WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 17, 2025 FLIER INSIDE
Grandparents’ Day
Pine Island Elementary School holds special celebration — INSIDE PINEISLAND-EAGLE.COM
VOLUME 49, NUMBER 19
County utilities director discusses islands’ aging septic systems at latest GPICA meeting
improves removal of nutrients. The next step is our MCA President Scott provides update on group’s holiday plans that central wastewater treatment plants and then, of course, By PAULETTE LeBLANC
pleblanc@breezenewspapers.com
Lee County Utilities Director Pam Keyes discussed the island’s aging septic systems at the Greater Pine Island Civic Association meeting last Tuesday, Sept. 9. She began by telling members the last chance she’d had to speak with members was before Hurricane Ian. “Since then, of course, there have been a lot of recovery efforts and a lot of your community coming together to deal with those issues, so this is probably a timely topic to get back to,” Keyes said.
This meeting’s discussion, she said, would be about how the organization came to work with the state and looked at aged septic systems. There are many within the state, that need to be replaced, she said. The state began looking at this issue around the same time as the natural resource organizations, who were able to combine water quality issues with aged septic systems, she said. “The state came in. Their studies showed that really the conventional septic systems didn’t treat all of the nutrients. There’s advanced septic systems where there’s a narration chamber and there’s more treatment and
you get the most removal of nutrients when we go to advanced systems,” Keyes said. The state’s goal, she said, is to encourage people to go to advanced systems or to connect to central systems. The task of going with a central system is more complicated than it may seem, although it may be a good option for many areas. “We’ve got about 800 connections to the wastewater plant. The plant is about 400,000 gallons per day—that’s a very small plant. We have a project going See SEPTIC SYSTEMS, page 10
Tropical activity expected to increase; hurricane season quiet so far By CJ HADDAD
cjhaddad@breezenewspapers.com
Celebrating a milestone
Island store marks Winn-Dixie’s 100th year in business
By PAULETTE LeBLANC
pleblanc@breezenewspapers.com
Winn-Dixie celebrated its 100th birthday Friday, Sept. 5. St. James City store manager Dan Loughren, along with SE Grocers, invited the public to the birthday party, which had in attendance local firefighters, Pine Island Elementary students, Beacon of HOPE staff and board members, as well as representatives from the Pine Island Food Pantry and the Lee County Sheriff’s Department. Loughren said, as usual, during a store event, watching the kids enjoy themselves, made up most of his favorite moments. “The kids from Pine Island Elementary made banners. They were made up of a one and two zeros, to celebrate Winn-Dixie’s 100 year birthday. It’s amazing that they did — it was an art project made of all handprints. That was one of my favorite parts of the day,” See WINN-DIXIE, page 14
Winn-Dixie recently celebrated its 100th anniversary, and the Pine Island store was among those marking the milestone. PHOTOS PROVIDED
While it’s been a relatively quiet Atlantic hurricane season thus far (knock on wood), top forecasters say activity could be ramping up in the near future. According to AccuWeather experts, businesses and officials should remain prepared for an expected increase in tropical activity later this month. Experts state that water temperatures at the surface and hundreds of feet in depth have “surged to record territory for this time of year in the Gulf, which increases the risk of rapid intensification.” “The climatological peak of hurricane season is Sept. 10. This is the time of year when water temperatures in the Atlantic typically peak, and atmospheric conditions are most conducive for tropical development,” stated AccuWeather Lead Hurricane Expert Alex DaSilva. “The frequency of storms in the Atlantic basin is highest on average on Sept. 10, according to historical data. This will likely be the first time in nearly a decade that the peak of hurricane season passes without a named storm. This rare occurrence has only happened three times in the last 30 years.” AccuWeather points out that this year marks the first time in more than 30 years of back-to-back years without a named storm in the Atlantic basin on Labor Day, and that a surge of dry air has limited tropical development in the main development region of the Atlantic this week. Tropical Storm Barry in June has been the only storm to move through the region this year. “It is unusual for the tropics to be this quiet, but not unexpected. AccuWeather predicted in March, when we issued our hurricane season forecast, that surges of dry air could lead to a midseason lull,” DaSilva explained. “We have been forecasting the second half of the season to be See TROPICAL ACTIVITY, page 9
of the Week..........17 Local Tides.......................12 SJCCA Update...................9 INSIDETODAY Athlete Kitten of the Week...........15 On the Water.....................12 Worship Directory.............6
Classifieds & Obituaries