News-Press from Fort Myers, Florida • Page 9

The News-Press JOEFENTON Assistant Managing Editor Local News 335-0350 Monday-Friday 10 p.m. SECTION Obituaries 5B 0 Opinion 6-7B Weather 83 LdLLL- www.news-press.com TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 2000 to mmm add mm amGgula raj: ncos, Union wants six emergency vehicles and 48 workers added, wages raised difficult" to raise them this year. Since 1994 the division has lost 118 employees. Emergency medical workers set up a picket line May 23 outside the courthouse to protest wages and working conditions. Bill Schneider, president of the Southwest Florida Professional Firefighters and Paramedics Union No.

1826, Crews are close to the breaking point because of the workload, according to Schneider. Emergency Medical Services Program Manager Chris Hansen said the crews are working at maximum efficiency. Performance benchmarks have to be established for the new contract to determine how many ambulances and employees are needed in the new bud listened to Monday's discussion. He was optimistic afterward about contract negotiations that will begin in the next four weeks. A three-year contract expires in October.

"We're on the same ground. They realize some changes have to be made," Schneider said. "Wages are very important. The paramount issue is the workload," Schneider said. the county staff Monday to draw up some options for adding more ambulances and crews to run them.

The union wants six more ambulances and 48 workers to staff them. The estimated cost is $2 million. Fort Myers New bridge takes art over water "I think all five of us agree we have to give these people a raise," Commissioner John Manning said during the board's monthly planning meeting. The loss of workers is a red-flag warning the county to look at salaries and workloads, said Commissioner Andy Coy. He said there will be no tax increase, but quickly amended that to say it will be "real 4.

A 1 mulls for car lots 4 3m. "'f City council wants to spend more time reviewing proposal By BETTY PARKER The News-Press FORT MYERS Proposals to improve the appearance of car lots in the city were delayed Monday night as city council members heard from dealers opposed to the measure. "We're all interested in landscaping, but a lot of us don't have the space for the landscaping and buffers you're talking about," said Jim Wilson, a Palm Beach Boulevard car dealer. The city council months ago put a moratorium on new car lots on Palm Beach Boulevard where they said some of the less-aesthetic businesses tend to congregate while staff developed standards to improve the appearance of newly established car lots throughout the city. The new standards would not apply to lots that are already in business.

The standards also would kick in if an owner lost the By DON RUANE The News-Press Lee County ambulance crews can expect a raise next year, but not necessarily more help and equipment. Alarmed by high turnover rates, commissioners directed Beach face lift approval postponed Town council sets vote for June 12 By PAMELA SMITH HAYF0RD The News-Press FORT MYERS BEACH -Approval of the Estero Boulevard face lift or streetscape received majority support from the town council on Monday night but fell short of official approval. Councilman Garr Reynolds said he could not vote on the master plan, even though it was presented as a flexible, conceptual outline for the final project, because he had not received the final report until the meeting. Other council members said they received their copies at least two days before. The council postponed the vote until 9 a.m.

June 12. Passage is expected, and there will be no public comment at that time. "1 would hope that when we do that, we have a unanimous 5-0 vote," Vice Mayor Ray Murphy said. Even if approved, the plan will not become concrete and shade trees until the town gains control of Estero Boulevard and conducts utilities and drainage studies. Lee County currently owns the town's main artery.

The plan, as presented by WilsonMiller calls for planting shade trees along the boulevard, brick-red-colored bike lanes from the center of the island southward, grassy medians in the high-rise area and a landscaped traffic roundabout as a gateway to the beach. The street surface would remain the same, mostly two lanes with a center turning lane. The original concept of a separate trolley lane was abandoned after safety concerns were raised about three months ago. Monday culminated six months of meetings with residents and town leaders. In other business Monday, the council restated its position on parking at Bowditch Park after an inquiry by Lee County.

In a 4-1 vote, council members said the town should be allowed to decide the issue. They did not say whether they would support the county parking lot, but indicated that anything more than limited parking would probably go against town wishes. Only Reynolds dissented. "Anyone in the county should also be able to enjoy it as a park," Reynolds said. "And you really can't do it without parking." Other council members said the town, if given the choice, might decide to add limited parking to Bowditch in the future, but they did not want another entity making the decision based on a countywide viewpoint.

Pamela Smith Hayford can be reached at 335-0448. get, said John Wilson, county public safety director. The benchmarks have to be realistic, Manning said. Last year's overtime projection was short $1.8 million and the number of calls rose 11 percent instead of the projected 7 percent, he said. Don Ruane can be reached at 335-0225.

