Fort Myers Beach advisory panel urges council to map and plan canal dredging; motion passes 6-1

The Marine and Environmental Resource Task Force voted to ask the Fort Myers Beach Town Council to move forward with a canal-dredging program study and to seek outside consultants to map ownership and financial options.

The task force’s chair, David Nussbaum, moved that the group “request that the town council continue moving the project forward looking at every financial application that can help pay to get the canals back to pre‑Ian condition.” The motion was seconded and approved 6–1.

Why it matters: Sand deposited in many canals after Hurricane Ian has reduced navigability for homeowners and boaters. Members said mapping ownership, documenting maintenance and assembling a permit plan are prerequisites to any federal or state funding request.

Discussion and supporting details: Members said canals have a mixed ownership pattern — some are owned by homeowners, some by homeowners associations and some by the town — and that lack of prior maintenance documentation limited eligibility for FEMA disaster funds after Ian. Several members said the most equitable funding approach would be a special assessment shared by canal property owners, but they acknowledged such assessments could be politically difficult.

Curtis, a town staff member, told the committee that records began when the town completed a canal debris‑removal project and that staff are now maintaining maintenance records. The town manager, members said, plans to recommend to council that a consultant be hired to map canal boundaries and identify which canals need dredging and who would be assessed.

Environmental concerns were raised repeatedly. Members and staff noted that dredging can disturb sediment, seagrass and oyster beds and that any work would require state and federal permits (for example, from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection). Members emphasized that dredging would be done incrementally and would require extensive permitting and environmental review.

Next steps: The task force’s formal recommendation asks council to: authorize an outside consultant to survey and map canals, clarify ownership and permit requirements, and pursue all available funding options. The recommendation directs town staff to return findings to council and the task force for follow‑up.

Action results: Motion passed 6 in favor, 1 opposed. The committee recorded the vote as its formal advice to the town council; there was no direct commitment of town funds at this meeting.

Context: Committee members said the work likely will be costly and take multiple years. They also said establishing documentation of maintenance going forward would improve the town’s chance of securing disaster relief or other outside funding if another storm occurs.