The Lee County Board of County Commissioners is not going to rubber stamp any effort by the city of Fort Myers to expand its municipal boundaries across the river into unincorporated North Fort Myers.

They may, in fact, oppose such a move.

Commissioner Brian Hamman on Tuesday garnered a consensus from his fellow board members to oppose an annexation now under discussion.

During the Nov. 4 Fort Myers City Council meeting, at item came up regarding the former Prosperity Point Marina, which has floating docks and with whom the owner has had a 30-year lease with the city on the submerged lands underneath the Caloosahatchee River.

That lease is up for renewal, and the idea was to extend the lease another 10 years. But as it was discussed, Councilmember Fed Burson asked that they only renew the lease for one year, but no more unless the landowner voluntarily annexes into the city.

“If you’re going to hold a lease over a marina’s head, how is that voluntary and not blackmail?” Hamman asked at Tuesday Commission meeting.

There was a 1915 state act that granted Fort Myers the ownership of the river bottom, but Hamman said he wasn’t sure if the act extended beyond the city’s boundaries.

Hamman shared three ideas:

To direct the city attorney to monitor and oppose any efforts by the city to annex property in North Fort Myers north of the river, as he said there are numerous marinas with floating docks that could have this issue hanging over them.

“I can tell you the residents don’t want to see Fort Myers come across the river and annex property,” Hamman said. “Taxwise, it would not be a good situation for those residents who would go from paying the county MSTU tax (80 cents per $1,000 of taxable property value) to paying Fort Myers taxes, which is more like $8.”

Hamman also wanted staff to prepare an analysis of the benefits of North Fort Myers staying incorporated and the drawbacks of that area being annexed by Fort Myers, and getting the state to remove ownership of the riverbed from the city.

“If the are going to use ownership to force people to annex or not allow them to use docks, that’s an inappropriate use. That was created in 1915 and things have changed since then,” Hamman said.

Commissioner Frank Mann agreed to support the motion, but since much of the dialogue came from news reports, he said it was a little early for the county to weigh in. Hamman understood, but said there was official action taken to remove the 10-year lease extension.

Danny Ballard, president of the North Fort Myers Civic Association, said that at a workshop meeting last month, the mayor of Fort Myers said the only way the city could grow is by going north.

“I believe it’s the city’s mindset to come over there. The owner has some issues with county permitting. He also owns land on the west side of Old 41 where he wants to build a steakhouse,” Ballard said. “He also has some violations and the city is going to try to use that along with the stiff arming.”

Christy-Lee Iwanow, Civic vice president, expressed her gratitude to Hamman, whose district includes portions of North Fort Myers.

“I’m proud of him. He stepped up and showed his faith and support for North Fort Myers and doing the right thing,” Iwanow said. “What he said about twisting an arm, that’s exactly what it is. Voluntary means that you want to, not that you’re forced to.”