Members Come Through on Resilient Lee Feedback
On November 30th, 2023 Friends of BERT sent our members an email asking to provide feedback to the Resilient Lee Task Force on initiatives that they have been working on over the past year, and boy did our members come through in a big way! (See the results below) The initiatives are plans on how to use a $1.1B grant received from HUD as a result of the damage brought by Hurricane Ian. Working closely with members of the Resilient Lee Recovery Task Force and branch committee members, the Friends of Bonita Estero Rail Trail have been involved with this effort from the beginning.
We started by creating and submitting several initiative proposals that describe how BERT would directly benefit the community, (e.g. providing access to natural resources, creation of infrastructure for flood mitigation, contributing to economic recovery by diversifying tourism, etc.). Additionally, many Friends of BERT members then participated directly by providing feedback through the online surveys and Resilient Lee community town halls held during the year.
Although the Bonita Estero Rail Trail benefits several of the initiatives described in the Resilient Lee plan the task force chose to summarize the initiative under the Natural Resources – Reviving Public Recreation Initiative Profile described as follows:
“Expand public access through growing the multi-modality trail network and linear parks in the region. Unique opportunities to convert unused rail lines to new trails and pathways are being considered in transportation planning. Lee County Metropolitan Planning Organization is an established regional coordinating body focused on transportation. They have produced a feasibility study on Rails to Trails that supports the expansion of acquiring land for a multimodal network of multi-use paths that could foster active linear parks, contribute to water management, protect native habitats for plants and animals and educate the public about natural resources. Together the region can apply for funding, determine the feasibility of projects, and build community support for reviving public recreation spaces”.
Resilient Lee Feedback Results on BERT
Once again our members came through!! The task force received 244 comments supporting Reviving Public Recreation Initiative Profile , (which BERT is a big part of), representing 43% of all comments received by the Resilient Lee Task Force. This will go a long way in helping secure grant funding when the time comes for paying for the rail-trail. Thanks to everyone who providing feedback on BERT, but also on all the other worthy initiatives!
Review the feedback email with additional information and with links to Resilient Lee here.
