At town hall forum, Fort Myers Beach residents get some answers on pressing issues
Town of Fort Myers Beach Manager Will McKannay and Mayor Dan Allers sat down for a question and answer session with the public that was attended by all of the town’s councilmembers in a standing room-only setting where community members sought questions on a range of issues.
Many of those issues had answers though some were incomplete and department heads filled in where they could on issues such as when the town pool will open (late 2027 or early 2028), when will the town’s longstanding drainage issues be fixed (the town and county are working on it), why the town has restrictions on flood panels, and what was the cause of the deadly fish kill event off Buccaneer Lagoon (still being investigated).
One of the most contentious parts of the discussion was over local road flooding, which has been a persistent problem since Hurricane Ian. Part of the problem has been blamed on Estero Boulevard, where the drainage was broken after Hurricane Ian. Lee County, which owns Estero Boulevard, has begun a project to make repairs to Estero Boulevard.
Fort Myers Beach Community Services Director Jeff Hauge said the county’s project to repair Estero Boulevard will take more than a year. The town recently met with Lee County on the project and the contractors are starting to work on the drains on the south side of the island, as well as sidewalk repair.
Fort Myers Beach Utilities Manager Mark Ashton said the town also recently purchased a truck to clear out drains before hurricane season starts. “We just found some (drains) on Sterline Avenue that were full of sand,” he said.
William Murphy, of Fairview Isles, said they are still facing standing water issues while a road surfacing and drainage project takes place.
Murphy said there are swales that were installed and is concerned they may not be working. Ashton said that project has not been completed yet, and that once the roadwork is completed, the swales will direct the water into the storm drains. If it doesn’t work during the rainy season, Ashton said the town can go back to the contractors to complain.
Another resident, who is a contractor, said he is frustrated by the drainage issues in the town and that there may not be proper oversight over a town drainage project work to ensure it is done correctly. Allers said he understands the frustration but said the town has to wait for the project to be completed to ensure it is done correctly.
“There are contingencies in the contract,” McKannay said.
Hauge said he has been driving by that area regularly after rainstorms and said he has observed some puddling, but that it has drained after 24 or 48 hours “except for a couple spots.”
The town’s drainage problem has proven so challenging and disconcerting to some residents that it led some homeowners to put their houses up for sale and move off island in the past couple of years.
Community pool
Former Town of Fort Myers Beach Councilmember Terry Cain, wanted to know what the status was for the town’s community pool at Bay Oaks Recreational Campus and the elementary school.
McKannay said he has been negotiating a contract for the design and architecture work for the pool. Due to the federal funding to replace the pool, which goes through Lee County, McKannay said the process for the project has been delayed.
Fort Myers Beach Community Services Director Jeff Hauge said one of the reasons for the delay is there were only two bids made for the project, where three bids are needed.
“We know it’s taking long,” Hauge said. “We went through, I think three bid processes, which didn’t work out due to the requirements from Lee County for the (federal) Community Development Block Grant.”
Allers said the town council has given approval to McKannay to negotiate a design contract. “The funding is there, it’s obligated for it.”
School update
McKannay also explained that negotiations with the administration of the School District of Lee County have not led to any offers of funding from the school district to the town to support the construction of a new charter school. Allers requested the funding for a new charter the town could build at a mediation session in November that was meant to resolve the continued closure of the school since Hurricane Milton. McKannay said he is asking for the school district to give the school property to the town.
McKannay said town leaders will also have a discussion with the public in the future for what it will take for the town to operate its own charter school.
Flood panels
Another one of the questions from the public was over the town’s restrictions on flood panels.
McKannay said “my goal is to make sure all of the development and all of the projects on the island, and everybody’s property on the island is safe.”
McKannay said after Hurricane Ian and the town’s placement on probation by FEMA through the National Flood Insurance Program, FEMA informed the town that flood panels aren’t allowed for any residential properties. There are some exceptions for commercial uses that are reviewed on a case-by-case basis. All plans are reviewed by the town’s floodplain manager and planning staff.
McKannay said the town’s main reason for not allowing flood panels is to be compliant with the National Flood Insurance Program, so the town can continue to receive flood insurance discounts for property owners.
When FEMA visited the town in July, McKannay asked how the town was being reviewed for compliance in the National Flood Insurance Program. McKannay asked for the standards. “What they evaluated us on is if our policies compliant with FEMA and the state,” he said. The review led to a long list of properties that were put under review. “We were successfully able to get put over that line to be put into the Community Rating System (and back into the National Flood Insurance Program,” McKannay said. He said the entire island is a special flood hazard area.
Allers said he thinks flood panels make sense but the town needs to be in compliance with FEMA regulations.
McKannay said there is also no permitting process to allow for flood panels. “We can not do that here because of where we are in those flood maps and those flood zones,” McKannay said. “We’re just not in a position where we can’t implement such a policy.”
Fish kill
Former Councilmember Bruce Butcher said he was tired of reports and claims that fertilizer was to blame for the recent large fish kill near Buccaneer Lagoon. “The smell is terrible,” Butcher said. “There is a smell in the lagoon. We don’t understand what it is.”
He said he also wants the lagoon dredged.
According to Fort Myers Beach Environmental Project Manager Chadd Chustz, who was not in attendance for the town hall, all indications from water testing at the lagoon point to fertilizer runoff and said that fertilizer has been used on lawns near the lagoon before a rain event that preceded the fish kill. Dozens of fish were killed in the lagoon. The town has a fertilizer ordinance in place which bans the use of phosphorus in fertilizer, and limits how much fertilizer can be used and limits the use of fertilizers that contain too much nitrogen. imits any use of fertilizer in the town to one pound of total nitrogen per 1,000 square feet per application. No more than four pounds of nitrogen can be applied to any 1,000 square foot area in any calendar year. Fertilizer can not be applied to any landscape area more than four times a year. Fertilizer with nitrogen must contain no less than 50% slow release nitrogen.
The town’s fertilizer ordinance also bans fertilizer from being applied within 15 feet of any canal, lake, pond, stream, wetland or from the top of a seawall. Newly planted turf or landscape plants in those zones can only be fertilized within a 60-day period beginning 30 days after plantings.
Fort Myers Beach Harbormaster Curtis Ludwig, who attended the town hall helped oversee the removal of the fish from the lagoon, said “There was something that sucked out the oxygen from the water.”
Down at Island’s End, near Carlos Pointe Beach, there are concerns about seaweed and wanting more protection in the form of an added berm to give the condominium buildings more protection from a future storm. A sand haul project brought extensive sand to that area in 2024.
McKannay had some good news for residents on at least one question.
Asked why so many documents for permits needed to be notarized, McKannay said that the town has a number of notaries in town hall who can notarize the documents themselves for individuals who stop by town hall.