Fort Myers Beach Town Council approves stormwater facilities plan

A disorderly meeting ended with a call to remove Robert's Rules of Order from the Fort Myers Beach Town Council's policy.

Throughout the meeting, tensions ran high as council members tugged a metaphorical rope over multiple issues on the agenda, with interruptions and quips striking nerves among the board.

"We all need to work on being nicer to each other," said Vice Mayor Summer Stockton.

One of the more contentious items was the passing of the Stormwater Facilities Plan, which was ultimately approved in a 3-2 vote, with Mayor Dennis Boback and Council Member Tracey Gore dissenting.

The plan is a comprehensive conceptual plan that addresses storm water mitigation for issues island-wide, both current problems and futures ones, and will determine the most cost effective and environmentally friendly methods to address each issue. When the town incorporated, it inherited Lee County's infrastructure, which is not adequate to handle drainage or flooding.

The plan will identify, street by street, the highest priority projects that can be done ahead of the construction within Lee County's Estero Boulevard storm water project.