • Page 49

Columnists write Spring Creek, Imperial Bonita featured 5E Obituary 2E Crime scene 4E NEWS-PRESS WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1989 Mair bit by watteor.irfflMoimllim By DENES HUSTY News-Press Staff Writer CLOSE UP BUNNIE NICHOLS Florida Water Management District. Commissioner Richard Shanahan, who represents Marco Island, said the problem has to be nipped in the bud before the height of the island's tourist season in February and March. "We're asking citizens to report alleged violators (of the restrictions). It's a real emergency," Shanahan said. The commissioners swiftly adopted the restrictions in a 5-0 vote.

First-time water-restriction violators face fines of $25. Second-time violators face fines of up to $500 and as much as two months injail. The sheriff's office won't start issuing tickets until Nov. 20 to give people time to adjust to the restrictions, said sheriffs Lt. Mike Koors.

Homeowners will be given one warning, Koors said. If they are caught again, they will be cited, he said. A person who receives a second citation must appear in court to answer to the charge, Koors said. Customers of Marco Island Utilities, said manager Dave Denny, have been using water in record quantities, causing the need for mandatory restrictions. "Last Friday, our customers used 7.8 million gallons of water, which was 100,000 gallons more than our peak in February and March of this year," when demand is traditionally the greatest, Denny said.

The heavy use, he said, can be attributed to increased lawn irrigation due to lack of rainfall, and population increases. The increased demand, Denny said, puts strain on the water system. He said water pressure to homes was extremely low during hours when people were getting ready for work because people were watering their lawnsat the same time. To correct the situation, Denny said the county commission was asked to adopt emer- See RATIONING, page 2E Because of a record demand that is straining the local utility, Collier County commissioners on Tuesday adopted emergency water-use restrictions for Marco Island. The lawn irrigation cutbacks went into effect immediately.

Marco Island thus became the first area in Southwest Florida to come under mandatory water restrictions. North Naples and Bonita Springs were put under voluntary water restrictions last week by the South mm, 'ft i. Dudley says OK to compromise for Pelican Bay Other Collier Commission news 4E By DENES HUSTY News-Press Staff Writer 1-1 .1 I I 111 III I Rumor mill says: Rolling Stones coming to town The Rolling Stones are supposedly going to gather some moss in Naples this week, but it's hard to pin down the slippery rumor. The rumor mill is just about to break down under the strain of all the grist about rock 'n' roll's original bad boys resting at the Ritz-Carlton between concerts in Miami and Tampa. As usual, the Ritz-Carlton staff will neither confirm nor deny the rumor.

Ditto for the group's New York public relations firm, Rogers and Cowan. Off-the-record confirmation, however, is another matter. I was told by one of the most knowledgeable Rolling Stones sources in Naples that the group will be here sometime this week. The area's other knowledgeable Stones source Eric Easton of Naples says all the "Ritz talk is just to throw the press off the scent." Easton, a former London resident, managed the bad boys from 1963 to 1966 and staged their first American invasion. "They're really staying in Immokalee," he said, tongue-in-cheek.

On the serious side, Easton said the hectic life of managing the group did him in. "But the Rolling Stones are by far one of the most professional and talented acts in the business," he said. "They've never missed one enagagement or given a short show. They moan, but they always do their job and they always give their best. They could never be duplicated." Easton said the group was built on a controversial, anti-establishment image.

"But none of them were ever prima donnas even when they became superstars," he said. Is Easton, who's now 61 and the proud owner of Easton's Music Center in Naples, going to stage a rockin' reunion during the Rolling Stones concert tonight in Miami? "No, I'm too old for that," said Easton, who also discovered and managed the Dave Clark Five. "I'm going to take my mother-in-law to hear Barry Manilow in Fort Myers." Sure you are. Distinct diamond Henry Grimes, owner of Henricks Jewelers in the Center of Bonita Springs, was just notified that a pair of three-dimensional diamond earrings he designed has been selected for DeBeer's 1990 Diamonds of Distinction Collection. I State Sen.

