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Missing contract hampers building of Fort Myers’ Gulf Coast University By SANDRA L. NORTUNEN Staff Write It’s almost turning into a riddle ~ how many governmental agen cies does it take to build a universi ty. When you’re talking about Fort Myers’ Florida Gulf Coast University — the state’s newest uni versity — a new group seems to be joining the pack every week. The latest group to get involved, or in the way, is the state comptroller, the agency controlling all the state’s money. The state comptroller became a player in the construction of FGCU when it refused to send a $1.6 mil lion check to the Lee County Commission for the construction of Tree Lane Avenue. Because Lee County did not receive the check, the commission did not award the bid for Tree Lane’s construction at its Wednesday meeting. The reason the state comptroller did not send them a check was, because a written agreement between the commission and the state Board of Regents does not exist, said Alan Stonecipher, director of communications for the Board of Regents. Stonecipher said the involved parties are currently working on creating a contract to satisfy the state comptroller. “Basically, we’ve agreed to pro vide that amount of money, and basically it’s a question of getting the paperwork right,” Cipher said. “At this point, it’s clear that that money needs to get down there as soon as possible.” Just two weeks ago, FGCU offi cials, the Lee County commission chairman, state representatives and state Board of Regents chancellor all met to talk about who would pay for the construction of Tree Lane Avenue. They previously had been arguing about how much money the state was supposed to pay for impact fees on the university. By the end of the meeting, Lee County chairman Doug St. Cerny was told he would receive a check for $1.6 million within a few days. That did not hap pen. The construction of Tree Lane Avenue is crucial to the continued development of FGCU, because water lines need to be connected under the road, said James Sutherland, FGCU’s construction manager and project manager of Brown Root Building Co. of Clearwater. The water line is plan ning to be completed by Oct. 23. Sutherland said the university can still be opened by August 1997 with cooperation from the groups involved and the right components. “Anything can be done with time and money,” he said. “This has cer tainly delayed what we intended to do, but it really just depends on when the water is available in time.” Bill Doughty, public information officer for FGCU, said he’s expect ing the bid to be awarded to APAC Construction at Wednesday’s county commission meeting. Doughty said he wondered if the county couldn’t have just awarded the bid and cov ered the cost with its own funds until it received a check. “Everybody’s been wondering why we can’t just all get along, but I guess it has to be this way,” Doughty said. “Everybody is frus trated with this whole process, but it will work out.” Doughty said construction on FGCU’s utility plant and two acade mic classroom buildings has begun. The library, student service cen ter, broadcast center and family resource center probably will not be completed by August 1997, he said, but they should be done by January 1998.
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Englewood Sun
Englewood, Florida, US
Fri, Aug 02, 1996
Page 7
Full Page
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Filemon E.
USA 02 Dec 2025
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