Committee recommends two Mulholland awards to council, approves printing of children's books with leftover funds to be decided later

The Fort Myers Beach advisory committee recommended that the town council award two Mulholland awards—one to recognize service from the prior year and one for the current year—after a late nomination was read into the record.

Committee members read a nomination for Mary Rose Spoletta and discussed awarding recognition for both the prior and current years to correct a lapse when awards were not considered during the town's post-storm recovery. The committee amended the motion to assign the earlier year to one nominee and the current year to another to avoid awarding a sitting member for service during their term. The recommendation to forward the awards to town council passed by unanimous voice vote.

Separately, committee members discussed funds recently donated by the Alex King Group and others to support the Murph children's book project. The committee voted to print 15,000 copies of the book and to reserve the remaining funds (approximately $1,700 if 15,000 printed; transcript discussion on exact remaining funds) for later decisions such as funding Turtle Time cards or contributing to Arbor Day plantings. The motion to print 15,000 books passed with one recorded opposition.

Members asked staff to obtain any required approvals or conditions tied to fundraising and to coordinate storage (the library agreed to store books). The administration was also asked to confirm donor conditions and to advise on legal requirements if committee fundraising requires town accounting or attorney review.

Next steps: staff to confirm storage, donor conditions and legal/fiscal requirements for fundraising proceeds and to report back at the next meeting.