The Captiva Community Panel (Panel) exists as a not for profit organization to serve the Captiva community by maintaining and enhancing the historic pattern of development on this barrier island. Such historical growth has consisted of unobtrusive, low-density residential use, coupled with limited commercial development and vehicular traffic. Sensitive to common concerns, Captiva is to be maintained within an environment of clean offshore waters, diverse and healthy marine life and robust native vegetation.

The Panel shall set forth the goals necessary to achieve any and all objectives with an overriding respect for the beautiful, pristine natural surroundings. The Panel shall provide Lee County with such policies necessary to meet these goals and objectives and to assure their acceptance into the Lee County Comprehensive Land Use Plan (Lee Plan) and Land Development Code. The Panel is enabled by agreement with Lee County and pursuant to the procedures and criteria set forth in Lee County Administrative Code AC-13-3 (adapted from Estero Community Planning Panel bylaws). This agreement with Lee County serves to further develop and maintain incentive and/or regulatory programs, intended to insure the long-term protection and enhancement of our island environment. Primary objectives must include the requisite planning necessary to protect and preserve Captiva Island's wetland habitats, pure water quality, natural upland habitats, accessible community facilities, appropriate infrastructure, historic land use patterns and other significant features of Captiva Island (adapted from the Lee Plan, Goal 13 and Objective 13.1).

Section 2 - Implementation

In order to serve the Captiva community and accomplish this mission, the Panel will achieve consensus through use of the following action guidelines:

1. Community participation in all things done by the Panel shall be of paramount importance thus, through eliciting Captiva community participation, gathering ideas/input and providing a forum for the varying interests of residents, property owners, business entities and other interested parties, the Panel shall best be able to serve the planning requirements of Captiva. In recognizing the needs of the Panel's constituents, while committing to programs which protect the sensitive nature of the Island's natural environment, the Panel's objectives will be achieved through reasonable Captiva consensus. The Panel shall provide such information to Lee County in the form of recommendations on community planning for environmental and land-use initiatives and such other related information including dissenting perspectives for the further edification of Lee County.
2. Contracting as needed for the services of staff and/or other professionals and always working in concert with regulatory agencies which have oversight on Captiva-related issues.
3. Proceeding with any research, data analysis, and result compilations in an objective, organized and deliberate manner which recognizes and elicits input from separate zones of common interest.
4. Funding and consensus will require obtaining cooperation, support, financial and other assistance from both public and private organizations such as the Captiva Civic Association and the Captiva Property Owners Association.
5. Informing Captiva property owners and organizations of dates, hearings, and overall progress of specific zoning matters, to encourage active participation in the process of these specific planning and zoning matters.
6. Following the procedures and criteria set forth in Lee County Administrative Code AC-13-3 (adapted from the Estero Community Planning Panel bylaws).
7. Providing an accessible public forum whereby Captiva property owners can:

a) Present projects requiring zoning variances,
b) Receive feedback from and answer questions of the Panel members,
c) Receive feedback from and answer questions of neighbors and other Captiva property owners, residents and organizations.

8. Advising Lee County of the perspectives of the Panel and other interested Captivans, including but not limited to those attending the public meeting(s) wherein any variance request is presented. It should be noted that the Panel has no decision-making authority concerning variance requests.
9. Presenting a balanced perspective on community and Panel views in all requests and recommendations offered to Lee County including dissenting opinions.

The Panel structure shall be determined according to the aforementioned Lee County agreement in conjunction with motions approved by majority vote of the Panel. The Panel shall consist of ten (10) voting members. Any such organization(s) appointing Panel members from a prior allotment of seats shall be required that their Chief Executive Officer (i. e., President or Chairperson) fill one of their allotted seats and such seat may not be delegated. The right to appoint Panel members shall be reserved solely to such approved organizations that publicly endorse and financially support the Panel.

