Water-Related News

Resilient Lee’s infrastructure branch seeks to make improvements for future storms

Undergrounding power lines, improving east-west roads, converting septic tanks to sewer, fortifying docks, cellphone towers, satellite communication systems and barrier island lighting were just some of the topics posed at the Wednesday Resilient Lee infrastructure task force meeting. 

With 30% of the federal government’s $1.1 billion grant money available for wild-card expenses, bolstering Lee County’s infrastructure could have an infusion of cash.

There was another big concern among some of the 16 task force team members on hand. 

“Sheltering and the evacuation routes,” said Trish Lassiter, a member of the task force and key account executive for Lee County Electric Cooperative, which powers large parts of the county, including Sanibel and Captiva islands and parts of Lehigh Acres and Cape Coral. “As a resident, those are two major issues.” 

The infrastructure task force at the Collaboratory in downtown Fort Myers was joined by about 20 members of the public to help prioritize infrastructure needs. Those needs will be passed along to the Resilient Lee task force, which meets again May 26. The process of deciding how to allocate grant money will continue throughout the summer.