City council makes plan as Zimomra set for retirement
By TIFFANY REPECKI / trepecki@breezenewspapers.com - | May 18, 2021
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Judie Zimomra
The Sanibel City Council held a special meeting last week to discuss and decide its next steps following an announcement from the city manager of her intention to retire in September.
On May 5, City Manager Judie Zimomra provided the following email to council:
“Please be advised that at this time it is my plan to retire from my position as City Manager of Sanibel on Friday, September 24, 2021. The reason for providing a significantly longer lead time than contractually required is to provide City Council time to adequately implement a succession plan.
Evans, Goss urge pressure on behalf of clean water this summer
By CHAMBER OF COMMERCE - | May 14, 2021
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Governing Board Chairman Chauncey Goss speaks about structures that will help the South Florida Water Management District reach its goal of sending Lake Okeechobee release water south.
Although island waters look good right now and in the forecastable future, water quality management principals, like many local residents and businesses, are nervous about what the summer rainy season will bring.
That was the sense Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation Environmental Policy Director James Evans and South Florida Water Management District Governing Board Chairman Chauncey Goss imparted to the Sanibel & Captiva Islands Chamber of Commerce at its May 12 virtual meeting.
County expecting to start Causeway Islands project in July
By CHAMBER OF COMMERCE - | Apr 20, 2021
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Jesse Lavender shared a proposed plan for Causeway Island A, closest to the mainland.
Erosion and safety are driving Lee County’s three-year project to improve the Causeway Islands, Lee County Parks & Recreation Director Jesse Lavender told members of the Sanibel & Captiva Islands Chamber of Commerce at the April 14 virtual business meeting.
“This is your corridor from the mainland, and we’re going to do it right,” he said. “These two islands will get re-created in a fashion that gets us set for the future and addresses safety issues on-and-off access points and erosion. We want to make a really nice corridor for people who live on the islands and for visitors to keep that nice ‘I’m on the islands, this is why I’m here’ feeling.”
Donalds expresses water-quality support at chamber-hosted meeting
By CHAMBER OF COMMERCE - | Apr 13, 2021
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An island delegation showed U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds island waters on a morning boat tour. Front row, chamber President John Lai, Mayor Holly Smith, “Ding” Darling Wildlife Society President Sarah Ashton, SFWMD Governing Board Chairman Chauncey Goss and SCCF Environmental Policy Director James Evan; back row, Captains for Clean Water’s Jessica Pinsky and Capt. Chris Whitman, Donalds’ support team members Jesse Purdon and Larry Wilcoxson, Donalds and J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge Manager Kevin Godsea.
The Sanibel & Captiva Islands Chamber of Commerce hosted U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds for Florida’s 19th District on April 5 to meet with community organization and business leaders on the topic of water-quality legislation. The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation provided a boat tour of Tarpon Bay for a small delegation. Following that,
Chamber honors awardees, names new officers
By CHAMBER OF COMMERCE - | Apr 14, 2021
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Past Chair Brian Kautz, left, and incoming Chair Mark Blust, right, present former Sanibel Mayor Mick Denham with the chamber’s 2021 Citizen of the Year Award.
In a nudge toward a return to normalcy, the Sanibel & Captiva Islands Chamber of Commerce held its annual meeting on April 7 in an outdoor venue at the Dunes Golf & Tennis Club with a limited number of attendees.
“In a normal pre-pandemic year, we could have been hosting nearly 180 people indoors,” chamber President John Lai said. “Last year, we skipped the meeting altogether. This year, we invited fewer than 50 board members and the winners of the 2021 annual awards, which we honored that evening.”