Lee commissioners vote 5-0 to approve Alva sewer line

Neighbors are frustrated about what they call shady back-door deals.

A stretch of land in Alva is at the center of it all.

Lee County commissioners voted on a controversial sewer line there.

For the second time this year, the commissioners voted 5-0 to approve a sewer and water extension into Alva that was not popular with nearby residents, but unlike the last meeting, this time, the commissioners had plenty to say.

Dozens of Alva residents, one by one, three minutes at a time, again pleaded with commissioners not to vote yes. They also took offense, not just to the vote, but to what happened behind the scenes two months prior.

Elly Hagen of Alva pointed to public records showing a series of private meetings. In those, developer Pat Neal walked from out of one commissioner’s office into another, four times in one day.

“A chain of such meetings involving multiple elected officials with the same stakeholders is illegal,” said Hagen.

Lobbyist Terry Miller, who is also manages the campaigns of four of the five commissioners, sat in on three of those meetings, plus a forth with commissioner Mike Greenwell.

None of the five commissioners would agree to an on-camera interview after the meeting.

Commissioner Ruane said during it that he did not violate the sunshine law.

“This issue quite frankly is insulting, because the facts aren’t there, but to violate sunshine, to break the law for a job i get paid nothing for. It’s so infactual, so incorrect and so insulting in so many ways,” Ruane said.

Ruane also pointed to his reason for voting yes.

“This is water and sewer transmission that we’re doing. In my professional opinion, sewer is much better than septic,” he said.

The next step is commissioner greenwell said he would organize a public workshop for the concerned citizens.