SWFLATODAY
Naples Daily News - 04/22/2021
MARCO ISLAND
Council OK with pricey projects
$12.5 million to replace fire station
and $10.4 million to renovate park
Omar Rodríguez Ortiz
Marco Eagle
USA TODAY NETWORK – FLORIDA
Marco Island City Council on Mon-
day unanimously approved documents
that estimate it will cost the city approx-
imately $22.9 million to replace Fire
Station 50 and renovate Veterans’ Com-
munity Park.
The city would spend $12.5 million to
replace the fire station with a new sta-
tion and an emergency center, and $10.4
million to renovate the park.
The new fire station will be approxi-
mately 22,366 square feet with admin-
istrative offices, meeting rooms, sleep-
ing quarters and bays for the equip-
ment, according to a city staff report.
Miguel Carballo, fleet and facilities
manager with the city, said the fire sta-
tion and emergency center will include a
fueling station, the IT department, a
community training center and a train-
ing tower. The project will also include
renovating pavement and landscaping
across the City Hall campus.
The firm in charge of designing the
building is BSSW Architects and the
project’s construction manager at risk is
Manhattan Construction, tasked with
preparing cost estimates.
Carballo said the project would be
funded by an $8 million (loan) note,
close to $2.5 million in Collier County’s
one percent sales tax funds and a Feder-
al Emergency Management Agency
April 23, 2021 1:33 pm (GMT -4:00)
Page : A03
grant of nearly $1.3 million. He said the
city has yet to identify the source of
funds for nearly $750,000.
City Manager Mike McNees, on the
other hand, did not go into specifics
about the funding sources for both pro-
jects.
“Final details regarding the funding
mix, including whatever debt will be re-
quired and the payback sources for
these two projects will be approved by
the City Council when the construction
projects are authorized. Generally The new Fire Station 50 on Marco Island will include an emergency operations
speaking they will both be paid for by a center, a training tower and cancer prevention technology, according to Chief
combination of local option infrastruc- Michael D. Murphy of the Fire-Rescue Department.
ture sales tax and other city general rev- COURTESY OF MARCO ISLAND FIRE-RESCUE DEPARTMENT
enues,” McNees wrote Tuesday in an
email.
Carballo said the project’s estimate
increased from $11.7 million in January
to $12.5 million because of inflation,
market conditions and limited material
supplies. He said another important
factor is limited subcontractor interest
or limited bids.
“The biggest one that has been af-
fecting this project is electrical. (It)
came in $500,000 overbudget and they
only have one bid. Two other bidders
have rejected this bid because they are
not willing to come to this area,” Carbal-
lo said.
Carballo said Manhattan Construc-
tion is working to find additional bid-
ders to increase competition and poten-
Rendering of the bandshell to be constructed at Veterans' Community Park on
See PROJECTS, Page 5A Marco Island COURTESY OF MHK ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING
Critics: Farm
bill shields
polluters
from suits
Chad Gillis
Fort Myers News-Press
USA TODAY NETWORK – FLORIDA
A bill environmental groups say will
give Florida farmers a pass on nuisance
pollution is making its way through the
House of Representatives and is expect-
ed by many to be approved this week.
Senate Bill 88, also called the Farm-
ing Operations bill, passed through the
Senate recently, and the House com-
panion, 1601 and of the same name,
passed on a first read Sunday night.
It will be discussed again Wednesday
and possibly approved Thursday.
Environmental groups and critics of
the bill say it will give farmer’s a pass on
controversial practices like burning sug-
arcane while also possibly
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by TECNAVIA
cedent for further agriculture protec-
tions.
 Naples Daily News - 04/22/2021
Projects
Continued from Page 3A
tially lower costs. He also said the company warned
the city in November that it would need to take into
account things such as inflation when estimating con-
struction costs.
Carballo said City Council could approve the “infla-
tion-inclusive budget” of $12.5 million or a lower bud-
get of $11.7 million at the expense of eliminating the
training tower and the fueling station.
Marco Island Fire Chief Christopher Byrne said the
training tower can be used not only by firefighters but
also by police.
“The police department would utilize it as they have
utilized our former tower,” Byrne said.
“The project is anticipated to start in about two
months and will last for a 16 month period,” Carballo
wrote in an email Tuesday.
Veterans’ Community Park
The renovation of Veterans’ Community Park in-
cludes building a 32-foot star-shaped bandshell, rest-
rooms, parking space, play areas and landscaping
across nearly 11 acres.
The firm in charge of designing the project is Kim-
ley-Horn and the project’s construction manager at
risk, like Fire Station 50, is Manhattan Construction.
James Pankonin, project manager with Kimley-
Horn, said the project will also include the expansion
of a turnaround at West Elkcam Circle and East Joy
Circle so drivers are less likely to continue driving on
the latter, which is a dead end.
