Fort Myers Beach staff update canal cleanup, mooring maintenance and dinghy dock plan

Curtis Ludwig, a town staff member, told the Mooring Field Committee that contractor-led debris removal is focused at the south end of the island near Buccaneer Bay and that crews will move into deeper‑water work soon.

"Right now with the debris removal project we have going on, they are at the south end of the island by Buccaneer Bay right now," Ludwig said. He told the committee the work so far has focused on canals and shallow debris exposed at low tide and that divers and flotation will be used for heavier, submerged objects in coming weeks. Ludwig said the work is being paid for with FEMA dollars.

Committee members pressed for detail about what crews are finding and how the town is managing longer‑term maintenance. Ludwig listed items already removed—"deck chairs, porta potties, bunch of wood, pieces of dock," doors, sheet rock and other household materials—and said contractors are returning to canals that are more exposed on recent negative tides to recover additional material. He estimated the contractor engagement runs "to the mid of February" and said the town will decide if the contract…