City to seek reimbursement from school district for sidewalks, turn lane near Cafferata campus
The city of Cape Coral will pursue reimbursement it says it is owed by the School District of Lee County for improvements it is making near the Hector A. Cafferata Jr. K- 8 School campus.
Cape Coral City Council on Wednesday authorized the city attorney to pursue all appropriate legal action to secure all expenditures, construction costs and related expenses for sidewalks and a turn lane for the new K-8 school on Santa Barbara Boulevard.
“It’s part of the land development code. I think that is why we are taking the position — being proactive. They provided a traffic study. If we don’t act now, don’t do the improvements then we can be liable because there is a safety concern. Health, welfare, and safety is first and foremost. We have to make sure traffic improvement is completed and fight later to pay for it,” Mayor John Gunter said.
Gunter said they are giving the broad brush to continue negotiations with the Lee County School Board to get reimbursement.
“It is almost a million bucks. It is a substantial amount of money. It’s a million dollars of taxpayer money that we have to put out that they should be putting out for the millage rate that they charge. I don’t think we should have to because it is their project. I support the project. I know that this school is larger than the one we had, a great improvement for the city. We will continue like we have with one and two miles from the school to make sure the kids have safe passage to walk to school,” Gunter said.
Council members Jennifer Nelson-Lastra, Keith Long and Rachel Kaduk voted against the motion.
City Manager Michael Ilczyszyn said during Wednesday night’s meeting that there is a bit of a dispute related to a portion of the contract.
“It is important to note that we are advancing the funding for the turn lanes on Embers (Parkway) due to Hector and still working through the payment of that and requirement of those being there for the Hector Cafferata project,” he said.
Resolution 124-26 is awarding a bid to Andrew Site Work, LLC for the Hector Cafferata sidewalks and turn lanes project in the amount of $865,000, providing a 5% city-controlled contingency in the amount of $43,240 for a total of $908,250.
Gunter said it is good to fund the project as the school is opening in August and he wants to make sure it is safe for everyone. He said it is also important to direct the city attorney to actively, aggressively, try to get the school board to pay for those improvements.
“It’s no different than any other developer. In their own traffic study, it stated that those improvements need to be made. If I am a developer and I am building a shopping center, and as a result of development there needs to be additional traffic improvements, in front of business or close proximity to major intersection, that is my responsibility in order to do that. I agree we want to move this forward in the interest of safety,” Gunter said. “What I am looking for is some type of reimbursement at a later date for the traffic improvement. What I don’t want to do is give a green light for funding and try not to aggressively get reimbursement.”
Nelson-Lastra asked doesn’t the city already build sidewalks around schools?
“Our prioritization for sidewalks is to first put sidewalks within one mile of a school. Once we complete all those, then sidewalks within two miles and then major corridors,” Ilczyszyn said.
He said in this case, the city, as part of the review of the school, asked the district to produce a traffic impact statement – how much traffic the school is going to be adding to the roadway in the vicinity of the school.
Ilczyszyn said the study looks at travel up and down Embers Parkway in the middle of the morning and afternoon rush as parents and school buses are coming and going. He said the city does not want drivers going 45 mph and having through traffic braking and stopping, hence the turn lane.
“In the review, they were going to have tripped the warrant to need the turn lanes,” Ilczyszyn said. “Through our discussions with them, contesting whether or not to put them in.”
City Attorney Aleksandr Boksner said they are disputing to comply with requirements of the code. He said they tried to engage that as a resolution, which has been unsuccessful.
Boksner said the city should recoup what should have been the responsibility of the school district.
“They remain steadfast in their position that it is not their obligation,” he said.
The old campus, Hector A. Cafferata Jr., was destroyed by Hurricane Ian in 2022. The district decided to rebuild a new $125 million campus in a new location, expanding to serving students through eighth grade, with a capacity for 1,820 students.
The new campus will open in August in time for the new school year.
To reach MEGHAN BRADBURY, please email news@breezenewspapers.com