•         October 6, 2006

The five developers presented their plans to the site committee on September 29, 2006.  By October 6^th, the committee had narrowed their choices to three:

Ø      #1--The Ansin Site

Ø      #2--The Hudson Sun-River Site

Ø      #4--The Eagle Site

The committee eliminated the Land Solutions and the Crystal offers as the areas proved to be too remote. Both sites located well outside boundaries of urban growth plan for Charlotte County and the costs for infrastructure would be astronomical.

•         October 27, 2006

            The Charlotte County Site Committee recommends the Hudson Sun-River Ranch site despite Charlotte County Commissioners adoption of a resolution urging FGCU to select a site within the county’s urban service area. The Hudson-Sun River Ranch project lies one mile outside of urban growth service area. Hudson- SunRiver offered $51 million for the newcampus and also included:

»         Property valued at $9.7 million

»         $5 million in ‘seed’ money

»         $10 million to extend water & sewer lines

»         $15 million to build a waste-water treatment plant

• October 31, 2006:

In a vote of 10-1, FGCUs Board of Trustees accepted Dr. Merwin’s recommendation of the Hudson- Sun River Ranch offer. The dissenting vote came from Charlotte County member Lindsey Harrington. In an October 31^st interview with Charlotte Sun reporters, Harrington commented that he believed the University should be “working hand-in-hand” with Charlotte County Commissioners on selecting a site, referring to commissioner resistance to the Hudson site. He also addressed access concerns for the area, believing there could be future problems for the I-75 and US 41 corridors if the campus is built on US 17.  The Charlotte Sun newspaper reports widespread contention among local county residents, especially in view of the impact the impact will have on urban growth management plans. 

 November 6, 2006

Florida Gulf Coast University President William Merwin attends     the Florida Board of Governor’s meeting in Tallahassee to propose the

new satellite campus in Charlotte County.  The BOG rejects Merwin’s proposal, stating conflicts with county officials runs counter to the  purpose of the University.  They also question the size of the proposed satellite campus, regarding such a large endeavor to be opposing the idea of what a branch campus should be.  They instruct Merwin to go no further with offers to Charlotte County.  Rather, the University is to wait for Charlotte County to offer a proposal to the University themselves.  Merwin, in the meantime, defends his decision of the Hudson-Sun River site and argues the impracticality of Charlotte County commissioners rejection of the site.