Pursuant to the aforementioned agreement with Lee County, the Panel shall consist of five (5) representatives appointed by the Captiva Island Property Owners Association, Inc. (CPOA), two (2) representatives appointed by the Captiva Civic Association, Inc. (CCA) and an additional three (3) members to be appointed from the Captiva community by the Panel pursuant to the with consideration given to supporting a broad geographic representation of the island.

The community planning effort is subject to the Florida laws on Open Government (the Sunshine Laws), therefore the public must be given fair opportunity for public participation in the community planning efforts. The Panel must encourage and allow the participation of residents, property owners, the school district and other interested parties.

Section 2 - Meeting requirements and definitions

A. Reasonable notice of all Panel meetings pertaining to the community planning effort must be provided to the public. This means that meetings of the Panel shall be held and publicly noticed under the Florida open government laws ("Sunshine Law") and shall provide that:

1) All Panel meetings shall be open to the public including the news media.
2) The Panel must record and create minutes of all meetings. All Panel records pertaining to the community planning effort will be deemed public records and open for personal inspection by any person. Such minutes and recordings shall be maintained for public inspection as required by the applicable provisions of Florida Statutes including Lee County Administrative Code 13-3.
3) Written minutes of all Panel meetings will be prepared in a timely manner by the Secretary or a designee.
4) Written minutes of all Panel meetings shall be reviewed and approved by the Panel members.
5) Committees may keep and provide recorded minutes, or at the option of the committee Chairperson, may keep and provide written minutes.

B. The Panel may hold three types of meetings: Regular, Special and Emergency.

1) Regular Meetings are to be held on the second Tuesday of every month, except as modified by the Panel on a ten (10) day public notice. The Panel shall hold its annual meeting at the Regular April meeting of each year when elections of Officers and Panel members shall occur. The Panel shall also hold three budget meetings each year during Regular meetings. The first budget meeting shall take place in July, the second shall take place in October and the final budget meeting shall take place in November at which time it shall be adopted by the Panel.
2) Special meetings are any scheduled meetings which do not meet the requirements of an Emergency meeting, but are not occurring according to the rules for Regular meetings. Special meetings may be called by the President or at the request at of a majority of Panel members.
3) Emergency meetings may be called by the President or by a minimum of four Panel members. An Emergency meeting shall be considered only when an immediate and consequential impact of life or property safety or any other issue a prudent person would consider an emergency, faces the island. For example, response to a named storm would constitute an Emergency meeting.

Section 3 - Notification Guidelines

A) All Regular meetings shall be noticed by the publishing of an annual schedule stating the dates and times for the meetings from May through the following April.

1) This list shall be published as soon as possible after the annual Panel meeting in April.
2) Such notification of meetings of the full Panel shall include the posting of the meeting date and time in several public places, which may include, but is not limited to; local libraries, post offices, banks, supermarkets, chambers of commerce, civic associations, and community recreation areas.
3) In addition, these public meetings of the full Panel must be noticed in a local paper of daily or weekly publication. In lieu of a display advertisement, the notice may take the form of an article in a similar publication that provides the date, time and location of the public meeting.
4) All posted and published notices must provide the date, time and location of the public meeting.

B) Notice of all Special and Emergency meetings shall be given by the Panel administrator, if available, to all Panel members and to the media. Such notice shall also be posted on the bulletin at the Post Office, and at the Captiva Memorial Library or in the event of inaccessibility of such locations, such other public locations as can reasonably be expected to provide general notice to a large number of interested parties. In compliance with the "Sunshine Law" such notice must be given and in no event may be waived.

1) For Special meetings written notice of the meeting, along with its agenda items, shall be provided to each Panel member and the media no less than ten (10) days prior to the meeting, unless such Special meeting was scheduled during a Regular meeting of the Panel and is reflected in the minutes of that meeting.
2) Emergency meetings shall be held such time as notice thereof is given in compliance with the provisions of Section 3.A.2 and Section 3.A.4. For Emergency meetings, written and/or oral notice shall be given by the Panel administrator, if available, or by a designee appointed by any Panel member calling the meeting. Notice is still required to each Panel member, if available, requiring at least four Panel members to agree to hold the meeting and four Panel members must be present for the full meeting. Prior to scheduling an Emergency meeting, the media must be notified with the date, time, place of the meeting and the purpose for which it is called.

