Fort Myers Florida Weekly
Lee commission adding pickleball courts to Rutenberg Park
The Lee Board of County Commissioners voted to award a contract to expand the facilities of Rutenberg Park, 6500 South Pointe Blvd., to include eight lighted pickleball courts, a shade structure and more.
The $3.2 million contract with Stultz Inc. encompasses the construction of eight lighted pickleball courts, four of which will be covered, along with a shade structure, ADA-compliant restrooms, an office building, improvements to the parking lot, new sidewalks and a paved walking trail.
This planned and budgeted project will be funded through community park impact fees. The construction project is expected to take about nine months to complete.
Rutenberg Park first opened in 1977. Other facilities at the park include tennis and racquetball courts, football and baseball fields, a playground and a pavilion.
Lee County Parks & Recreation earns national accreditation
Lee County Parks & Recreation earned its fifth consecutive accreditation through the Commission for Accreditation of Park and Recreation Agencies and the National Recreation and Park Association. The achievement continues the department's standing as a nationally distinguished park and recreation agency over the last 23 years. The announcement was made at the 2024 NRPA Annual Conference held in Atlanta.
The department initially earned national accreditation in 2001, received re-accreditation in 2006, 2011 and 2016, and once again met 154 national standards to earn this designation.
CAPRA accreditation is the only national accreditation for park and recreation agencies and is a measure of an agency's overall quality of operation, management and service to the community. This mark of distinction indicates that an agency has met rigorous standards related to the management and administration of lands, facilities, resources, programs, safety and services.
As part of the accreditation process, Lee County Parks & Recreation demonstrated compliance with 154 recognized performance and operations standards. Often the process helps identify efficiencies and heighten areas of accountability, all of which translate into higher quality service and operation to benefit the community.
"Achieving accreditation is a prestigious achievement," Parks & Recreation director Mack Young said. "This is a reflection of the phenomenal work of our staff and of our commitment to excellence for our patrons."
The process for accreditation involves self-assessments, a site visit by a team of trained volunteers that results in a written report, and a hearing with the commission to grant accreditation. Once accredited, the agency must uphold the standards by submitting an annual report and is reviewed again in five years.
Lee County Parks & Recreation operates more than 37,000 acres of parks, preserves, facilities and other sites. The department oversees four recreation centers, 10 community centers, community parks, Conservation 20/20 lands, greenways, the Calusa Blueway Paddling Trail, four year-round pools, seven boat ramps, sports complexes including the Boston Red Sox and Minnesota Twins spring training facilities, dog-friendly facilities and Gulf of Mexico beach parks.
Lieutenant governor visits islands to hear about hurricane recovery
Florida Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nunez visited Sanibel and Captiva islands in October to speak with government and business leaders in the wake of two serious tropical storms this fall, two years after monster Hurricane Ian hit in 2022.
"I feel like the back-to-back storms really made people pay attention to the warning and do a better job of preparing," Nunez told Sanibel City Manager Dana Souza, Sanibel Mayor Richard Johnson and San- Cap Chamber president and Chief Executive Officer John Lai at an informal meeting at the chamber visitor center that kicked off an island tour with the state official.
The island leaders agreed they saw more compliance to evacuation orders with Hurricane Milton on Oct. 9. "We learned a lot from Ian...." said Souza. "(Residents) learned that storm surge doesn't always fall apart."
The threesome praised the roles the Florida Department of Transportation played in traffic control during Hurricane Helene on Sept. 26 and the island government in getting people back to the island in record time after Milton.
The lieutenant governor asked for honest feedback about things that don't work for recovery at the state level.
"For us it's going to be the resiliency issues and what funding is there for the future," said Souza, adding more cooperation is needed between state and federal levels. "The state permitted our permits very quickly. We still don't have federal permits... The state has provided everything we need to go and federal takes a year. It's not acceptable on that level."
In the bigger picture of day-to-day operations, Lai emphasized the need to bring island accommodations back more strongly and the importance of "letting the world know there are parts of Florida that we want people to visit still."
"We have some campaigns we're going to launch here on the island, and then Visit Florida, we'll dovetail it with their campaign," he said.
City of Fort Myers awarded Achievement of Excellence in Procurement
The city of Fort Myers has been awarded the 2024 Annual Achievement of Excellence in Procurement from the National Procurement Institute, Inc. The AEP award is earned by agencies that demonstrate a commitment to procurement excellence and recognizes procurement organizations that embrace innovation, professionalism, productivity, leadership and e-procurement.
The AEP program encourages the development of excellence and continued organizational improvement to earn recognition annually. This year, the city of Fort Myers was one of only 72 cities throughout the United States and Canada to receive the award.
For 2024, there were 198 successful applicants including 72 cities, 49 counties, 25 special districts, 23 school districts, 16 higher education agencies, five state or provincial agencies and eight others.
"Receiving this distinction for the second year in a row is a significant honor that reflects the dedication and fiscal accountability of our team," said Denise Finn, procurement manager for the city of Fort Myers. "It affirms our commitment to uphold the highest standards of transparency, efficiency and professionalism in public procurement for the city, safeguarding local taxpayer dollars in managing solicitations and awarding contracts."
To learn more, visit the Procurement Services section of www.cityftmyers.com .
Local Red Sox scholarship applications now open online
The Boston Red Sox Foundation will award $5,000 scholarships in the spring of 2025 to one deserving student from each of the 15 public high schools in Lee County.
Again this year, all Lee County charter and ALS schools are also included with one $5,000 scholarship also being awarded to a student from this category for a total of 16 scholarships worth $80,000.
Applications are now open and available at redsoxfoundation.org/leecountyscholarship.
The deadline to apply is Jan. 10, 2025. All applications should be submitted to .
The scholarships are for academically talented students who have shown a commitment to community service and are pursuing a two- or four-year degree at any college or university.
Scholarship funds are raised annually from proceeds of the Red Sox annual Swings for the Sox Golf Tournament. To date, the Swings for the Sox has raised more than $675,000 for local charities and specifically $580,000 for the scholarship program.
David Doran, principal of ReRoute Americas, has been the title sponsor of the Swings For The Sox for the tenth consecutive year. Doran has donated more than $100,000 to the Red Sox scholarship program.
"We're giving these students a seat that they can now take to the next step. They have everything in front of them and there's no reason that somebody can tell them that they can't do something they want to achieve," said Doran. "I never got a degree and I'm happy these students are going to college, and they can do anything they put their minds to."
