Lee County Commissioners approved a $14.5 million purchase agreement with Waste Management Inc. of Florida for the acquisition of a 50-acre parcel of land for a new solid waste recycling facility. The site is located near State Road 82 in eastern Lee County, adjacent to the former Gulf Coast Landfill. The new facility will meet population growth demands for the next 20 years, county officials said. The new facility will proceed in several steps, starting with hiring the design criteria engineer/expert to assess county needs, establish operation requirements and ensure proposed equipment meets those needs and ending with a request for proposal for third-party operation of the plant. The operations hours are expected to be from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday. The item was approved in a 4-1 vote, with Commissioner Cecil Pendergrass opposing.