Section 4 - Decision making and rules of order

Each member will have one vote. Robert's Rules of Order shall govern the conduct of Panel meetings. This shall apply to all matters of form and decorum for the meetings. Interpretation of the rules, in the event of dispute, shall be made by the President of the Panel.

Section 5 - President's Obligation

It shall be the obligation of the Panel's President to run the meetings and enforce the actions of the Panel in accordance with the terms of these Bylaws. The Panel President shall also be responsible for managing the strategy of the agenda and the Panel's pursuance of the mission.

Section 6 -- Quorum

a) Fifty (50)% of the Panel members must be physically present at a Regular or Special meeting in order to constitute a quorum and enable action to be taken by the Panel. Members may participate and vote via teleconference, but telephonic presence shall not help constitute a quorum. Emergency meetings are the only meetings which allow exception to this clause, in which case at least four (4) Panel members must be in attendance and Panel members may attend and vote telephonically.
b) The Panel will meet monthly without regard to whether a quorum of members is able to attend. If a quorum is not constituted, no official actions may be taken by the Panel.

Section 7 - Voting

Except for Procedural and Recurring agenda items, unless otherwise waived by a motion passed by unanimously the Panel, voting shall be conducted via signed paper ballots. Said ballots shall be counted by the Secretary and, if so requested by any Panel member, by one other Panel member. In the case of a discrepancy in the count, the count shall be repeated until such time as the counts are the same. Such ballots shall be kept by the Secretary and made available for public inspection until such time as the Panel minutes reflecting the specifics of the vote have been approved by the Panel, at which time the ballots may be destroyed. Procedural and Recurring Agenda items, should voting be required, may be voted on by a simple show of hands.

For Regular and Special meetings, all issues brought before the Panel shall be set forth in writing and submitted for inclusion in the Agenda to either the President or the Administrator no less than two (2) calendar weeks before the meeting at which said issue(s) are intended to be considered.
Section 2 - Publishing the Agenda
The Panel Administrator shall prepare a formal Agenda for the next Regular or Special meeting and shall submit same to all Panel members no less than ten (10) calendar days before said meeting date. The Administrator shall also see that the Agenda is published on the Panel website no les than one (1) week prior to said meeting for public review and notice.

Section 3 - Variances

All persons submitting requests for Variances shall make their submissions to the Panel in writing and in a form and substance conforming specifically to the Lee County requirements for Variances.

Section 4 - Procedural, Recurring and Special Agenda Items.

Procedural and Recurring Agenda items shall be considered as items that are on the Agenda at every meeting. These items shall include, but not be limited to, the approval of the minutes, adjournment of the meeting, and the like. Special Agenda items shall be items that have been put on the agenda and are not anticipated to be continually recurring and/or procedural matters for the Panel. Special agenda items can carry over for multiple meetings and still not be considered Procedural and Recurring agenda items.
Items not placed on the agenda in accordance with these requirements may be discussed under the "new business" section of the meetings, but should not require any action which will need to be voted upon by the Panel. In the event of an emergency or time dependant item of some urgency, the Panel may vote to suspend this rule for such exceptional items only.

At its annual meeting the Panel shall elect, in the manner herein prescribed, Officers of the Panel who shall serve terms of up to two years or until the prescribed end of their term on the Panel, whichever period is the lesser. The terms of office shall commence at the Regular May meeting immediately following their election.
Mandatory Panel nominations and elections shall be held for the following offices: President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. The Panel may also have such other officers as may be designated from time to time by the Panel.
Election of officers may not occur without a quorum of the members being first established.

