Nourishment: Slight response needs more facts
The status of beach re-nourishment on Fort Myers Beach does not look probable from the Town’s perspective, according to interim Town Manager Jack Green’s item report at the FMB Town Council meeting on Monday, Aug. 17.
Green reported that the Town has collected only a small percentage of responses from their DVD-packet mailings to Beach property-front owners and residents. Although there is expected to be far more replies, the early reactions to have the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers pump sand onto the existing beachfront hasn’t been encouraging.
“We have received 11 responses from the 130-plus mailings,” said Green. “Two of them have been in favor, while nine of them have been against. I have talked with staff, and we are going to follow up at some point and see if there was a particular issue with regards to the ‘no.’
Greater Fort Myers Beach Area Chamber of Commerce President John Albion believes those affected need to understand the hard facts of not going through with re-nourishment in case of a storm. He believes a 10 percent reponse to the Town letter is disturbing.
“I don’t think there are strong feelings on this,” said Albion. “That’s the problem. I think once people get more of the facts, they will start making decisions.”
Albion offered three different points to his reasoning. During his first point, he cited two segments from Army Corps Project Manager Jackie Keiser’s presentation -a statement of what if the project wasn’t done and a storm causes damage and a reiteration of the fact- at the Estero Island Beach Restoration Workshop on July 16.
“If the project goes forward with the Federal participation to any degree, then wherever the Federal participation took place the Federal government would be willing to expedite permits to do 100 percent repair if there was any (substantial) storm damage,” said Albion. “They said that they would come in and pay 100 percent to repair it. Also, they would do it via expedited permits. What that means is the time frame to get things fixed and who’s going to pay for it is already determined before a storm even happens.
If the (re-nourishment) work is not done, then there is no guarantee of expedited permits. If it’s catastrophic, I expect they will expedite. If it’s not catastrophic, there is no guarantee of any Federal money being used. So therefore, it’s an insurance policy that also comes with this project.”
Albion is expecting a letter from the Army Corps of Engineers.
“My goal is to make sure everybody understands what the deal is,” said Albion. “So, I’ve requested from Keiser to send me a letter on a Corps of Engineer stationery signed by the Corps that will lay out what happens if there is a storm and the re-nourishment has been done and what happens if there is a storm and the re-nourishment hasn’t been done.
“It’s important to have a document in writing that says ‘this is what is going to happen.’ I don’t blame somebody for wanting it in writing before they were to sign away certain rights for their property.”
Albion then cited easement viewpoints from Lee County Manager of the Division of Natural Resources Steve Boutelle during the mid-July workshop.
“The easement does not grant any additional general public access to the property,” said Albion. “All the easement provides for is to allow the Federal government permission to come in and do the re-nourishment. It also gives them the ability to go in, if there is repair work that has to be done after a storm, and do it without seeking additional permission.”
Albion’s third point centered on the concept of dunes and vegetation which is in both the Town and County’s Comprehensive Plan and approved by the Department of Community Affairs. He is hoping the DCA would change the Comprehensive Plans since it would benefit the environment.
“I asked (Town of Fort Myers Beach Environmental Sciences Coordinator) Keith Laakkonen if there is greater damage to environmental systems if the re-nourishment is done without the dunes and vegetation or if the re-nourishment project is not done at all,” said Albion. “I asked, “Is it not worse on the enviromental systems if it’s not done at all because there would be less protection?’ He said, ‘Yes, I would agree with that.’ If that’s the case, couldn’t there potentially be a change in the comprehensive plan that can make it ok?
Albion admits he is unsure what is going to happen with his point about dunes and vegetation because of the difficulty in getting the DCA to change the plan.
“If you understand the easement situation and you still say, ‘I don’t care. I don’t want to get an easement,’ then fine,” said Albion. “But if there’s a storm and there’s damage, and FEMA’s not going to pay for it, then people need to understand that they’ve accepted that responsibility with their eyes open.”
Albion reflected back to the restoration workshop when he asked the panel of experts, “How many engineer firms have looked at this re-nourishment project and have been willing to sign their name and put their license and reputation on the line and say it needs to be done, compared to those engineer firms who say it does not need to be done?”
The answer he received was one sided.
“I think there was some half a dozen to eight firms that said it needs to be done,” said Albion. “There was no firm that has gone on record with their license and reputation saying it doesn’t need to be done. These professionals say it needs to be done and you’ve got this insurance policy out there, too.
Pink Shell Resort Regional Director of Sales and Marketing Ellis Etter is another person who would like to see re-nourishment. The north Estero Boulevard resort’s beach is a critically eroded area.
“It’s tough as it is with the economy the way it is to maintain a certain degree of business as we expect,” said Etter, who said Pink Shell holds about 130 weddings a year. “With the lack of beach, it’s making it harder for us to book business because we have to look at tides, wind directions and moon phase to make sure we have enough beach to set up a wedding of 50-75 people. It’s getting to that point.”
Green said the objective of the Town was to educate the residents and business owners through the mid-July workshop and mailings. From there, he said it is up to the people if they desire to have the project go forward.
“No matter what happens, we can learn from this and see what we can do better the next time whether it is just the beach management plan or whether its re-nourishment,” said Green. “The council had indicated the people are going to make the decision, and the people are making the decision.”