City tenders two options for alternative rowing club location
Neither will work, sports organization responds
The future of the Cape Coral Rowing Club will be discussed again Wednesday, this time with two possible locations.
Earlier this year, Cape Coral City Council failed, by a tied vote, to pass a license agreement for the club at Tropicana Park where the city had spent $500,000 to construct a dock designed for the sport.
The deadlock left the Cape Coral Rowing Club without the home previously promised
According to agenda documents, the city used three criteria for a new rowing club site analysis – water requirements, land requirements, and access to and from the water. A 17-point matrix was used, which included adjacency to water; row length from ramp; freeboard height clearance above water; 24′ wide minimum available for canal space; no tidal flow, flat water spot; exterior storage; indoor storage; parking; utilities; electricity, and dock/launch angle of incline.
Cape Coral Rowing Club President Saundra Weston said although she provided input which was used to create a list of requirements, she did not create the matrix used. She said the list includes things that are not super clear.
One of those is only needing 24 feet of canal width to train. For example, rowers cannot turn a 60-foot boat in a 24-foot-wide lane, Weston said.
“However, it could be the result of my response to a question about why we stayed in the north spreader rather than turning inland. I indicated that we could not safely fit our large crew boats through the bridge spans because they were too narrow. So, maybe this metric reflects that span width needed to row through a bridge,” Weston said.
She said the safety guidelines issued by their national and international governing bodies indicate the launch dock should be one and a half times the length of the longest vessel.
“They suggest about 93-96 feet to accommodate a 62-ft boat. The optimum dock length for our operation is about 120-feet in length. This permits us to serve our current crew size and allows for about 30% future growth without compromising safety,” Weston said.
The Cape Coral Rowing Club continues to operate from its temporary location on the third of the Seven Islands. Weston said that is thanks to the benevolence of Forest Development, with which they currently hold a lease to use the property.
“The grace they are showing us right now is the sole reason we have not yet had to dissolve the nonprofit,” she said.
The rowing club has a month-to-month lease at its current location which is set for development.
There are two locations up for discussion at Wednesday’s meeting – Flagstone Canal, and Gator Slough, both of which Weston said will not work.
“The Flagstone Canal location could be made functional for the rowing club with the proper design and investment, but it would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to implement and take years waiting for regulatory permitting,” she said. “Practically speaking, it’s actually not viable because we don’t have the time to wait for it from our current location.”
The canal will never be as safe as Tropicana Park, Weston said because the proposed location is directly across from an active boat ramp. She said the proposal, which was generated by Councilmember Laurie Lehmann’s team – described as a couple of members of the Northwest Neighborhood Association and a representative from HONC – is completely unworkable.
“It was created by people with no subject matter expertise, and the rowing club was never involved in the process. I informed Ms. Lehmann that it was not functional in a meeting she called with me on May 6. What’s shocking is that she is still pretending it’s legitimate. We are very surprised that this is what the city is choosing to put forward in response to the clear direction for them to produce a ‘plan B’ proposal,” Weston said.
Agenda document for the meeting shows two estimates, which includes an aluminum ramp, a land side hinge plate, gangway roller assembly and additional floatation for gangway support for $33,357 for the first estimate, and $18,637.58 for the second estimate that includes an aluminum gangway, land side hinge plate, gangway roller assembly, roller pad with hardware, additional floatation for ramp support and piling hoop design with four rollers.
The second location, Gator Slough, is not a viable body of water for rowing activity, Weston said, adding that she no idea why it is even listed.
“I made it very clear that we had to be in one of the spreader waterways to properly train because freshwater canals are not wide enough to accommodate our equipment and are full of weirs,” she said.
The meeting will be held at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 19, in City Council chambers, 1015 Cultural Park Blvd. The meeting is open to the public.
To reach Meghan Bradbury, please email news@breezenewspapers.com