Lee County narrows options for $64M in remaining Ian recovery funds; board directs staff to develop plan for Greenwell community center

Lee County commissioners on June 16 approved a set of reservations and awards from the county's Community Development Block Grant–Disaster Recovery (CDBG‑DR) portfolio and began narrowing how to spend roughly $64 million of remaining Hurricane Ian recovery funds.

In a presentation to the board, Glenn Sire, a county strategic‑resources staffer leading the CDBG‑DR program, said the county had advanced roughly $2.2 billion in projects and was “down to the last $125 million of Ian funds,” with motions on the table to reserve awards that, if approved, would leave a little over $64 million for discretionary use. Sire said the recommended agenda included funding to cover projected housing assistance liabilities, match awards for FEMA hazard‑mitigation grants, $9 million for a Babcock Ranch EMS station and other targeted reservations.

Why it matters: these decisions shape whether the remaining federal recovery dollars will be deployed for infrastructure, housing, public‑safety facilities or local park projects — and they must meet HUD and grant timing requirements that can affect eligibility.

Board discussion centered on three staff‑packaged options for the remainder: (1) dedicate $16 million to Buckingham Trails Preserve storm‑water drainage and $10.5 million to improvements to outbuildings and site amenities at Greenwell Regional Park; (2) distribute the funds pro rata to municipalities and jurisdictions; or (3) allocate about $50 million to demolish and rebuild the Greenwell civic center as a new community recreation center and use the remainder for jurisdictional allocations. Commissioners expressed support for removing option two from consideration and debated the tradeoffs between the natural‑resources, drainage work in Lehigh Acres and creating a visible, shovel‑ready building at Greenwell.

Commissioner discussion emphasized timing and grant deadlines. Rob Price of DOT told the board that permitting and design work for Buckingham Trails would move the project into the permitting phase but said, “we’d be looking for completion actually summer of ’31,” a schedule that may push the project close to HUD deadlines. Supporters of the Greenwell rec‑center option argued it would secure a tangible county asset and avoid future uncertainty over funding a major civic project.

The board voted to reserve the motions A–D that staff described (covering housing assistance, mitigation match and identified priority projects) and approved direction for staff to develop a plan for using the discretionary remainder with a path that includes bringing a concept for a Greenwell community center back for future board action.

What’s next: staff will prepare detailed project descriptions and timeline estimates for the board to review, including permitting, cost estimates and grant compliance steps needed to keep the projects eligible under HUD/CDBG‑DR rules. The county signaled it intends to balance hazard‑mitigation needs, public‑safety projects and a possible high‑visibility recreation/civic investment.

Ending: Commissioners stressed urgency to spend federal recovery funds while protecting grant eligibility and emphasized they want more detailed project scoping returned to a future meeting for final direction or vote.