Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Infrastructure Beach Recovery topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Lee County says it gave Bonita Springs $5 million interest-free loan to keep beach renourishment underway
Summary
Officials credited an interest-free $5 million county loan and subsequent state funding with keeping a beach renourishment contractor mobilized, and described how FEMA reimbursement timelines and inter-county resource sharing affect recovery speed.
Lee County officials told attendees that the county provided a $5,000,000 interest-free loan to the City of Bonita Springs so a beach-renourishment contractor could continue work without demobilizing, and that the county later helped secure additional state funding for the project.
That assistance matters because mobilization for beach renourishment — which may involve dredges, barges and heavy equipment moved from other states — is costly, and demobilizing a contractor can add time and cost if equipment must return to the region later.
“One of the things I was proud of on one of our early agendas was the fact that we were able to with our sand project the beach renourishment project we had the team already working here on-site and we were able to help Bonita budget by funding we actually gave Bonita an interest free loan for $5,000,000 to pay for a change order work for the contractor to continue all at once while they were already set up without demobilizing,” a county official said. County staff added that because the project was shovel-ready and a contractor was in place, Lee County was also able to secure another $20,000,000 in state funding from the Department of Environmental Protection for the same project.
Speakers described why Lee County’s beaches sometimes reopen more slowly than neighboring Collier County’s. Officials said Collier County was able to share resources during recent storms, and that the Federal Emergency Management Agency reimbursement and approval process can delay county work because FEMA approval is often required before the county can move forward with reimbursable repairs.
One commissioner added that mobilization costs and strong local coordination let Lee County “stretch that dollar” and maximize project outcomes when resources are aligned.
No formal vote or new funding authorization was taken during the meeting; officials described actions that had already occurred and said coordination among cities, the county and state agencies continued.