Section 2 - Qualification of the Officers

A new President will be chosen from the Panel members who have been on the Panel and have attended a minimum of twelve (12) meetings prior to his or her nomination as President. All other Officers, including Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer, will be chosen from the Panel members who shall have attended a minimum of six (6) meetings prior to his or her nomination and shall serve a term ending at the second May meeting of their regular Panel term or for the period ending with their regular term, whichever is the lesser period.

Section 3 - Officers term of office, rotation and eligibility

Any Panel member may nominate any eligible Panel member to serve as an Officer.

1) Nominations will be accepted in writing at a public meeting at least one month prior to the annual public meeting when a vote will be conducted to elect an officer.
2) A vote will be taken amongst all the Panel members from the nominee(s) list. The nominee(s) will consist of any eligible Panel members who have been nominated and have so agreed to serve if elected.
3) Panel members shall be allowed to vote solely for a nominee included in the formal list of nominated individuals. In the event a nominee fails to receive a majority of all votes, then the members shall immediately recast their votes in a new election. The only nominees eligible to receive votes shall be the two nominees receiving the most votes in the original election.
4) The nominee with the most votes will be appointed to serve.

Section 4 - Multiple Nominees

In the event that more than one person is nominated for any given office, the following procedure shall be employed: each Panel member then present shall write his or her choice for the office on a ballot, which shall then be collected by the Secretary. The Secretary shall then tabulate the ballots and announce the result. In the event that no nominee receives a majority of the votes of those present, only the two nominees receiving the highest number of votes shall be considered, and the process of voting shall continue until one of such nominees receives a majority of the votes of the Panel members present.

Section 5 - Responsibilities of Officers

a) The President

The President of the Panel shall preside at all meetings of the Panel, shall conduct the meetings in accordance with these Bylaws and Robert's Rules of Order, and shall act on behalf of the Panel in carrying out the purposes and decisions of the Panel. The President shall do and perform such duties as may be assigned by the Panel. The President is authorized to execute in the name of, and on behalf of, the "Captiva Community Panel" all certificates, contracts, and other documents or legal instruments authorized or issued by the Panel. The President shall be an ex-officio member of all committees of the Panel without power to vote, except the President shall not be a member of the Nominating Committee.

b) The Vice President

The Vice President shall perform all duties and exercise all powers of the President when the President is absent or otherwise unable to act or serve. The Vice President will also perform such other duties as may be prescribed and delegated to him or her by the Panel.

c) The Secretary

The Secretary (or from time to time, a designee) shall:

*be required to keep full and accurate minutes for all meetings of the Panel, transmit all notices required of the Panel by the By-Laws to members and the community at large,
*keep custody of all official records of the Panel,
*perform all duties incident to the office and such other duties as may be required of the Panel by the By-Laws,
*as needed and/or as required, attest to the signature of the President on any legal document or instrument.

d) The Treasurer

The Treasurer shall:

*have charge and custody of all Panel funds and financial records,
*keep and maintain adequate and correct accounts of the Panel business transactions in a manner consistent with applicable fiduciary principles and requirements,
*present the financial statements of the Panel at each Regular meeting, and at such other times as the Panel may determine,
*perform all duties incident to the Office of Treasurer including such other duties as may be required by the By-Laws, or that may be assigned by the Panel,
*serve as a member of the Finance Committee,
*remain aware of the fiduciary responsibility of the office, the Panel and all of its members.

Section 6 - Absence or Incapacity of Officers

In the event of absence, inability, legal incompetence or incapacitation, or refusal to act of any Officer, the Panel shall elect a successor to perform his or her respective duties at the next Regular or Special meeting of the Panel to fulfill the present term of that officer.

