WEEK OF JULY 19, 2023
VOLUME 61, NUMBER 35
SCCF: Record sea turtle season underway on islands The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation reported that a record number of loggerhead sea turtle nests have been laid this year on Sanibel and Captiva, with months of nesting season remaining. As of July 11: ∫ 1,078 nests had been laid. Loggerheads laid 1,056 nests, including new records of 789 on Sanibel and 267 on Captiva. The previous records were 671 on Sanibel in 2021 and 264 on Captiva in 2020. Green sea turtles laid 22 nests, including 21 on Sanibel and one on Captiva. ∫ 4,244 hatchlings had successfully emerged. The SCCF's nighttime tagging team had encountered 359 nesting sea turtles, including 215 unique individuals. One hundred thirty-four encountered sea turtles were “new” turtles that had no previous tags from the SCCF — 62% of the total individuals. ∫ 81 encountered sea turtles were returners from previous years — 38% of the total individuals. The previous record for total sea turtle nests on the islands — 931 — was set in 2020 and again in 2021. Last year, 786 nests were laid and 35,803 sea turtle hatchlings emerged.
Nighttime tagging project The SCCF reported that as of July 11, the nighttime turtle encounters had also broken the record for most encounters at that point during a season. “Our team has had fun keeping with the theme of naming untagged turtles after female musicians, including Madonna, Baby Spice, Barbara Streisand, Beyonce and Judy Garland,” sea turtle biologist Savannah Weber said. “Our team was also excited to encounter a previously tagged sea turtle named SANIBEL-CAPTIVA CONSERVATION FOUNDATION
First meeting on proposed height, density changes raises questions By TIFFANY REPECKI
trepecki@breezenewspapers.com
Last week, Lee County officials held the first in a series of stakeholders discussions scheduled to review and collect feedback on proposed changes to building heights and density on Captiva. Moderated by Lee County Commissioner Kevin Ruane, the public meeting on July 13 at the Captiva Civic Center featured a panel of speakers including county staffers and involved parties from both islands. The discussion was focused on proposed Land Development Code and Lee Plan amendments. At its June 20 meeting, the county commission voted unanimously 5-0 to continue its consideration of revisions to the Captiva Code within the LDC to its meeting on Sept. 5. As part of the motion, it also continued its consideration of changes to the Captiva Community Plan See MEETING, page 18
IslanderInsIde
See SEA TURTLE SEASON, page 18
Sanibel fire board sets tentative millage rate, gets updates By TIFFANY REPECKI
trepecki@breezenewspapers.com
The Sanibel Fire and Rescue District's commission approved the not-to-exceed millage rate and budget hearings for fiscal year 2023-24 at its meeting, as well as held pinning ceremonies for two staffers. On July 12, the commissioners voted unanimously 3-0 to adopt a tentative millage rate of 1.8753, which would exceed the rolled-back rate of 1.1061 mills. It would result in a tax increase of 69.54% to residents of the district. The millage rate can be lowered during the budget process, but not raised.
As part of the vote, the commission also set the budget hearings for Sept. 6 and 20 at 5:01 p.m. Prior to the vote, Fire Chief Kevin Barbot gave a presentation on the current year's budget and an overview of the projected budget for 2023-24, including an issue with the “rolled-back rate.” He explained that the rolled-back rate is the rate that it would take to gener-
ate the same amount of revenue in the coming year as was generated in the previous year. The district's current millage rate is 1.2365 mills. To generate the same amount of revenue, the actual rolled-back rate should be 1.8753. Due to several factors, including changes on forms, a decrease in revenue due to the property tax refund from Fire Chief Kevin Barbot
See SANIBEL FIRE BOARD, page 19
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