Bay Oaks advisory board hears large budget cuts, pool design moving slowly under CDBG rules

Town of Fort Myers Beach staff told the Bay Oaks Recreational Campus advisory board on Sept. 17 that the recreation center faces deep cuts as the town works to close a roughly $1.9 million budget gap for the coming year.

The cuts proposed to the Bay Oaks budget included about $500,000 in total reductions, the elimination of an athletics coordinator, and the removal of three recreation aide positions, along with a proposed $200,000 reduction to special events, staff said. Community Services Director Jeff Helge said, “We took off about $500,000 off of our Bay Oaks budget in total.” He added that the special-events reduction “was about $200,000 out of the Bay Oaks budget for special events.”

Why it matters: The staff said those reductions would reduce weekend staffing, curtail tournaments, leagues and clinic offerings, and scale back family events such as Easter egg hunts and Fright Night unless other funding sources are secured. Advisory board members and residents repeatedly urged the town to consider raising the millage rate or increasing fees to restore services; Town Manager Will McAnay said council is weighing those options alongside other tradeoffs.

Pool funding and schedule

Board members pressed staff for a status update on a long‑planned pool rebuild. Helge and Parks & Rec Manager Neil Mathis…