Fort Myers Beach begins new sand haul project in the middle of shorebird nesting season and sea turtle nesting season
The Town of Fort Myers Beach has begun a new sand haul project near the Sterling Avenue and Dakota Avenue beach access points. The project, which will run down the beach all the way to near Miramar Street, will renourish sand that wasn’t finished during last year’s beach renourishment project. The work is expected to last until July, right in the middle of the state’s shorebird nesting and sea turtle nesting season. Turtle Time has relocated four sea turtle nests so far in order to avoid impacts.
The Town of Fort Myers Beach Council approved a $2.1 million contract with Earth Tech Enterprises, Inc for the new sand haul work. Earth Tech Enterprises provided the lowest of seven bids for the project.
According to contract documents, the contractor is expected to complete most of the work within 45 days, with another 10 days to complete all phases of the project. During that time, the Sterling Avenue and Dakota Avenue beach access points will be closed. The project calls for adding 60,400 tons of new sand on the beach.
Town management has not yet responded to questions as to why the work was not before nesting season, or delayed until after the nesting season. Messages left with Town of Fort Myers Beach Manager Will McKannay, Environmental Project Manager Chadd Chustz and Public Information Officer Abigail Eberhart seeking answers why the project was being done in the middle of the nesting season, were not responded to as of press time.
According to an explanation of the project provided to the town council in April, several areas of shoreline were left low lying following last year’s beach renourishment project. Due to the delays last year, the contractor was not able to re-build the berm in the central segment. The new work will re-establish the berm waterward of the dune plantings, according to a project description.
“The purpose of the currently purposed Estero Island Dune Repair and Scour Fill Truck Haul Project is to restore dune elevations and address underfilled areas left behind by the previous dredge contractor,” the sand haul project description states. “Sand will be truck-hauled and placed in low-elevation areas to reduce future pooling.”
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission did not provide a comment on the project as of press time, in response to questions about the timing of the project and the potential impacts to shorebirds and sea turtles.
Fort Myers Beach is an annual nesting site for imperiled and threatened snowy plovers, American oystercatchers, black skimmers and least terns.
In April, the town council approved a $61,711 contract with Coastal Engineering Consultants for shorebird monitoring during the sand haul project. Coastal Engineering Consultants have been the consultants on the town’s beach renourishment projects dating back before Hurricane Ian.
The latest sand haul project follows a smaller one that was completed in February in the area around the Little Estero Island Critical Wildlife Area near the former Wyndham Garden Inn. Last year, the town completed a beach renourishment project that went more than six months past the expected completion date, right through shorebird nesting season and sea turtle nesting season. Turtle Time had to relocate 44 sea turtle nests last year. Many sea turtle nests were washed over last year.
Turtle Time founder Eve Haverfield has met with the contractor and the town’s consultants and said that while she believes the contractor will be responsible, she was not happy with the timing of the project. “They are taking every environmental precaution. I am not thrilled with the timing,” Haverfield said.
Shorebird nesting season runs every year in Lee County from Feb. 15 to Sept. 1, dates which are set by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). The sea turtle nesting season in Lee County runs from May 1 to Oct. 31, dates which are set by the FWC and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Fort Myers Beach Observer Editor Nathan Mayberg can be reached at NMayberg@breezenewspapers.com
To reach Nathan Mayberg, please email nmayberg@breezenewspapers.com