Conservation may hit ballot

A controversial land-buying program in Lee County has spent $300 million of taxpayer money since it began in 1997.

Now, Lee County voters may finally have a say in whether to keep the land-conservation program in place.

Cecil Pendergrass, the chairman of the board of county commissioners, told a meeting of real estate executives recently that the county could put the issue on the 2016 ballot. “The voters have a right to vote on it,” says Pendergrass.