Transportation relief 4B rules occupational license, or ownership changed, something that some dealers said hurts the resale value of their property for future car lots. Changes included raising the minimum square footage from 10,000 to 18,000 square feet; requiring at least 120 feet minimum street frontage; and providing a minimum street setback of 12 feet, which would be used for landscaping including royal palms and shrubs. The council was slated to set a final public hearing before adopting the new standards. But after listening to almost a dozen dealers, members decided to have workshops on the issue and come back with refined ideas July 5. "We need to walk around this, kick the tires and look at it real good," Councilman Bob Anderson said of the proposed new laws.

Other council members said they'd like to see existing dealerships make similar improvements. Although many larger dealerships, including several on Fowler Street, voluntarily include landscaping similar to See LOTS 2B com at 6 p.m. doesn't worry Gary Gardner, general manager of WINK. "The audience 'Friends' attracts is not a typical news audience," he said. "The Fox news viewers will gravitate to another news station.

The typical news viewer is 35-plus. Under-35 viewers gravitate toward entertainment programming." Darrel Adams, news director for Waterman Broadcasting which owns WBBH and operates WZVN -doesn't expect much of a shift in ratings, either. "Giving up news programming for sitcoms shows a lack of commitment to serving the community," Adams said. "News coverage is an important public service for television stations." Todd said WFTX will focus all of its efforts on the market's lone 10 p.m. newscast, which airs seven days a week.

Todd said personnel issues will be evaluated with the elimination of the 6 p.m. newscast. "There will not be a lot of layoffs, but minimal staff adjustments," she said. "This is not a cost-saving effort. It's a strategic programming move." Denise L.

Scott can be reached at 335-0366. SEMINAR HURRICANE SEMINAR: Lee County Emergency Management will offer a hur- ricane preparedness seminar 7 p.m. Thursday at- Cape Coral High School, 2300 Santa Barbara Cape Coral. Panels spruce up city's span across Manuals Branch By BETTY PARKER The News-Press FORT MYERS The standard metal guardrails lining Cortez Boulevard over Manuals Branch are gone. In their place and almost finished are lessons in concrete, a new bridge of balustrades molded from the ones that line the Fort Myers Yacht Basin, along with 19 cast-concrete panels depicting Southwest Florida's natural environment.

Yet to come are panels with the portrait of Manual Gonzalez, one of Fort Myers' pioneers. He lived along the creek and it's his name that's now attached to the waterway that winds from behind Fort Myers High School to the Caloos-ahatchee River. Plans were under way for more than a year for the city to replace the old bridge and straighten the curves that led over it. "But when we started looking at it we saw a chance to do something nice," said Fort Myers Councilman Mike Flanders, whose Ward 4 includes the bridge and that part of Cortez. Working with Fort Myers Public Works Director Emmette Waite and sculptor D.J.

Wilkins who also did the "Uncommon Friends" statues at Centennial Park and the panther across from the downtown post office the group came up with a different bridge they hoped would be a neighborhood improvement. "If we're going to do something like this, why not do something nice, something that improves the area and tells people about the neighborhood," said Wilkins. "Those old metal rails are just ugly." Safety, however, was also a factor. Speed limits have been lowered along that stretch of Cortez, and the city installed speed bumps. The new structure also is built so that if it's hit, it'll break away in 12-foot sections, making it easier to replace, Wilkins said.

Leaving the concrete unpaint-ed also will ease any needed replacement work, he said. While the balusters the vertical pieces along the bridge are molded from those at the Yacht Basin, the square panels have original art on the surface. "The artwork has no great depth or meaning. It's just birds or flowers or butterflies, something to break up the rest," Wilkins said. Most of those panels and the balusters are complete.

Work should start this week on installing panels with Gonzalez's portrait on the right end of each of the three bridge sections. On the left end will be panels of text outlining the history of Gonzalez and the area, Wilkins said. WFTX drops 6 p.m. newscast GARTH FRANCISThe News-Press RAIL ART: Artist D.J. Wilkins measures an opening on a concrete panel where a portrait of Manual Gonzalez will be added.

The concrete railing is at the bridge over Manuals Branch on Cortez Boulevard. The creek was named after Gonzalez. 0 With neighborhood and city staff support, Flanders took the proposed changes to the council, which approved the new plans. Wilkins said he's charging the city almost $35,000 for his work, and is doing the art panels, which are not included in the contract, on his own. Road work, sidewalks, and engineering account for much of the rest of the cost, Flanders said.

