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HAPB Minutes 03/21/2025 Draft MINUTES OF THE COLLIER COUNTYHISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL PRESERVATION BOARD MEETING 4261 40th Ave SE, Naples, Florida Gore Nature Center March 21, 2025 LET IT BE REMEMBERED, the Collier County Historical Archaeological Preservation Board, in and for the County of Collier, having conducted business herein, met on this date at 10:00 A.M. in REGULAR SESSION at the Gore Nature Center, 4261 40th Ave SE, Naples, Florida, with the following members present: Chairman: Zachary Burch Rachel Hansen Henry Sentowski Cindy Carroll ALSO PRESENT: Ray Bellows, Zoning Manager – Growth Management Division Summer Araque, Supervisor- Environmental Conservation Collier Matthew Denison, Manager- Environmental Conservation Collier Shane Duff, President- Cypress Cove Land keepers Linda Weinland, Board Member- Cypress Cove Land keepers Any persons needing the verbatim record of the meeting may request a copy of the audio recording from the Collier County Growth Management Division Department of Planning and Zoning. I. Roll Call/ Attendance A quorum was established in the boardroom II. AGENDA REVIEW: addendum to add the agenda (No changes) Hansen made a motion to approve the agenda. Sentowski seconded it. Motion passed unanimously III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Approval of the meeting minutes for January 17, 2025 (No changes) Sentowski made a motion to approve the previous January 17, 2025 meeting minutes. Carroll seconded it. Motion passed unanimously. Approval of the meeting minutes for February 21, 2025 Changes: Barry’s name should be capitalized Number 3, the word “received” is spell wrong Number 4, the word “finalize” should be “finalized” Number 4 B, City of Everglades should be capitalized Number 4 C, should be worded as “hold the March Meeting at the Gore Nature Center” Number 5, CLG should be written as “Certified Local Government” Number 7, “Home Depot project” is actually “The Train Depot project” Hansen made a motion to approve the changes to the previous February 21, 2025 meeting minutes. Carroll seconded it. Motion passed unanimously. IV. OLD BUSINESS Carroll made a motion to switch items IV. and V. on the agenda. Hansen seconded it. Motion passed unanimously A. Discussion of Train Depot letter Burch- I did send the letter, I had a conversation yesterday with the Everglades City Attorney, they said they are more than eager to have the building restored. There was actually a foreclosure sale on that property yesterday, but it was canceled at the last minute. My understanding there are many outstanding code violations on it through the city; they have up to this point not inflicted any financial fines related to those code violations, but that time is coming near. Here in late April, if there’s not some motion on rectifying some of those codes and safety issues they will begin to levy fines; which could potential either lead to incentivizing or encouraging the improvements necessary or another potential foreclosure. Burch- I think at this point, we could meet with the Everglades Historical Society, or wait and see if there’s a possible change in ownership Sentowski- Does the city have a date when they will discuss this? Burch- I think as we get into late April or May Bellow- Do you want me to follow up with the city to see if it’s going to be discussed by the next month to put it on the upcoming following agenda? Burch-Sure either or is fine B. Gore Nature Center Historic Designation- March 21, 2025, site visit discussion Araque- we are in a due diligence period on purchasing the property, we’ll probably close on the property, the earliest by June. Part of that process is giving you all the tour on the property, the next step would be to make an application; but we’ll probably wait till we close on the property. Sentowski- This house sits on ten acres; this is what you’re purchasing in addition to the 170 acres? Araque- The 170 acres was the original acquisition purchased by the County in 2018, of the land that surrounds the home outside of the ten acres. Since then, we purchased an additional 100 acres of conservation land? For a total of 180 acres. I will let Shane talk now. Duff- My wife and I move here in 2017 from Upstate New York. One day we decided to come to an open house here. I was asked to join the board and six months in, a situation happened and I ended up taking a leadership role within the organization. We have tried to keep the house as original as Dr. Gore left it; when he built it he left little to no impact on the grounds where he then turned it to an educational nature center. Carroll- So what exactly is Cypress Cove Vision? Duff- I believe we resonated with Dr. Gore’s approach which is to try and pull in as much to the preserve as possible, and acquiring more land, and getting more schools to come visit. Burch- How many outstanding properties are out here? Denison- Basically in between in a lot of areas around the roads there could be around 500 to 600 acres. Araque- Generally speaking acquisition is currently on hold right now, the board wants to revise the purchasing policy; we’re hoping that resolves quickly, but we send letters every year. However, north of here we have a target area, that may become our pre-approved area. Denison-From 2023 till now, we’ve acquired 31 parcels from October of 2023 till now of 2025 Cypress Cove land Keepers then proceeded give a tour of the Gore Nature Center, talking about the history and legacy of Dr. Gore and showed why it is important to conserve the land. They highlight areas of places that they help upkeep around the center V. New Business (None) VI. REVIEW OF PROJECT AND ACTIVITY LOG • Rosemary is now owned and designated • Continuing to Work with Jonathan Rodriguez on headstones and signage • Close to doing a DO with Barron Collier companions on some landscaping but there some permit issues • Working on trying to restore the little cottages, the state offered an extension on the grant contract • The Government Growth Project at the ranch, a bid has been received and now waiting for the board to get on the agenda VII. PUBLIC COMMENTS (NONE) VIII. HAPB COMMENTS (None) IX. ADJOURNMENT Motion to Adjourn There being no further business for the good of the County, the meeting was adjourned at 12:00 p.m. COLLIER COUNTY HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL PRESERVATION BOARD Zachary Burch, Chairman These minutes were approved by the Board/Chairman on , as presented (choose one) , or as amended