At the City Council meeting on January 6, we received our regular monthly reports from the Sheriff’s Department, Greater Naples Fire, the Finance Administrator, the Utility Department, and Planning & Zoning and Code Enforcement.

During the council members’ comments, a request was made by City Councilman McComas to schedule a public workshop to inform both our residents and other members of City Council of the ongoing discussions being held with Florida Gulf Coast University’s Water School to establish a research partnership and facility in Everglades City. These discussions began in February 2025 between Councilman McComas, FGCU President Aysegul Timur, and Michael Wynn, Chairman of the FGCU Board of Trustees. Subsequent to this breakfast meeting, an in-person meeting was organized in Everglades City on June 20, 2025.

Representing FGCU were President Timur, Chairman Wynn, Water School Dean Greg Tolley, Director of the Vester Field Station Mike Parsons, Chair of the Department of Ecology and Environmental Studies Serge Thomas, and Vice President of Strategic Initiatives Eileen Deluca. Attending on behalf of Everglades City were Mayor Howie Grimm, City Councilman Michael McComas, and City Attorney Zach Lombardo. These discussions covered a range of topics, from water quality to mangrove intrusion within the city limits.

Dean Tolley invited us to tour the FGCU Water School on November 14, 2025, to see the work they were currently doing and to meet additional instructional staff members, Brian Bovard, Jaeanine Richards, and Don Duke. We were joined by local business owners and representatives Jimmy Wheeler, Brandon Acosta, Ricky Smith, Holly Livingston Dudley, and Carrie Doxsee. After a lengthy discussion of environmental issues impacting our local fishery and city boundaries, we toured the Water School research labs.

Dean Tolley asked us to hold our next meeting back in Everglades City, which Mayor Grimm and I agreed should be a workshop so that the other members of City Council could be brought up to date on these discussions and to meet the requirements of the Sunshine Law, as well as to inform the local population of our ongoing efforts to establish a long-term partnership with FGCU’s Water School. We are currently investigating dates at the end of February for this public workshop.