Section 7 - Resignation and Removal of Officers

An Officer may resign at any time by submitting a written resignation to the Panel. Said resignation shall become effective at the conclusion of the next Regular meeting, or at the time specified in the written resignation. Any officer may be removed by a majority vote of the Panel whenever, in its sole judgment, the best interests of the Panel will best be served by such removal.

a) All Panel members will, during their term of office:

*attend as many meetings as possible,
*promptly notify the Panel President and/or staff when they shall be unable to attend a meeting,
*be available via e-mail or fax to receive updates and background materials prior to meetings,
*agree to abide by the requirements set forth in these bylaws, other governing documents for the Panel and decisions made by the Panel.

b) All Panel members agree to review meeting materials prior to meetings, to be reasonably available to the community to hear their questions and concerns about island issues coming before the Panel, and be willing to bring those questions and concerns to the Panel for public discussion. A member's consistent failure to review materials prior to meetings, and further be unavailable to the public is inconsistent with the mission statement of the Panel, making it unacceptable behavior for a member, which could lead to removal of the member.

Section 2 - Terms of office

Panel members shall serve terms running for a period of twenty-four (24) consecutive calendar months, commencing at the Regular May meeting. Panel members may serve for up to two consecutive twenty-four (24) month terms, for a maximum of forty-eight (48) consecutive months. Panel members having completed two consecutive terms on the Panel shall not be eligible for re-appointment to the Panel unless and until a period of twelve (12) months has expired since the completion of the last term served by such Panel member. Presidents of other boards and/or organizations, serving in an organizationally designated seat are not subject to these limitations.

Section 3 - Staggered Terms of office

Staggered terms will begin in 2007 at the adoption of these bylaws. At the 2007 annual meeting (April) half of the members will be appointed to serve a one year term and half will be appointed to serve a two year term. This shall be done to provide stability and continuity within the Panel membership by reducing the probability that the entire panel may be voted out in the same year. Members will draw numbers at random to determine the length of their terms. Terms will then follow the staggering of seats at the annual meeting such that odd numbered seats will change on odd numbered years and even numbered seats will change on even numbered years. This will not apply to seats that have been designated as "ex officio" including the seats occupied by the Presidents or Chairpersons of the CCA and CPOA respectively. Therefore, the individuals representing those organizations may occupy such seats until the end of their term of office of the respective organization and no longer.

Section 4 -- Nomination and election of Panel members

a) Panel members shall be nominated to fill positions on the basis of the process by which they were originally appointed. Those seats designated for appointment by the CPOA shall be filled by the CPOA in a timely manner. Those seats designated for appointment by the CCA shall be filled by the CCA board in a timely manner.
b) Those seats designated for appointment by the Panel at large shall be filled by a public vote of the remaining Panel members, following the prescribed public nomination process. Nominations for these seats will be accepted at a public Panel meeting held at least four weeks prior to the time of the vote. These seats will be elected by a majority vote of the remaining Panel members.
-Will nominations be accepted from outside of the nominating committee?

Section 5 - Attendance

It is critical to the success of the Captiva Community Panel to have as many members present at every meeting. To accomplish this, unless excused by the President any member who misses more than two consecutive meetings in an annual year is subject to removal from the Panel, at the discretion of the Panel, to be replaced by someone who can consistently be present."
-With only 12 Regular meetings, is it too lax to say 2 consecutive meetings? Or can you say so many meetings per year?

Section 8 -- Removal and resignation

a) All Panel members except the two ex-officio members may be removed for cause by majority vote of the Panel at that time in office (?), and such a vote must be scheduled and noticed at least ten days in advance of the meeting at which it is to be held
b) Any Panel member may resign by giving written notice to the President or Vice President or Administrator. Such resignation shall take effect at the date of the receipt of such notice or at any later date specified therein, and the acceptance of such resignation shall not be necessary to make it effective.

The Panel may establish committees consisting of members of the Panel and/or other community members for the purpose of research, information gathering, information sharing, and the exploration of common island concerns. Committee meetings shall be publicly noticed and recorded pursuant to Florida law. The common concerns explored by the committees must be presented to the full Panel during a properly noticed public meeting as outlined in Lee County Administrative Code 13-3.

