Trash transfer site to be housed at Town Hall
The Town of Fort Myers Beach trash transfer station is in the process of being relocated.
The dumpsters and compactor are no longer a “nose sore” near the ballfields on Bay Oaks Recreational Campus. The trash containers have been moved to the property at Town Hall, while a new deodorized compactor is being relocated this week. Beach Mayor Alan Mandel reported on the facts at last week’s Council meeting.
“I want to thank Mr. Stilwell and his staff for getting this done and have it moved away from where the children are playing baseball,” said Mandel.
The Beach mayor stated he met the yet-to-be-signed interim manager in the Town Hall parking lot and escorted him over to Bay Oaks to show him the dilemma before any papers were signed to formalize Stilwell’s official hire.
“This was a long-standing problem. We had to get (the dumpsters and compactor) out of its prior site because the little league was starting their season on Saturday,” said Stilwell. “It’s a good solution for the interim. We’ll weigh it, make sure it’s working and go forward.”
At the meeting, Mandel stated there was a permitting process and authorization needed from Florida Power & Light and the Department of Environmental Protection agency before work could be done. The compactor and dumpsters will be fenced in once a concrete slab is built for the compactor and electricity components in place to power it.
“I think we will be able to dampen any aroma coming from those things, so that we can be good neighbors,” said Stilwell. “We want to minimize the impact to everybody.”
While in office, former Town Manager Terry Stewart informed Council that the property owners of Town Hall denied his request to move the trash transfer site there.
“We checked with them again and told them what we were going to do to mitigate any impacts, and they were very cooperative with us,” Stilwell said.
Community voices were heard about an ongoing ‘stinky’ problem at the Town’s parks & recreation site during public comment at a Council meeting on Dec. 2. Several members of the island gave their disapproval to Town officials, who were looking at fencing in the dumpsters at the prior location.
Stilwell stated he has received several kind comments about the removal of the dumpsters and compactor from Bay Oaks campus.
“There are always challenges. You need to strike that balance and do the right thing,” said Stilwell. “If we put it off-site, it would cost a lot of money to pay for the site and haul trash. This just seemed like a very logical solution.”