Cape Coral hopes for improved flood rating
Cape Coral City Council will discuss the city’s hope for a better flood rating Wednesday.
The workshop meeting will begin at 9 a.m. and will also include an update on the city-owned, privately operated waterpark.
On the agenda:
• The National Flood Insurance Program’s community rating system has placed the city at the midpoint of its scale.
On a scale of 1 through 10 (one being the best), Cape Coral is a CRS Class 5 community, which confers a 25 percent discount on flood insurance premiums. Each point improvement means an additional 5 percent discount.
The rating results in approximately $7.8 million dollars in savings annually to flood insurance premium holders, which is among the top 10 in savings statewide.
The city, which went through an audit last month, would like to get that rating down to Class 4, something that would lower flood insurance rates further.
City staff projects the city has about a 50/50 chance of achieving it.
• Pro Parks is expected to show significant growth at Sun Splash Family Waterpark in 2022 as opposed to the previous year. Pro Parks has started offering season passes as well as food and drink specials and special events for holidays.
The 2022 results will show a more than 20,000 increase in attendance from 2021. It will also show season ticket sales more than tripled, from less than 3,000 and nearly 9,000 and that total revenues increased by more than $100,000 as a result of online sales.
Capital improvements include a refurbished Pirates Cove children’s play area, the addition of 25 cabanas and refurbished water slide pools and the lazy river. Pro Parks also added two shark slides, two other additional slides, a new tipping bucket and a new floor.
Pro Parks is expected to expand Sun Splash, adding a new wavepool next year with a future expansion in 2024 and beyond. Pro Parks is working with the city to modify the current lease to move forward with the expansion plan.
• The Urban Land Institute will present its final report to the city council. Among the things the ULI suggests are to:
— Gather neighborhood organizations and work to create neighborhood identities.
— City planning division should begin studying the creation of a new regional park and institute a pedestrian -first environment.
— Identify community members to serve as a board of directors for the revenue authority and land exchange agency.
— Organize and fund these entities to have them begin work.
There will also be discussion on proposed revisions to financial management policies, the procurement ordinance and the false alarm ordinance.
City Hall is at 1015 Cultural Park Blvd.
To reach CHUCK BALLARO, please email news@breezenewspapers.com