Section 2 - Categories of Committees

There shall be three (3) categories of committees of the Panel. Such committees and their members shall serve a fact-finding role as advisors to the community and the Panel, and shall be bound by the committee's specific charge as set forth by the Panel, as well as all pertinent rules governing the Panel.

a) Standing Committees
Standing committees, except where otherwise specified, shall be appointed by the Panel from both the general island population and the Panel. Each committee shall consist of a chairperson and such other members as specified on formation.
b) Special Committees
Special Committees shall be appointed for specific functions of indefinite duration, primarily for fund raising activities, and whose membership shall always include but not be limited to members of the Panel. The majority of committee members shall be Panel members and all members shall be appointed by the President subject to ratification by Panel.
c) Temporary committees

Other committees shall be appointed on a temporary basis by the Panel for such purposes as shall be required to properly and efficiently conduct the business and affairs of the Panel. At least one Panel member will serve on such committees as a liaison (though not necessarily to serve as chair) and any findings will be reported back to the community and the Panel at a public meeting for review, debate and possible action. Similar to Standing committees, such Temporary committees and their members serve a fact-finding role as advisors to the Panel, but shall be bound by the committee's mission and specific charge, as well as all pertinent rules governing the Panel.

Section 3 - Definition and Responsibilities of Standing Committees

The following Standing committees shall always be active:

a) The Finance Committee

The Finance Committee, chaired by the Panel Treasurer, will establish and be responsible for the fiscal policy of the Panel, expressly including budget and spending. It shall make Regular reports to the Panel of current financial standing, and expected future financial needs and requirements. The Finance Committee shall also develop and recommend to the Panel fiscal policies as it deems appropriate. It shall arrange for keeping of the books, records and accounts of the Panel.

b) The Nominating Committee

The Nominating Committee shall be comprised of five members appointed by the President and shall rotate on a yearly basis. No more than three of the members of the Nominating Committee shall be members of the Panel. At the Regular meeting nearest to and prior to the annual April meeting, the Nominating committee shall present to the Panel its formal recommendation of the persons to be elected Officers of the Panel. It shall further present formal recommendations as to the appointment of any new members to fill Panel seats currently vacant. The Nominating committee shall at all times operate [pursuant to,?] and in accordance with the terms, obligations, qualifications and requirements of these By-Laws. The Panel shall not be bound in any manner by the recommendations of the Nominating committee and may accept the recommendations as presented, or suggest other names of its own choosing and on its own accord.

c) The Development Committee

The Development Committee shall review, approve, and recommend to the Panel all major fund raising initiatives for the Panel. Through its planning process, it shall articulate the vision for the future of the Panel and establish its priorities. The Development Committee shall establish all policies for the methods and manners of solicitation, receipt, acknowledgment, stewardship and recognition of all gifts to the Panel. As appropriate it shall appoint Special Committees to assist with fund raising activities which will be directly responsible to the Development Committee.

Section Four -- Meetings of the Committees

Each committee shall determine its own schedule of meetings each year. The day, hour and place of such meetings shall be determined by the Chairperson of each committee and reported through The Secretary pursuant to rules on Notices.

Section Five - Committee Members

*The Chairperson or Co-Chairpersons of the Nominating Committee and of all other Standing Committees shall be designated annually by the President, subject to the Panel's approval.
*The President may conditionally remove and/or replace the Chairperson of any committee at any time, with said conditional status to be ratified by approval of the Panel.
*Committee members shall be appointed by the Chairperson of the committee with the approval of the Panel.
*Committee Chairpersons and members may be, but need not be, members of the Panel.

