Corkscrew Island Neighborhood Association August 21, 2012 ______________________________________________________________________________
A meeting of the Corkscrew Island Neighborhood Association (CINA) took place at the Corkscrew Sanctuary on Tuesday, August 21, 2012. Thirteen people attended. Secretary Doug Wilson opened the meeting in the absence of President Bill McDaniel who had a prior commitment. The meeting began at 7:10 pm with the pledge of allegiance.
Minutes of June 19, 2012 Meeting The minutes of the June meeting were passed around, read and approved with no amendments.
Motion: a motion was made that the June minutes be approved with no corrections or amendments. It was seconded and passed unanimously.
Treasurer’s Report The Treasurer’s Report was passed around with a statement by Doug that the treasury keeps building since we didn’t spend much, just a little on the website and the debate. This report did not need to be approved.
Old Business
Sheriff was invited to speak at CINA Doug reported that he had sent an email to the Sheriff’s office requesting he or a representative attend a CINA meeting to address crime in the neighborhood with any tips or advice, but no response was returned. Doug will follow up with a telephone call for the October meeting.
Summer neighborhood picnic and membership drive Nancy Wilson reported that Bill and Dee Dee had offered to hold a summer picnic at Big Island Mine, but since they have been so busy with the campaign she did not want to ask them. They will be offering to hold the Christmas party. Mike Duever suggested maybe we don’t want a summer picnic anyway since summer has been hotter than usual.
President Bill McDaniel lost by a close margin President Bill McDaniel lost out in his race to beat County Commissioner Henning, by a close margin. Comments of commiseration were expressed for Bill. He and Dee Dee put up a good fight.
August 14 County Elections Doug expressed his sadness at losing our Commissioner, Jim Coletta, at the recent election for County Commissioners, Not everyone might agree, but he inspired the creation of our organization and six-laned Immokalee Road, among many other accomplishments.
New Business
Flood insurance in the Neighborhood Lynn Radi opened the subject of flood insurance. His mortgage company suggested he needed flood insurance, but his house is three feet above flood level. He called both the County, Wells Fargo and his insurance company. He was told that if any portion of his property was in flood level he needed flood insurance. He found it disturbing because all three maps were not the same. Jean McCollom said the County has a GIS, computer mapping program which can give a precise measurement of the property. A discussion followed about water flow in the neighborhood. Dan said water wants to drain south but 846 dams it up, so it heads west toward Maureen’s place.
Python Spotting Nancy asked if any more pythons had been spotted in the area, since the last one spotted over two years ago on Rookery Lane draped across the road. A large python was captured in the Everglades recently which had 87 eggs in her, as reported by the news. A discussion followed, indicating none had been seen around our neighborhood, though over on Hogan Island, north of Everglades, they have beem seen in the drainage ditches. Mostly they are down in the Everglades and Marco Island. Mike Knight of the Sanctuary advised not trying to kill a python yourself. Anything over ten feet should be left to the experts. The Sanctuary is working on providing a policy for python reporting, and gave a number to call if one is spotted. Most people don’t know how to handle a large snake. Call 1-888-Ivegot1 (l-888-483-4681). The call goes to WC Dispatch who will come and capture the python and euthanize it. If you are going to shoot it, shoot it in the head where there are vital organs. Otherwise, shooting into the body of the snake may not hit a vital organ. It is legal to kill a python. One sign of either pythons or panthers is the decreasing numbers of rabbits in the area, rabbit droppings are disappearing.
Mosquito Spraying Maria Tabraue brought up the subject of mosquito spraying. She heard a helicopter coming over earlyl in the morning one day, making back and forth passes, and wondered if others had heard it too. Many of us did not know that we were in a mosquito spraying area. Mike said that we were, but they stop short of the Sanctuary by tracing along the perimeter of Sanctuary. More discussion followed. Perhaps we could request not to spray in our area, butterflies get killed too. Dan Samohovetz said he had built bat houses for mosquitoes but the bats never moved in. Mike said you have to be patient, it takes awhile for the bats to find it. Bats go to the places they know, but eventually they find the houses. The Sanctuary has two bat houses, one is empty while the other is used. Little green tree frogs eat mosquitoes too. In fact, there is a correlation between population of mosquitoes and green tree frogs.
Free Entry into Sanctuary Maria suggested that maybe Jason could carry on the tradition of letting neighborhood into the Sanctuary free, as Ed Carlton used to do. Now that he is retiring, could we get the same privilege? A discussion followed. Some of us did not know that we could get free passes into the boardwalk area. Mike said it all depends on who is working the desk. Perhaps we ask Jason. Maybe he could provide a neighbor voucher to let us in.
Motion: A motion was made to adjourn the meeting at 7:48 pm. It was seconded and passed unanimously.
