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The Farmer File: A few days left before we determine island’s best future

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With our elections four days away, the future of wastewater treatment and environmental welfare of Marco Island is in the balance.

In the contests for four seats on the City Council, candidates who want to finish the job of sewering Marco must win three to make sure we don’t stop the sewer project in mid-stream and waste millions of dollars.

I’ve heard some islanders say, “Maybe I’ll vote for two from each side just to keep it fair.”

That’s unwise if you believe that with 85 percent of the island already on sewers, we must finish the job now or pay a lot more when forced to do so later.

Don’t forget, expert environmentalists say an island-wide sewer system is safer, healthier and more efficient than depending on old, uninspected septic systems.

Then there’s the money issue, a serious concern to most islanders. No wonder. Many residents must come up with $13,000 to $20,000 to pay for new sewer service.

However, the city is offering several payment plans, including not having to pay a penny for 20 years unless the property is sold sooner.

The money factor also is important to people already on sewers. If a newly elected council stops the sewer program, everybody, every condo resident and every single-family homeowner already on sewers, will pay more on their monthly water/sewer bills. Millions of dollars will be lost, “stranded” as the water wonks put it.

Also, don’t let the anti-sewer people fool you with promises that stopping the project would free up money for other things. Assessments for house-by-house utility projects cannot be switched to roads or parks, bridges or beaches.

As we vote, we also should beware of candidates who are fighting the last war, so to speak. They rail about a city manager who left for a better job in Naples. They excoriate lame duck council members who won’t be in the seats after March 17. They are the shoulda-woulda-coulda candidates.

Marco needs some stability and civility in its public discourse, to match its beauty, tranquility and overall quality of life.

A lot of talented, successful people have chosen Marco in part because it has been and can be an oasis from the rough and tumble of American life.

We don’t disengage from great national and world issues, but we know that when we tire of political bushwa and pop culture glut, when we’re bored by the babble and blare of controversy, we can turn off the tirades.

We can play a few holes or throw a line in the water or just sit and watch a dolphin swim by or a pelican dive for dinner. Our kids can safely ride their bikes to school. From our watering holes to our Gulf waters, we are blessed to be here.

Marco has Margaritaville days and rock ‘n’ roll nights; it also has welcoming houses of worship and a spirit of volunteerism. Marco is urbane but not urban, hip but not hyper, hardworking, not hard hearted.

In short, this is a civil, scenic, satisfying place to live. The sewer issue is a temporary, unpleasant battleground. Let’s deal with it responsibly, finish the job and move on.

I’m voting for the candidates we can count on to do that — Jerry Gibson, Frank Recker, Bill Trotter and Wayne Waldack.

- - -

Contact Don Farmer at don@donfarmer.com.

Comments

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Mr. Farmer 85% of this Island is not sewered less then 50% is. 85% of the living units are sewered which consist mostly of the high rises along Collier Blvd.
Bill Moss left because he knew his job would be in jeopardy if the majority of Marco votes voted for change.

#1 Posted by 15yearsmarco on January 25, 2008 at 12:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Farmer,
Why don't you just sell windows and leave the reporting to the experts.You are just as nasty as your CM crowd.

#2 Posted by dc5799 on January 25, 2008 at 12:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Mackel Park is the appropriate location for experts to display what not to do.
Once was grass has turned to dirt where large trucks tend to drive while making deliveries etc. City utility and construction waste is laid within the park boundaries.
Teenagers play by night while toddlers during the day in this waste pile as the City operates their Public Works department ignoring the restrictions set forth in the deed.
Deed restrictions prohibit the use of a City utilty and it's garbage and taffic within Mackel Park.
Mr. Minozzi, your response to me was disgraceful.
Mr. Souza, keep quiet and keep your job.
Mr. Moss, farewell.
Mr. Joel, procure land for your utility and leave my park.
Start with attending a seminar Friday, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., at Mackle Park. You can learn from the experts what to do and not do as you landscape your property.
Visit the South end of Mackel Park...
Come and See
Ben Powell
399 Heathwood Drag
Marco Island
239-394-2499

#3 Posted by Motu on January 25, 2008 at 5:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)

please read my post on naples daily news site same article. it is a beautiful place to live, we should set up a central polling place at the glon property to reduce the overhead of operating multiple locations. this will reduce our carbon footprint. just be careful as you make your way around the "park". another item i failed to mention in my post is the real physical damage done to peoples homes in the construction areas from the bomag. look around and talk to people in the finished areas.

