Bonita Springs Council sets legislative priorities

The Bonita Springs City Council on Wednesday laid out its priorities for the 2015 legislative session:

• Supports amendment of the 2014 Village of Estero incorporation legislation to correct the proposed boundaries to reflect the 2014 residential and commercial voluntary annexations into Bonita Springs.

• Opposes any legislation that would require state-mandated fertilizer standards that preempt adopted municipal standards.

• Supports legislation that would allow pari-mutuel facilities within counties that have passed referendums to provide slot gaming. Sixty-three percent of Lee voters passed one in 2012 that would allow slots at Naples Fort Myers Greyhound Racing & Poker in Bonita. The city also supports decoupling dog racing requirements for pari-mutuel facilities that provide additional gaming. The Bonita Springs track runs 3,500 races a year — the most greyhound races in the nation — because it had the most successful greyhound track in 1996 when the Legislature linked poker rooms licenses to a minimum number of greyhound races.

• Supports efforts to provide additional health care facilities in south Lee County.

• Supports water quality initiatives to manage water releases from Lake Okeechobee into the Caloosahatchee River, which turn the water brown, create algae blooms and hurt tourism, and opposes water quality proposals that negatively impact the city.

• Supports ensuring flood insurance premiums are affordable.

More generally, the city supports alternative sources of energy, increased state funding for private, public and charter schools and state funding of regional planning councils and opposes any legislation that would preempt home rule protection.

Capitol Strategies Consulting lobbies in Tallahassee on behalf of the city.

In other business, the City Council approved a directional sign for River Park in the right-of-way on U.S. 41 south of the Imperial River bridge for the entrance to River Park. Bonita Parks and Recreation Director Nicole Perino said the Lee County Tourist Development Council, which has provided funding for the project, requested more visible signage for the park. The Florida Department of Transportation permits the sign.

Councilman Mike Gibson was absent.