The Fort Myers Beach Fire District Board has agreed to pursue spending $3.4 million to purchase a piece of property on Shrimp Boat Lane, just over the Matanzas Pass Bridge. If the deal goes through, the location would eventually be used for a Fire District administration building and training tower.
The 1.75 acre piece of property sits between The Key West Express and Erickson & Jensen Seafood. There are currently 3 code violations on the building at 1101 Shrimp Boat Lane. The current property owners need to get the code violations taken care of with Lee County before the Fire District can close on the purchase. The plan would be for the building on the property to be demolished and a new admin building and training tower built.
Fire Chief Scott Wirth has been looking for property off the island where it’s less expensive and where a new admin building can be built more resilient to weather another major hurricane. The Shrimp Boat Lane location would include water access for a Fire Department boat. There is a submerged land lease at that property that allows for 8 shrimp boats. The submerged land lease comes up for renewal later this year.
The land being purchased for $3.4 million will be paid for by the eventual sale of the back half of the Topps property after a new fire station is built on that property. The back half of the Topps lot will be 1 acre which was recently appraised at $5.7 million.
The Fort Myers Beach Fire District currently has two operating fire stations and an administration building: Fire Station 32 at 17891 San Carlos Blvd, Fire Station 33 at 121 Lenell Rd (next to Santini Plaza) and headquarters at 100 Voorhis Street (across from old the old Junkanoo location)
The Fire District Board of Commissioners has been holding its meetings at DiamondHead Resort since the storm. Before the storm they were holing meetings on the 3rd floor of the library.
we need our own Fire Dept like we need our own Police Force – We Don’t . Current situation is a Joke , total waste of money – Govt has never seen a Cost/ Benefit analysis because it would sink the Boondoggle . We should be actively trying to reduce budgets and have more effective , efficient Govt –
Government with More money and more power are the enemies of the PEOPLE.
If we were serious about safety we would never have built the bottleneck at Margaritaville or by the Library – less is more , make public service accountable –
we need our own Fire Dept like we need our own Police Force – We Don’t . Current situation is a Joke , total waste of money – Govt has never seen a Cost/ Benefit analysis because it would sink the Boondoggle . We should be actively trying to reduce budgets and have more effective , efficient Govt –
Government with More money and more power are the enemies of the PEOPLE.
If we were serious about safety we would never have built the bottleneck at Margaritaville or by the Library – less is more , make public service accountable –
I am tired of fort myers beach always making sure we know that San Carlos island isn’t really part of fort myers beach until they have something they don’t want to look at on Estero Island. Then we are suddenly part of fort myers beach so they can put it over here and then act like your doing San Carlos island a favor by putting it here and making this “ramshackled” area look better. San Carlos island isn’t the red headed step sister to Estero Island. If you don’t want it over there we probably don’t want it over here…you have property for it over there keep it over there.
While not a fan of the Fire merger, this is a very appropriate place for a new station. It is currently a ramshackle area. A welcome neighbor I would assume to the Key West Express and Erickson and Jenson.
So explain how the property at Shrimp Boat Lane will be more resilient to a hurricane? We are talking the other side of the channel. Not be mention a fire fighter training tower is a verticle concrete box for the most part, not visually pleasant to look at. Fire Chief Scott Wirth should be looking for higher grounds or seek another districts training tower to lease but again this is FMB and the fire district and its ego must have their own toys. More wasted tax payer $$
Adam Botana is a self serving, lying, bully politician who is attempting to bring home the bacon to his handlers in Bonita Springs by seizing Estero Island. Follow the money, this is an obvious money grab. Who benefits? No one on Estero Island or San Carlos Island. Only Botana and his greedy elite who tell him what to do. He’s not smart enough to have imagined this scam. The Fort Myers Beach Fire Department is never “going away”. The residents will never vote for this
The point of the merger with Bonita Springs was to reduce administrative costs and our FMB Fire District is proving Adam Botana to be very insightful.
With all if the talk of our fire district “going away” the timing of this is questionable. If we are merged with others this will be unnecessary. I realize this negotiation most likely started before the mission to disband us and merge us into a larger district, but slow down and see what’s apt to happen. Why are we just hearing about this? Seems like it’s on a fast track
Why would code violations have to be corrected for a property whose building will be demolished. Oh, excuse me, I forgot it’s all about the money
That was my thought as well. This defies all logic.