Fred Dudley said Tuesday he will go along with a compromise that Collier County has struck with the Pelican Bay Improvement District Board concerning a utilities dispute. Because of the deal hashed out during the past week, Dudley said he will not introduce a bill in the Florida Legislature this week that would enhance the improvement district board's powers. "I'm very pleased that the two sides have arrived at this point where they can focus their energies and attentions on what counts the most the people of Pelican Bay," Dudley said in a telephone conversation from his Tallahassee office. Collier County commissioners said Tuesday that because the compromise had been reached, they would not seek a hostile takeover of the district's water and sewer utilities as long as Dudley did not introduce the legislation. The issue evolved from a disagreement between the county and the district over which government entity can best provide water and sewer service to the vast Pelican Bay development in North Naples, which is expected to have 24,000 residents by the year 2004.

At the center of the controversy was the emergency legislation that, if adopted, would amend the state law that governs the district. The amendment, said County Commission Chairman Burt Saunders, would give the district's board veto power over any attempt by the county to take over the district's utilities. Saunders said such a law would usurp the commission's powers. Dudley said the amendment would protect Pelican Bay customers because the county would have to prove it could provide the same service as the district at equal or lower cost before the county could take over the utilities. Saunders last week told district board members that if they got Dudley, a Fort Myers Republican, and state Rep.

Mary Ellen Hawkins, R-Naples, to refrain from introducing the legislation during the upcoming session, the commission would not proceed immediately with the hostile takeover. The district's board on Friday agreed to Saunders' terms and asked Dudley and Hawkins not to introduce the bill. The board also agreed not to issue bonds for a $14 million expansion of the system until at least March 1. Hawkins said the district and the county have done what she asked them to do in the first place hold off on everything until the Legislature meets in regular session next spring. Dudley said he agreed to withdraw his bill because the county has agreed to use the standards of quality, price and service to determine who should provide water and sewer service to Pelican Bay.

He said it is unknown whether the issue will again crop uplor the April 19901egislativesession. However, "I would think that by then, they (the county and the district) will have resolved the issue one way or the other," Dudley said. 1 4 CM) K1 Vv 'if MARC BEAUDINNews-Press Pelican posies Juan Casares of Bonita Springs applies fertilizer to geraniums and impatiens at an entrance to Pelican Bay in Naples on Tuesday. Casares is a yard-maintenance worker at Pelican Bay. Commission to eye East Terry Street alignment By KATHY BECKER News-Press Staff Writer less right of way.

The bridge would replace a wooden bridge that burned down about 1 2 years ago. Kazemi said the commissioners are in agreement about the alignment. The project has been included in the county's plans for next year. The project will need permits from other agencies including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S.

Coast Guard, Florida Department of Environmental Regulation and the South Florida Water Management District. If all the permitting goes as planned, construction is expected to begin in early 1991. The proposed alignment is estimated to cost $2.13 million and would affect eight buildings and several mobile homes in the Bonita Trailer Park. The other proposed alignment, rejected by the transportation committee because of its environmental impact on the creek, would travel in a straight line along the section line and would cross Leitner Creek several times. This proposed alignment is estimated to cost $1.66 million and could run into difficulty in permitting because of the numerous crossings that would be required.

That alignment would require the county to purchase public already is aware of it." He said as far as he knows, there is no opposition to the favored alignment, which was endorsed in July by the commission's transportation committee. If the public has questions on the proposal, Kazemi said, they will be answered and the public hearing will be extended if necessary. The hearing is scheduled at 3:15 p.m. at the commission chambers in the renovated courthouse in Fort Myers. The favored alignment would join East Terry Street by swinging north at Villa Nova Court, crossing the creek once and joining East Terry near Croise Drive.

