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Lee County staff recommends $9M for Babcock Ranch EMS, proposes DR allocation using estimated damage method
Summary
Staff asked the board to reserve CDBG‑DR mitigation funds to cover a Lee Cares housing gap, award HMGP matches, fund a $9 million Babcock Ranch EMS station and hold remaining disaster‑recovery dollars for eligible municipal infrastructure, with commissioners leaning toward distribution by percent of estimated storm damage.
Lee County staff on June 2 recommended reserving a portion of CDBG‑DR mitigation funds to close a projected shortfall in the county’s Lee Cares individual housing assistance program, award hazard‑mitigation match projects, and commit $9 million to the proposed Babcock Ranch EMS station construction.
Nicole Turner, presenting the county’s CDBG‑DR and HMGP funding tables, told commissioners that housing projects in the pipeline are generally progressing — McNeel Village is complete and several other projects are near operation — but that the Lee Cares individual assistance program for Helen/Milton shows a projected gap the county can cover by reserving DR funds. Staff proposed reserving about $42.5 million to address that shortfall and other priorities and recommended awarding HMGP match projects approved by FEMA’s May 1 deadline.
Turner said staff also proposed adding a recently awarded Village of Estero watershed utility retrofit HMGP match (a roughly $5 million match) into the package; an Estero representative confirmed the project can meet the 2031 completion deadline required by the grant.
On infrastructure distribution, staff presented four allocation options: by percent of existing infrastructure awards, by percent of FEMA estimated damage, by population and by percent of prior CDBG‑DR awards. Commissioners quickly eliminated population and the prior‑awards method as inappropriate for disaster recovery and expressed a preference for using percent of estimated damage. Several commissioners also urged staff to analyze scenarios that would allocate $35–$50 million of DR‑eligible dollars toward a Lee Civic Center multi‑purpose facility, noting that a rebuilt or upgraded center could serve as a storm staging area and shelter.
Staff recommended awarding the HMGP match projects, funding the $9 million Babcock Ranch EMS construction, reserving approximately $42.5 million to cover the Helen/Milton Lee Cares gap, $150,000 for an unmet-needs long-term recovery toolkit, and holding remaining mitigation funds for eligible municipal projects to be allocated once jurisdictions deliver eligible scopes.
Why it matters: CDBG‑DR and HMGP funds are restricted to eligible disaster‑recovery and mitigation activities and carry completion deadlines (2031 for many HMGP awards). Staff said not all municipalities may have shovel‑ready, eligible projects, so the board requested municipal confirmations before final allocations.
Next steps: The board asked staff to return June 16 with allocation scenarios using percent-of-estimated-damage distribution, civic-center funding scenarios ($35–$50M), and confirmation of municipal project readiness and deadlines.