The angled parking along West Elkcam Circle was
switched to the south side of the road, Pankonin said.
Addressing concerns about the park’s stormwater
management system, Mallory Clancy, civil engineer at
Kimley-Horn, said it was designed to provide more
than double the amount of treatment required by the
South Florida Water Management District.
John Begani, director of preconstruction with Man-
hattan Construction, said the company is encounter-
ing a construction supply shortage, such as PVC pipes,
and raising costs, in part due to the deep freeze that
affected thousands of structures in Texas and sur-
rounding states in February.
“Just try to pick up a sheet of plywood or any type of
lumber, (and) you will see right away how much that
price has spiked in a short amount of time,” Begani
said.
Begani said City Council could approve a budget of
$10.4 million or a lower budget of $8.8 at the expense
of redesigning the bandshell and eliminating a board-
walk.
Carlos Portu, chairman of the city’s parks and rec-
reation committee, said the city should not change the
design of the park to cut costs during the final stages of
the design process.
“If there is an opportunity to reduce the (costs)
without impacting what we are doing, then by all
means. I don’t have any desire to waste our tax dol-
lars,” Portu said.
Marco Island resident Edgar “Ed” Issler said chang-
Law Office of
Robert H. Eardley, P.A.
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April 23, 2021 1:33 pm (GMT -4:00)
+ NAPLESNEWS.COM | THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 2021 | 5A
Renderings of the bandshell and bathroom facilities to be constructed at Veterans' Community Park on
Marco Island COURTESY OF MHK ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING
ing tree sizes to lower costs will be detrimental to resi-
dents like him who live across the canal from where
the bandshell will be located. He said the city should
add more landscaping behind the bandshell, not less,
to provide a sound barrier for the residents of South
Joy Circle and nearby streets.
Former Councilor Howard Reed said the city should
focus on spending the money in things that cannot be
fixed later.
“You can leave out some landscaping because you
can put it in later, but if you take that design for the
bandshell and gut it, you can’t fix that,” Reed said.
“This is going to be the jewel of the island for the
next 50 years,” Reed said.
Pinter wrote that the start date of the construction
at Veterans’ Community Park is unknown at the mo-
ment and that construction would last between 11 and
13 months.
In a subsequent meeting, City Council would con-
sider the approval of the projects’ guaranteed maxi-
mum price or the final maximum amount that the city
will have to pay for the project, said Carballo and Pin-
ter.
City Council also approved unanimously the site
development plan for the renovation of Veterans’
Community Park, which includes guidelines that must
be followed when building key elements of the park
such as the bandshell, restrooms, parking and others.
Marco to hire project manager or engineer
City Council voted 6-1 to authorize the city to hire a
full-time project manager or engineer to oversee the
construction of Fire Station 50 and the renovations of
Veterans’ Community Park and City Hall’s annex (for-
mer Medical Arts Center building).
Councilor Erik Brechnitz was the only councilor to
vote against it. He said staff had informed City Council
in the past that Carballo and Pinter could manage
these projects.
“Apparently, now you don’t feel as comfortable as
you did,” Brechnitz told McNees.
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Page : A05
McNees said the city would be “well served” by hav-
ing a full-time city employee to manage these projects.
“Having a dedicated project manager on staff will
ensure the city’s interests are represented with no
conflicts of interest,” McNees wrote in a staff report.
The person hired for the proposed position could
earn from $61,000 to $110,000 annually, in addition to
other benefits, according to the report.
The city would convert a full-time maintenance va-
cancy into the project manager position and convert a
part-time maintenance vacancy into a full-time posi-
tion, adding the equivalent of half of a full-time posi-
tion to the city’s staff, according to McNees’ report.
This move would result in the city having to budget
an additional $91,100 for the new positions for fiscal
year 2022, in addition to $30,367 to fund these posi-
tions during the last four months of fiscal year 2021,
according to the report.
“Alternatively, if the city contracts with an engi-
neering firm to temporarily add project management
support, the anticipated costs will be $400,000 annu-
ally for a full-time position,” McNees wrote.
“Either one is better than what we have right now,”
Marco Island City Council Chairman Jared Grifoni
said.
The project manager position would still be needed
after the Fire Station 50 and Veterans’ Community
Park projects are completed, according to the report.
“At that time, this position will continue to manage
projects as they arise including roof replacement at
City Hall, generator replacements, A/C replacement
and other capital asset projects,” McNees wrote in the
report.
Preliminary cost estimates to renovate the annex
building, purchased by the city in December for $2.2
million, are in development and will be a presented in
May to City Council, Carballo wrote in an email Mon-
day.
Contact Omar at omar.rodriguezortiz@naples-
news.com, and follow him on Twitter as
@Omar_fromPR. Support his work by subscribing to
Naples Daily News.
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