If you’ve been following our last two weeks of stories on this matter, you read that a private utility contractor who currently provides water service to parts of the barrier islands now was attempting to be considered as the primary utility in that area for central sewage.

The pitch-apple is a native tree and loves the salt spray. It grows well in full sun and tolerates sandy soil, which is ideal for Island trees. The pitch-apple has coarse evergreen leaves, solitary white or rose flowers and a whitish, resinous fruit, which is poisonous. It makes an ideal hedge but also can grow to be a large tree, so it is quite versatile.

According to the last U.S. Census Bureau statistics, the Lee County portion of Gasparilla Island has 1,130 homestead-exempt people living here, which is a 41.8 percent decrease since 2020. The same area recorded 1,720 people in 2010, 1,500 in 2000 and 777 in 1990. If you go back to the 1980 figures above, that means 1980 was the last year for an increase in population that the Lee County portion of the island has had.

If you read last week’s edition, you will remember that we wrote a story with information garnered primarily from someone who was claiming that the Florida Public Service Commission had denied a need for Little Gasparilla residents (and other barrier island residents) to find a different way to get rid of their sewage and wastewater. You read that Charlotte County Commissioners who had been 100 percent for the plan to find a solution were puzzled when the barrier islands were denied this option by the PSC. You also read that there were numerous septic systems at island homes that were a hazard, as they were entirely submerged during certain high tides … and some that were completely submerged at almost every high tide.

The cost of living in a very desirable area just caught up with a lot of people in Lee County, and whether or not you have a homestead exemption, it still feels like a pretty good bite out of anyone’s budget.
For some people, it was an almost 20 percent bite this year.