Feb 3, 2010 3 min read

The Fort Myers Beach Town Council will continue an important decision-making process regarding beach re-nourishment by drawing up a letter of intent Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. during a continuation of Monday’s regular meeting. The delayed action is necessary because council members recognize the project plan they have been working on until December 2009 is no longer valid due to the criteria given by Lee County. More thought is needed to decide how it will respond to a draft Interlocal amendment by the Board of County Commissioners.

On Monday, the council listened to an hour’s worth of mostly opposing viewpoints during public comment, then conducted a major discussion regarding the issue before agreeing to adjourn on the subject. On Tuesday, Jan. 26, the Lee BOCC unanimously approved the latest beach re-nourishment project -termed a navigational improvement plan- for up-to-$4 million. The project’s scope, which includes a $250,000 Town share, has been reduced from 4.6 miles to one mile long from Bowditch Point to the public fishing pier encompassing two county parks.

“Rather than responding to that ILA, we thought we would send a letter of intent instead of addressing what the town’s requirements are,” said FMB Mayor Larry Kiker.

The letter of intent is expected to act as a reply to the BOCC’s revised interlocal. Councilman Tom Babcock wanted to send a clear message by cancelling the current interlocal agreement for the development of a new one.

“It’s not the interlocal agreement that’s an issue,” said Babcock. “It’s defining the scope of the program and getting the permits to do it. For all the right reasons including legal reasons because it’s such an emotional issue as well as a political issue, we need to stop. We’re not giving up. We want to do what’s right for our beaches. We need to end it, deal with the immediate problems and start working right away on the long-term solution.”

After more debate, Kiker recommended beginning with the letter of intent using Babcock’s ideas.

“We’ll all have time to put our thoughts together, and we should be able to customize that (letter) during the meeting,” said Kiker. “I think we all have agreed that the three principal things that Mr. Babcock has discussed will be included in it. We should work off of that.”

Kiker explained the purpose for the letter of intent for county review.

“The letter of intent involves putting together all of our thoughts in a letter, and it says, ‘this is what we really want,'” he said. “We have this agreement, and we think it’s defunct. We think that there are ways to manage a beach, and we recognize that along with you. We recognize that there is money available. We understand you have permits. I think we should construct some sort of document.”

According to a memorandum sent to council and town staff by Town Attorney Ann Dalton, the new ILA ‘does not sufficiently protect the town’s interests’ and that the inclusion of the original ILA will ‘in all probability lead to ambiguities and confusion.’ In her bullet-point summary, she recommended that it be a free-standing document and the prior ILA be revoked.

Due to her legal counsel and Monday’s public opposition at the meeting, the council will proceed with a cautious approach in their reply to the BOCC.

“It might be a good time to incorporate some of the ideas and issues that have been discussed by those opposed to beach re-nourishment for one reason or another and make it a better project,” said Kiker.