Lee's Conservation 20/20 buys land from Waterman

BUYER: Lee County, Fort Myers

SELLER: Waterman at Bonita LLC

PROPERTY: a portion of land east of Interstate 75 and north of Liberty Youth Ranch, Bonita Springs

PRICE: $2.07 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $4.18 million, February 2005 (includes additional properties)

LAW FIRM ON DEED: Henderson Franklin Starnes & Holt PA, Fort Myers

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Lee County purchased 136 acres east of Interstate 75 near Wellfield Road. The $2.07 million price equated to $15,184 per acre.

The vacant land purchase is the second part of a 428-acre purchase of conservation land in the county's Density Reduction/Groundwater Resource Area, the spot that contains most of the region's groundwater. The county bought the first 292 acres in November for $4.44 million.

The acquisition was to keep the land preserve open space to protect the groundwater recharge area, maintain a natural flood protection for the upstream drainage areas and preserve the natural wetland system. The land will also allow Lee County to reconnect water from eastern Bonita Springs to the Spring Creek, which should reduce the potential for flooding at Lightner Creek and Imperial River.

The Conservation 20/20 program buys environmentally important lands for preservation. It is funded through a property tax of 50 cents for every $1,000 of taxable property value. Since the first purchase in 1997, the County's Conservation 20/20 program has made 103 land buys. It has a land inventory of 22,956 acres.