Fort Myers Beach town council tells consultant to ”drill down“ on stormwater

If the town doesn't want to increase the stormwater utility fee, it won't be able to accomplish a street-by-street stormwater system.

The town's fee is scheduled to pay off a loan of $16 million for a $20 million stormwater project by 2040. But based on the costs of construction and the amount of work needed, the town might only be able to fund 15 to 20 "hot" streets in addition to the required shared outfalls with Lee County.

Tetra Tech, the town's engineering consultant, and ReFresh Estero Boulevard staff presented a project update during Thursday's workshop. Part of the presentation was the completed 30 percent plan, a preliminary design plan that surveyed all the town's streets for stormwater needs. It set a list of criteria, such as flooding frequency and citizen complaints and level of service improved with a stormwater system in place. The criteria helped rank the streets in terms of need; twenty were identified as "hot" or critical need for stormwater alleviation.