Section Six - Committee Procedure

There shall be no quorum required for the transaction of business of the committee. The vote of a majority of the members of a committee present at a meeting of the committee shall represent the decision of the committee. Each committee shall keep a recording of its meetings and other proceedings. The chairperson of each such committee shall be responsible for recording the committee meetings. Any action required or permitted to be taken at any committee meeting may be taken by the committee in lieu of a physical meeting of the committee, provided the action so taken shall be set forth in writing, and shall be signed by a majority of those members of the committee entitled to vote on the subject. The actions and decisions of the committees are purely advisory as applied to and by the Panel. The Panel may at any time modify or set aside any action or decision of any of its committees by a majority vote.

The committee shall:

1. Plan and create a timeline for committee actions; and
2. Gather issue related information which may include, but not be limited to, the following:

a. State laws and requirements.
b. County and Municipal ordinance(s) and requirements.
c. Administrative and regulatory rules and requirements of other regulatory agencies - i.e. DEP, DOT, etc.
d. Physical strictures - county survey, rights of way, etc.Ð
e. County timeline for action or decision benchmarks
f. Engagement of any experts as reasonably necessary to gather the above information.

3 Review and refine information into accessible format(s) for dissemination.

a. Informational handouts must include an overview of the issue, with handouts providing a balanced focus of the "Pros" and "Cons" of the issue.
b. Work to insure that the information presented to the Captiva community is worded in as neutral a manner as possible in order to maintain the integrity of process.
c. Disseminate information to the community by posting it on Web sites, publicize in media and at Panel meetings.

4 Public meetings on the issue shall be scheduled in conjunction with Panel general meetings or Special meetings when additional time is required to effectively inform the public.
5 As necessary in response to questions and concerns from the community, additional information may be requested by the Panel.
6 Update posted public-information materials based on community feedback.
7 Surveys addressing issues concerning physical property shall be mailed to the address on record for each property strap. One response will be counted per property strap, specifically excepting time shares/ interval owners, in which case these owners will be sent one survey per unit. The surveys shall be addressed to the association management to respond with no more than one response per unit.
8 In order to insure anonymity and get an accurate perspective of the Captiva community, wherever practical the committee shall engage an independent impartial party(s) to work in conjunction with the committee members to:

a. Develop survey questions based upon the updated public information.
b. Have the impartial party(s) mail the survey and informational package to all property owners on Captiva to the address of record on the strap.
c. Have all surveys returned back to the impartial party(s) to insure the privacy of the survey responses.
d. Prepare and submit to the Panel a detailed report of the survey results. The impartial party(s) shall break the island into separate regions based upon commonality of interest, zoning or geography, tabulate the results of the survey accordingly, and submit a written report of the results back to the Panel.
e. As necessary, employ number control surveys and checks and balances.

9 The Panel shall then develop and approve a final recommendation on the issue to be submitted to Lee County or the appropriate governing authorities based upon the results of the survey. The Panel shall submit the impartial party(s)'s detailed survey report and all relevant survey data along with their final recommendation. (To the extent possible, the desires of the property owners in each region will be heavily weighted in the recommendations the Panel makes to Lee County. In such unlikely event of a Panel recommendation being other than in favor of the majority survey response, the Panel shall provide the County with a detailed justification of the reasons therefore and shall include majority and minority perspectives.

Bylaws shall be adopted, amended or repealed only by the vote of a two-thirds majority of the Panel members at any Regular Panel meeting at which a quorum is constituted. Such amendments must be noticed and provided to Panel members and interested members of the public at least sixty (60) days prior to the meeting at which they are to be voted upon. For the first two years after these Bylaws are adopted a simple majority vote can adopt, amend or repeal parts of the bylaws. In no circumstance may the notice period be waived or overruled by the Panel.

Section 2 - Presentation of Proposed Amendments

Proposed changes to the Bylaws must be placed on the meeting Agenda in accordance with ARTICLE FOUR of these Bylaws. They shall only be discussed at that scheduled meeting. Votes for changes must be schedule for a sequent meeting and noticed according to the Notification section of the Bylaws In no circumstance may the notice period be waived or overruled by the Panel.

