Assignment 5A: Identifying Local Opportunities

1. "U-turn on car resort?" by Julia Roberts of the News Leader (Fernandina Beach, FL)

• Link:
•  U-turn on car resort?
• About
• In this article, the partners in Signature Land LLC had no choice but to scale back on their plan of creating an auto-centric resort, by removing most of the major planned features of the resort- due to complaints regarding noisiness and increased traffic. 
• What? 
• The problems presented in the story include the issues of building a top notch resort on the Amelia River Golf Club regarding high increase of traffic and noise levels. In which, the proposal of the resort was immediately opposed vocally by the community. This issue led to another problem of the proposers of the resort, Signature Island, having to degrade their proposal by a third, in response to the community's concern. On top of dissatisfaction from the community, the company is also now having to face a degraded proposal, a decrease in economic impact of the proposed resort, and a decrease in revenue. 
• Who? 
• The community concerned with having to face increase in traffic and noise level, and Signature Island, having to degrade their anticipated investment and proposal- negatively impacting the economic and amenity standpoint of their resort. 

2. "New stormwater tax coming to Bonita" by Thaddeus Mast of The Banner (Bonita Springs, FL)

• Link:
• New stormwater tax coming to Bonita
• About
• In this article, the City Council of Bonita Springs have approved a stormwater utility fee that will be placed on their fellow residents' tax bill starting next year. This added fee will be used to pay for flood mitigation and water based projects. 
• What? 
• The problems presented in the article include the implementation of an additional tax on residents' tax bills, in order to pay for stormwater related maintenance. Residents of Bonita Springs are looking at a $50 per property stormwater utility fee, that will be added to their tax bill starting next year. The city is offering discounts and credits depending on the home of the resident, though it is not guaranteed that everyone will be able to take advantage of this discount. 
• Who? 
• The Bonita Springs residents, as they are having to face an additional tax fee annually to pay for stormwater related maintenance and flood mitigation. This will further more be unfortunate for the poorer families of the city, that are not able to receive community discounts. 

3. "Dirty dining: Roaches, other insects, improperly stored food found at Bradenton-area restaurants" by Ryan Ballogg of the Bradenton Herald

• Link: 
• Dirty dining: Roaches, other insects, improperly stored food found at Bradenton-area restaurants
• About
• In this article, recent inspections of Manatee County restaurants came back with unpleasant results. Several restaurants were conviction of health violations including having dead/live insects on site and other forms of contamination. 
• What? 
• The problems presented in the article include the many health violations found in many Bradenton-area establishments. Inspectors were able to find dead or live insects on site, lack of employee hand washing, soiled ceilings, improperly stored food, and lack of contamination prevention on single-use items. And this wasn't just at one establishment, as inspectors were able to find a vast variety of health violations along the Bradenton area. In which, the establishments are either met with an emergency shutdown, citations including financial penalty, and low customer reviews. 
• Who? 
• The customers are faced with the problem of dining in a health violated establishment, filled with contamination that could lead to many health risk factors. The establishments themselves are faced with the problem of jeopardizing their company in terms of facing citation and loss of customer loyalty. 

4. "Orchid will repair Dorian dune damage" by Janet Begley of Indian River Press Journal

• Link:
•  Orchid will repair Dorian dune damage
• About
• In this article, the town of Orchid is now having to look at spending thousands of dollars to repair dunes damaged by Hurricane Dorian. In which, they would have to be taking money out of the town's yearly budget. They are attempting to act fast, in fear of another storm taking damage. 
• What? 
• The problems presented in the article include the amount of money that needs to be spent and pulled out of the town's budget in order to repair the damaged dunes, as well as the amount of work that has to be done in a short amount of time, in order to prevent the already fragile dune system from becoming destroyed in another storm. The town is looking at exceeding its current permit's threshold of sand of 11,900 cubic yards.
• Who? 
• Orchid is facing the problem here, having to deal with the many negative aspects of trying to repair damage done on their dunes from Hurricane Dorian. 

5. "Ragu pasta sauces recalled after plastic fragments found" by Gary Dinges of The Gainesville Sun

• Link: 
• Ragu pasta sauces recalled after plastic fragments found
• About
• In this article, jars of the Ragu-brand pasta sauce are being recalled due to the potential containment of plastic fragments. 
• What? 
• The problems presented in the article include the mass recall of the Ragu company's jars of pasta sauce due to containment of plastic fragments. The company will be losing revenue due to this recall, as consumers who have the recalled pasta sauces are able to receive a free replacement. The company is also requesting that the sauce is returned to be examined. 
• Who? 
• Mizkan America, the company that owns Ragu, is facing the problem of a high revenue lost in their company due to having to call for a recall in their product that included plastic fragments.