A public hearing scheduled today before the Lee County Commission on the alignment of East Terry Street over the Leitner Creek bridge isn't necessarily designed for public imput. Saeed Kazemi, project manager for the Lee County Department of Transportation, said the 15 minutes scheduled for the issue will allow the staff to present the two proposed alignments to the commission. "We don't expect to spend that much time on it," he said. "This is one issue where the The earrings which are valued at between $2,500 and $3,000 and are part of Grimes' $50,000 Golf Collection feature diamond-encrusted, gold golf balls mounted on round gold disks. "I feel very honored," Grimes said.

"It's quite a distinction and quite satisfying. More than 2,000 submissions were considered for the collection." Grimes said he submitted his entire Golf Collection which features a pendant, ring, bracelet and stickpin but that only the earrings were chosen. He said the idea for the collection started with the unique stickpin. It features a gold tee topped with a gold, diamond-dimpled golf ball. The DeBeer's collection will be the featured stage presentation at the huge Jewelers of America Show in February.

It will also be spotlighted on television and in magazines. Bavarian charm A bit of handpainted Bavarian Christmas charm will warm the heart of Olde Bonita, beginning Thanksgiving weekend. Ingrid Hammerle said her husband, Jakob, and his workmen are building a unique, old-world Christmas display for the front of the quaint Bavarian cottage on Old U.S. Highway 41 that houses their businesses Jakob's Enterprises and Village Haus of Bonita. She said the twinkling winter wonderland will feature a large Santa, sleigh, reindeer and a manger scene.

And when the men are through building the Christmas creations, Maria Karl, a German artist who's visiting the Hammerles, will handpaint all of them in her distinctive Alpine style. "Maria is going back to Germany the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, so we want to set everything up on Thanksgiving weekend," Ingrid Hammerle said. Bunnie Nichols' Close Up column appears in the News-Press Tuesday through Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. If have an item for Bunnie, please send it to her care of the News-Press, 28441 Tamiami Trail Suite 214, Bonita Springs, 33923, or to 3745 Ninth St. Naples, 33940.

Bonita Beach Club may pay tax for renourishment of beaches By KATHY BECKER News-Press Staff Writer Facelift foreseen at Naples Landing By MICHELLE H. MENDELSON News-Press Staff Writer Plans for transforming the Naples Landing with a $623,000 facelift are still in the conceptual stage, community services director Chris Holley told a meeting of the Naples Parks and Recreation Board on Tuesday. The landing at Ninth Street South and 1 1th Avenue South currently consistsof a picnic area, park, boat ramps and parkingspaces. Consultants have recommended building an overhead boardwalk and an observation tower that would provide an elevated view of Naples Bay. Also planned are a playground, 50 or 60 new parking spaces and a gazebo for picnicking and for use as a concert stage.

The plans also call for moving the pavilion at the end of the pier into the park. The additions would carry the Polynesian theme found in other city parks. The playground would be of the "wooden castle" variety, Holley said, rather than of metal construction. rescinded that vote in 1988 to leave open the option of being included in the project, which includes renourishment in front of the condominium at the northern tip of Little Hickory Island. The county commission in previous meetings, however, has indicted it will vote to include the condominium in the special taxing district, even if the condominium chooses not to support the project.

The project, estimated to cost more than $2 million, was approved by the commission in October. Each owner in the six condominiums included would be assessed for the project. Assessments have been estimated at $5,000 per owner. A letter to the county from the association says the Bonita Beach Club will withdraw support for the project if the assessment per unit exceeds $5,000. Another condominium on Bonita Beach may join the club today in a project to renourish the beach at the northern end of Little Hickory Island.

The Lee County Commission will consider adding the Bonita Beach Club to a special taxing unit for beach renourishment in front of the condominium and five other condominiums that already have agreed to join the project. The hearing is at 2 pan. today at the commission chambers in the county courthouse in Fort Myers. The Beach Club has 198 units. Members of the Bonita Beach Club association voted in 1987 not to join the special district, but then fci il fibril EitAmiifiiM.