Section 3 - Consistency

Bylaws must be consistent with any legal and governing documents for the Panel, with Florida Statutes and existing Lee County administrative codes and ordinances and in accordance with all applicable Florida Statutes and federal law.

The fiscal year of the Panel shall be December 1 to November 30.

Section 2 - Sponsoring organization

The Panel is sponsored by the CPOA as is written in a legal agreement with Lee County. All financial dealings of the Panel are subject to the conditions set forth in that agreement.

Section3 - Public funding

All grants of public funds must be used solely for the creation of the community plan or other common concerns. Acceptable uses of these public funds will include, but not be limited to: payment of professional consulting services; advertising of public meetings/workshops; and copying of draft and final documents. Public funds may not be used for the rental of office space, purchase of supplies such as computers and software, or phone service. Before receiving any public funds, the Panel must document how the funds will be utilized to the Lee County Department of Community Development, Planning Division.

Section 4 - County Access

Lee County will have unrestricted access to all Panel records pertaining to the community planning effort. The county may conduct audits of the financial records of the Panel. Before disbursing a grant of planning funds, the county must independently ensure that the proposed expenditure is in accordance with the regulatory requirements set forth in Administrative Code 13-3 and may enlist the Clerk of the Courts to perform an audit of the Community Panel.

Section 5 - Treasurer and Budget

The Panel shall create an annual budget. The Treasurer shall be an officer and member of the Panel and will chair the finance committee, assist in preparation of the budget, provide routine financial reports and make financial information available to Panel members and interested public. See Article 3, Section 6 and Article 5, Section 5 (d) supra.
The Panel will issue an annual budget to be utilized during that fiscal year. As noted previously in Article 3, Section 6 supra, the final budget must be approved no later than the Regular November meeting. The budget shall cover all financial outlays and disbursements, and funds received by, the Panel. Any amendments to the budget once accepted shall be made by vote of not less than two-thirds of all members and shall be voted on during a Regular or Special meeting of the members.

The Panel shall from time to time designate persons that are authorized to sign checks and other instruments for the payment or withdrawal of Panel funds, and to sign, endorse or otherwise execute on behalf of the Panel any other document or instrument. Checks or drafts drawn on the funds of the Panel for amounts which will not individually or cumulatively exceed $1,000 in any given month may be signed by any one Officer of the Panel. Checks or drafts of $1,000 or more (individually or cumulatively within a month) must be signed by any two Officers. The President shall always be an authorized signatory pursuant to Article 5, Section 5 supra.

Section 2 - Books and Records

The Panel shall prepare and maintain complete books and records of account and shall also keep minutes of the meetings of its Panel. All books and records of the Panel are public information and may be inspected by anyone for any proper purpose at any reasonable time with written notice stating such purpose. See Article 3, Section 9; Article 5, Section 5(d), and Article 7, Section 3(a).

Section 3 -- Staff

a) The Panel shall appoint an administrator.
b) The Panel may retain staff either as volunteers or consultants to be paid an agreed fee under set terms on an as-needed basis. Such staff positions shall be non-voting positions. Paid staff decisions must be approved by the Panel's sponsoring organization unless other sources of funding for that position are in place.

The Panel may dissolve its operations under the following conditions:

A. The current Panel members may, by a super-majority vote of the Panel, move to disband the existing Panel. However, if the Panel sponsoring organization wishes to continue Panel operations, it may proceed with that effort under the legal and governing documents already in force and any new legal and governing documents it may need to enact in conjunction with Lee County.
B. The Panel's sponsoring organization may opt to cease Panel operations under the terms of any legal and governing documents already in force. Another sponsor may then contract with Lee County to continue Panel operations under its own legal and governing documents in conjunction with Lee County.
C. The Lee Board of County Commissioners may terminate the existing planning agreement authorizing the Panel's operations in conformance with the terms of that agreement and under existing procedures spelled out in Lee County administrative codes and ordinances.