Also included in the project will be improved landscaping and new streetlights, he said. "I drive by there and I've already seen people stopped and sitting on the new parts of the bridge, just enjoying it," he said. "You couldn't do that before." The project should be finished in about a month, Flanders and Wilkins said. Berry Parker can be reached at 335-0221. J7 Jm New bridge over Manuals Branch The News-Press residents worried that would increase speeding.

"We advised that they not straighten the road, and with the money they saved from that, they could do a better job with the bridge," Sheppard said. "It's a neat idea. It gives people an idea of what this area is about." call 337-0955. FORT fv MYERS off 4 5 CO I (g'TinhartAve. A YOUTH YOUR Lee County "Your reading Florida Wednesday.

up at any or at the Eacket of ag, and and space Throughout the library passport continue 479-4636. Station substitutes sitcom, focuses on 10 p.m. news By OENISE L. SCOTT The News-Press And then there were three. WFTX-Fox TV announced Monday that it's giving up its 6 p.m.

local newscast starting June 19 for an extra episode of "Friends." WFTX had been last in the ratings for that news slot, competing against WINK-CBS TV, WBBH-NBC TV and WZVN-ABC TV. "With the lineup we had, it was difficult for viewers to go from sitcoms to news and back to sitcoms," said Donita Todd, WFTX general manager. "We have invested in prob-' ably the best comedy lineup in the country." WFTX will now air a three-hour block of sitcoms "Home Improvement" at 5, "The Simpsons" at 5:30, "Friends" at 6 and 6:30, "Frasier" at 7 and "Seinfeld" at 7:30 p.m. "We think the (6 o'clock) market is well-served by the newscasts that are in there," Todd said. "I think we are going to be extremely competitive from 6 to 8 now." The competition from a sit MARK YOUR CALENDAR AWARDS: Senior Solutions of Southwest Florida will host its seventh annual Golden Appreciation Awards at 1 1:30 a.m.

Thursday at Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre, 1380 Colonial Fort Myers. The purpose of the awards are to bring honor and recognition to area organizations and individuals who have made significant improvements to the quality of life for seniors. For details, call 332-4233. The city council a year ago budgeted about $231,000 to pay for straightening the road and replacing the bridge, Flanders said. But during initial meetings with Waite and others, Flanders said he suggested something different for the residential area that borders the Edison Park historic neighborhood.

"We decided to look into what we're doing now, and it turned out it could be done for less than what we budgeted for the original project," Flanders said. John Sheppard has lived in that area almost all his life, and remembers when the branch was wide enough and deep enough 5 to 6 feet in places to provide a neighborhood swimming hole. He said he and other neighbors like the way the project has developed. When the city first suggested straightening the S-curve through the bridge, he said, at 3065 Fowler Fort Myers, or FOR A GOOD CAUSE VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: The South Florida Water Management District and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are looking for volunteers to help plant trees along Lake Okeechobee.

Several thousand cypress, pond apple and swamp maple trees will be planted as part of the project to save the lake. High water levels over the last six years have killed off much of the vegetation there. ONLY PASSPORT TO THE WORLD: Library System will start its Passport to the World" summer team, part of the statewide Library Youth Program, on Children are invited to sign of the 1 1 libraries in Lee County bookmobile. Members receive a goodies including a pencil, a passport booklet with puzzles to record summer reading. the summer, readers can visit to collect stickers for their booklet.

The reading team will through Aug. 4. For details, call HELPING OTHERS RUMMAGE SALE: St. Cecilia's CCW and Knights of Columbus Council 2596 will have their annual rummage sale 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Friday and 8 a.m. to noon Saturday at 1901 Park Meadows Drive, Fort Myers. For more information, call 936-7874. HEALTH GROUNDBREAKING: Hope Hospice invites the public to the groundbreaking ceremony for its second inpatient facility, Hospice House North, at 10 a.m. Thursday at 2430 Diplomat Parkway, Cape Coral.

Refreshments will be served. Please RSVP by calling 489-9149. I nose interested in volunteering should contact Angie Charles, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, South Florida Operations Office, 525 Ridgelawn Road, Clewiston, FL 33440, (863) 983-8101, Ext. 243.

BIDS TAKEN: The Salvation Army is accepting bids on a 1979 O'Day sailboat equipped with a small motor and a trailer. This boat is in great shape. Bids will be accepted until 5 p.m. June 13. To see the boat, call the thrift store.