New agreement with Cape Coral R/SeaHawks gets nod
A new Cape Coral R/SeaHawks Inc. license agreement will come before the Cape Coral City Council next month on Nov. 19.
Parks and Recreation Director Joe Petrella presented a license agreement term sheet during council’s Wednesday workshop for an initial 10-year term with two 5-year extensions and a clause that would allow the city to terminate with a 30-day notice.
“We’ve been working on this for quite a while. We have come up with these terms for you to review and give us direction on where you would like to go with the actual license agreement,” he said.
The agreement for space at the in-development Festival Park would be $1 a year, plus the applicable sales tax, utilities, non-ad valorem and ad valorem taxes, and city assessments established by ordinance or resolution.
Petrella said with the taxes ranging around $10,000 they chose the dollar-a-year rate.
“We are proposing $1 per year while they take care of the taxes and take care of maintenance areas,” he said.
The R/Sea Hawks, a radio-control operators club that has long used the park, is responsible for cleanliness, safety and compliance, litter removal, maintenance of asphalt runway, car track, and any R/Sea Hawks installed improvements, and landscaping on assigned portion, while the city maintains other landscaped areas.
The nonprofit may also install necessary equipment upon approval, as well as allowed improvements and alterations with approval at their expense.
If the lease is terminated, R/Sea Hawks would need to remove property and any abandoned items become city property. In addition, all improvements become city property upon termination.
Agreement highlights include one which licenses R/Sea Hawks use of Sea Hawk Airfield at Festival Park within a defined designated flight area box, which limits operations to that flight box area. The access hours are from 7 a.m. to sunset seven days a week.
The organization also must host four community programs a year with all other uses requiring city manager, or designee, approval.
Petrella said there are ongoing responsibilities, such as having a quarterly meeting with the city, submission of an annual business plan, submission of IRS FORM 990 by Jan 1, maintain good standing as a Florida nonprofit, maintaining auditable financial records and giving the city has access to records with notice.
“Thank you to all you do for the city,” Councilmember Joe Kilraine told the members sitting in the audience. “Your hospitality has been fantastic. I am taken in by all you do and continue to do throughout the year. It’s a beneficial program. I am amazed at the technology you bring forward. The way you bring youth into the program – I can’t say enough about it. Thank you for helping the city out.”
The nonprofit organization incorporated in 1980 with a purpose to actively promote the construction and flying of all types of radio-controlled aircraft as well as cars.
Cape Coral R/Sea Hawks is sanctioned by the Academy of Model Aeronautics and is ranked No. 17 out of 2,500 with members ranging from children to retirees.
Information on the club may be found at https://www.rseahawks.org/a/r/szz/rc/home.
Seahawk Park is at 1030 N.W. 28th St.
The city broke ground for Festival Park, a $17.8 million project, on July 26 of last year.
The 200-plus acre park off Wilmington Parkway adjacent to Argosy Lake and Seahawk Park. is now 84% complete with a projected opening of early 2026.
As of 2022, the city estimated it has spent approximately $29,900,000 acquiring the 571 parcels that make up the park site.
Once complete, the park will include the space and amenities for large-scale events as well as a lighted sports complex,
To reach MEGHAN BRADBURY, please email news@breezenewspapers.com