
The Goodland Water Tank, built in the 1970s to service Moran’s Marina at the foot of the Goodland Bridge.
By Barry Gwinn
Following the Easter holidays next spring (Easter Sunday is April 16) Collier County will begin replacing the 35-year-old main waterline into Goodland. Prior to 1981, Goodland depended solely on water collected in cisterns, or from artesian wells. Many visitors brought their own supplies of water, cistern water being unpalatable to many. In the late 1970s the Marco waterworks ran a line down San Marco Road to a recently built water tank, servicing Moran’s Marina at the west end of the Goodland Bridge. By 1980, Allen Greer, the owner of Drop Anchor Trailer Park and an early mover and shaker in Goodland, prevailed upon Collier County to extend this line into Goodland. As a result of his importunities, The Goodland Water District (GWD) was established and, in 1981, the line was extended into Goodland. From that time, the GWD would be buying its water from Marco Island. It was (and remains) too costly for the county to build a water line from one of its mainland water works. The GWD serviced residences and merchants in Goodland and Key Marco. This arrangement was largely satisfactory; the water tasted OK, there were few interruptions, and the rates held fairly steady. Then in the spring of 2011, the county dropped a bombshell.
In March 2011, Tom Wides, operations director, Collier

project location map

Earth View begins mapping existing water line, July 2015
During the ensuing 4 years, rusting valves caused periodic leaks, necessitating expensive repairs and occasional interruptions of service. After testing along the line, the county determined that replacement of the line could be put off no longer. On June 14, the commissioners accepted a bid of $612,305 for replacement of the main water line into Goodland. Grady Minor, of Ft. Myers will be doing the heavy lifting. An informational meeting was held at the Marco Library on August 17. At the meeting, it was announced that the construction would begin in October and be completed by March 2017. Damas and Patty Kirk, owners of the Kirk Fish Market, were dumbfounded. “[At an earlier informational meeting in January], they told us that the construction would be from June to October,” Patty said, “We told them we had no objection to that.”

Water main break, May 2015. Photos by Barry Gwinn

Water main break, May 2015. Photos by Barry Gwinn
At 8:30 AM the next morning, Patty Kirk called Commissioner Fiala on her cell phone. Fiala, vacationing in Ohio Amish country, picked right up. She said she was on her way to an Amish wedding, but after hearing, what Kirk had to say, said she would get right on it. “This can’t happen,” Kirk told her, “but we have no problem if it starts in April.” “I could tell that Patty was upset and agitated by this,” Fiala said, “It was obvious that doing this work during season might affect her seafood business tremendously, as she delivers to so many restaurants in the area. I knew that the other restaurants were just as concerned.” An hour later, Patty’s phone rang. It was Martinez, telling her that the project would be postponed until mid-April.
Next edition – Just what is in store for Goodland?
Barry was a practicing attorney before he worked as a Special Agent of the FBI for 31 years. Barry worked for several government agencies another ten years before retiring to Goodland in 2006. Barry is presently the Secretary of the Goodland Civic Association.
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