#4 Posted by islandman4now on January 25, 2008 at 6:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Yea Farmer............
Instead of worring about the Condos and Hotels on Collier as being "sewered" which is how you get 85 percent, lets talk about how we've dug up 12 miles of road for the new STRP addition and we will have to dig up another 44 miles to complete. Now it looks more like less than 15 percent of the island is sewered and that we have another 85 percent to go. Just because you have a lot that is useless unless it is sewered doesn't mean you need to try to put out false information and cost people an additional $100 million. Please go away.

Bob Brown

#5 Posted by rcbauburn on January 25, 2008 at 6:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)

What qualifies Wayne Waldack for the job? Farmer is going to vote for him because he wants sewers. A one issue vote. Waldack is on sewer, so it won't cost him. It will cost seniors on a fixed income who have septic tanks that work just fine. Please, stop and think. Wayne Waldack is not the man. People, think beyond the sewer issue.

#6 Posted by ondeckcircle on January 25, 2008 at 6:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)

folks...farmer is and idiot....he's voting for the whole "ticket because he know the rest will carry waldack/duck...waldack will do whatever recker says.

#7 Posted by van on January 25, 2008 at 9:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)

and don...and chris...please remember when operating a vessel...no drinking, no wake, navigation lights required and lifejackets for those under 12....all of which you ignore when you come by my house...and please pick up your dog poop.

#8 Posted by van on January 25, 2008 at 10:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Farmer you really are gaining a lot of friends on this island. I noticed one of those expensive political ads you contributed to in the Eagle. Imagine the surprise on the Realtors and Mortgage lenders and other merchants that allowed their names to be printed as supporting the hotels, time shares and law firms over the residents who live here when we put that list next to our phones. I know I will check the list not once but twice prior to calling any of those folks for business. Thing is there were only 260 or so of them, mostly couples. Not much of a political base but certainly representitive of the elite and the ads prove you have money. Never saw so many adds for a small town City Council election. What's even more significant is that the ads were promoting a bartender, a failed incumbent and a fellow that had to file for bankruptsy because he speculated in property sales. Not the kind of people most would vote to take care of the tax revenue we give the city, is it?

#9 Posted by Hawke1 on January 26, 2008 at 6:29 a.m. (Suggest removal)

bob brown is not a resident of marco island. his comments are useless and not needed.
and for the rest of you; shooting the messnger does not get you anywhere. Don Farmer does not need to prove anything to you or to anybody else for that matter. You are nothing but a bunch of geezers with nothing else to do in life but to complain about everything. get a life.

#10 Posted by patton1 on January 26, 2008 at 8:18 a.m. (Suggest removal)

hawke1 take your business elsewhere. no one needs your money. drive to naples before you shop marco. take your miserable friends with you. waste gas. pollute the air. threats against businesses never worked on this island. we have seen the likes of you come and go. mostly go.

#11 Posted by patton1 on January 26, 2008 at 8:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I cant believe what I just read. Your downing Wayne ? Of all the so-called qualified candidates Wayne is the only one who represents what Marco used to be. You talk about the elderly, the working class, the ones who cant afford things? What are YOU doing to help them? Writing mean spirited memos? Mr.Waldack will do whats right for ALL the people. Give me seven Wayne Waldacks and Ill sleep a lot better at night.

#12 Posted by OldMarcoMan on January 26, 2008 at 11:18 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Well Mr Patton, you should check your facts. You must utter the same falsehoods as those you support. My wife and I built our home on Marco in 2000 and became permanent residents in 2004. At least I'm not embarrassed to sign my name to one of these blogs.

Bob Brown

#13 Posted by rcbauburn on January 26, 2008 at 3:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I know Bob Brown has been on Marco a long time because he was one of the first to start womanin about the asbestos dust at the Glon dump.

#14 Posted by votemarco on January 26, 2008 at 4:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Patton is one of THEM, nothing but an uninformed,nasty, ugly person.

#15 Posted by dc5799 on January 26, 2008 at 5:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Don Farmer, who made you the decider of what our future should be? Why didn't you have the courage to run for office yourself? You would do better to interview the candidates you support and ask them what ideas and plans they have for Marco Island. What will they do for the taxpayers and property owners? Batte, Hall, Guidry and Neylon have put forward several solutions to our problems and also advanced some new ideas to improve our governance. What will the bartender or failed real estate investor do for us? For that matter, ask your attorney friend what it is he plans for moving our city into the future. We already know what Trotter wants, we watched him spend our tax money irresponsibly for four years now and we also saw that he favors ruling in the manner of Fidel Castro. We don't need you to interview him. Please try and get your other three frineds to stop their negative attacks and give us some idea of just what it is they have planned for us.

#16 Posted by bbyrone46 on January 27, 2008 at 6:53 a.m. (Suggest removal)



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