WEEk of auguSt 30, 2023 FLIER INSIDE
Luminary art Islanders create special art for Matlacha’s Ian Remembrance Ceremony — INSIDE pINEISlaND-EaglE.com
VolumE 47, NumbEr 17
Information gathering meeting for Disaster Recovery Funds held at Pine Island Elementary By PAULETTE LeBLANC pleblanc@breezenewspapers.com
A resident participation meeting was held Thursday, Aug. 24, at Pine Island Elementary School to receive public comment and input on the Draft Action Plan for the $1.1 billion Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery Funds received from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Assistant County Manager Glen Salyer said HUD has a process which needs to be engaged before Pine Island receives funds allocated for Lee County. (https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/comm_planning/cdbg-dr). “We’re going through their specified process right now to put together an eye-level spending plan and that plan is
going to encompass lots of housing assistance, some infrastructure, rebuilding, some planning, some public services, by way of case management for Ian-impacted households and mental behavior health capacity building … it’s going to be a while before we know exactly what lands in Pine Island proper,” Salyer said. Although there have been no detailed program design plans yet for damaged or destroyed mobile homes to be replaced or converted to modular homes, CDBG-DR Program Director Jeannie Sutton said there are currently no HUD regulations prohibiting the replacement or conversion of these homes. “We do anticipate being able to serve households that have mobile homes,” Sutton said. Salyer also reported $239 million will be recommend-
ed for critical public infrastructure projects. This will be open to proposal by eligible applicants which will go through a scoring process to be ranked and awarded by the Lee County Board of County Commissioners. “We don’t know what projects will come of that money, but we do have a lot of funding for public infrastructure,” Salyer said. CDBG-DR funds may be spent on a limited number of eligible activities related to impacts from Hurricane Ian that include housing, infrastructure, economic revitalization, public services and planning. At least 70% of the grant must be used for projects that benefit low-to-moderate income households, which HUD defines as a family at See DISASTER RECOVERY FUNDS, page 16
SEG: No immediate changes expected for island Winn-Dixie Announcement made last week that ALDI was purchasing Southeastern Grocers’ stores
The cover of the Breeze Newspapers commemorative book “Ian.” The book is available for pre-order by visiting capecoralbreeze.com. BREEZE GRAPHIC
Breeze Newspapers to release ‘Ian’ Hardcover book features first-person accounts, crowd-sourced hurricane-related photos By CJ HADDAD
cjhaddad@breezenewspapers.com
On Sept. 28, 2022, Hurricane Ian forever changed the landscape and lives throughout Southwest Florida. The Breeze Newspapers, which worked through numerous challenges to keep readers up-to-date throughout the storm and aftermath, have put together a commemorative book documenting and storytelling through the eyes of those who lived it. The 128-page book features stories, first-person accounts and more than 100 photographs. Photos were crowd-sourced, which truly makes this a community project. “Although this is a book we hoped we’d never have
to publish, we’re incredibly proud of how it’s turned out, providing a fitting record of those terrible days and weeks in picture and word, but maintaining the spirit of resilience that we’ve all witnessed as our communities have begun to move forward again,” Breeze Newspapers Publisher Ray Eckenrode said. The book’s title is simply “Ian.” “We thought about trying to be creative or clever with the title, but it didn’t take long to realize the power that one word now holds in Southwest Florida,” Eckenrode said. As Breeze Newspapers Photo Editor Michael Pistella wrote in the book: “Hurricane Ian brought See ‘IAN,’ page 16
According to Southeastern Grocers, the company that oversees the Winn-Dixie stores across Southwest Florida and the southeastern U.S., there are no plans, for now, concerning the island Winn-Dixie's converting to ALDI. It was announced last week that Southeastern Grocers was selling its Winn-Dixie stores and Harvey's Supermarkets to ALDI. The merger agreement for the stores, according to the announcement, is expected to be close in the first half of 2024. In it's statement, SEC said, “Nothing changes today. We remain committed to conducting our business as usual until closing our proposed transactional agreement. Our dedication to our associates, customers and communities remains unchanged, and we will continue to provide the same level of quality and value that our customers have come to expect. “We understand that ALDI does not intend to convert all of our stores. ALDI’s current plan is to continue operating Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket stores with the same level of care and focus on quality and service as they also evaluate which locations will convert to the ALDI format to better support the neighborhoods they will now serve. ALDI will share more information as it becomes available.” The island Winn-Dixie store is at 9864 Stringfellow Road, St. James City. To contact the store, please call 239) 283-4404 Locally, the Cape Coral Winn-Dixie store is at 1016 Cape Coral Parkway, E., and the North Fort Myers WinnDixie is at 5660 Bayshore Road. There are also several other locations across Lee County.
insidetoday Commentary....................4 Island Mahjongg.............13 On the Water....................14 Classifieds & Obituaries Cat of the Week...............12
Dolphin Tales.....................6
Local Tides......................16