Our History

How Bonita Springs Utilities Began

The Bonita Banner reported on a February 1970 meeting of the Bonita Springs Board of Realtors. The guest speaker was Dr. Stanley Kole, an oral and facial surgeon who practiced in Chicago and spent winters in Bonita Springs: Dr. Kole stressed a number of problems that existed or could exist in the water system then used in Bonita Springs.

The encroachment of Fort Myers and Naples, which eventually would cause pollution to the present well and septic tank system.

Existing bacteria and viruses in our water. Bacteria count can be made but viruses cannot be seen.

The inability of the body to absorb impurities as the individual gets older.

We have nearly every trace element found in a polluted stream.

People don’t realize our water supplies have changed from years ago. Pesticides and other foreign elements flow in underground streams and into our wells, along with contamination from the excessive number of septic tanks that we now have in the area.

Dr. Kole said that pure water is a must, particularly in growing communities, and that as the population increases the danger of epidemics and illness is a real threat with the system then used in Bonita Springs. Dr. Kole complimented the committee, headed by Paul Schmidt as chairman, for putting so much effort behind a central water system that would benefit not only the residents today but also the future citizens of our fine community.

Organizers of the Bonita Springs Water System needed commitments from 1,000 property owners to secure the FHA loan needed to build the system. Each homeowner paid $108 for a residential water meter, and commercial meters ranged from $132 to $317. Water fees were projected at $6 per month for 6,000 gallons.

“Bonita Springs was born today,” said Bill Armstrong, president of

Tracking the progress of the recruitment effort in
March 1970 were (left to right) water system
officers Arnold Glazier, Harvey Haines, Paul
Schmidt, David Edge and Byron Liles. The Bonita
Banner reported, “The quicker the gauge goes
up the sooner the Water System can get started.”

Bonita Springs Chamber of Commerce, during August 1971 groundbreaking festivities for the Bonita Springs Water Treatment Plant on East Terry Street. Joining in the celebration were Bonita Springs Water System Board Member Charles Bomar, Water System Superintendent Stanley Parnell, Board Members Ben Nelson, Sr. and Harvey Haines, System Engineer Bill Cline, Board Member Byron Liles, Lee County Commissioner Jim Sweeney (with shovel), Board Members David Edge and Clarence Wunderlich, Board President Paul A. Schmidt and Betty Micelli, the system’s first paid employee.

In 1970, a Farmers’ Home Administration loan for $976,000 was secured for the development of a central water system to serve 900 users in Bonita Springs. In 1971, a second loan, for an additional $266,000, was secured, so that the system could serve 1,200 users.

The Bonita Banner reported the arrival of 80 fire hydrants “as the first visible signs of progress” for the system in March 1971, and in May the first of what eventually would be 50 miles of pipeline was installed.

By July 1972, the system was in operation and water began to flow to 800 customers. By the following summer, the water system was serving more than 1,200 users.