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Fort Myers outlines $75M water‑plant expansion, dozens of wells and IMAG tank demolition plan
Summary
Public utilities staff told council the city has roughly 3.2M gpd of spare capacity against 1.5M gpd of permitted development demand, presented a $75M project to expand plant capacity toward 15M gpd, described plans for up to 15 additional wells this decade and recommended demolishing the IMAG elevated tank with a contractor quote near $450,000.
Public utilities staff updated council on water supply, plant expansion, well‑field development and planned infrastructure work.
Assistant Director Jason Shondre said recent years show a leveling of water demand and that the city currently has about 3.2 million gallons per day of additional plant capacity compared with roughly 1.5 million gallons per day tied to permitted developments. Staff reported they are proceeding with a plant expansion project, which Shondre described as a roughly $75,000,000 improvement to increase treatment capacity and to keep supply ahead of projected demand.
"This is a $75,000,000 improvement project," Shondre said, adding the city has secured a legislative appropriation, low‑interest loan options and $9,000,000 of principal forgiveness to reduce rate impacts. Staff said the expanded facility and related work would help meet demand through the mid‑2040s and would come online around 2028.
Shondre also described well‑field work: the city added 11 wells in 2022–23, has another well under construction and plans roughly 15 additional wells by decade's end (moving the system from 28 to about 44 wells). Staff said many of those wells are funded through grants or low‑interest loans.
On the IMAG elevated storage tank, staff reported a contractor quote near $450,000 for demolition and recommended demolition before hurricane season if scheduling and mitigation for the IMAG facility can be arranged; staff planned a council package for February to authorize work.
Council asked about schedule, costs and the operational impacts of a short IMAG shutdown during demolition; staff said they will negotiate terms to minimize impacts on IMAG operations and suggested possible financial offsets to cover impacts.
