Members of the Let’s Go FMB Fort Myers Beach pier committee, Town Council member Karen Woodson and Fort Myers Beach Chamber President Jacki Liszak are meeting with Lee County Manager Dave Harner on November 27th to discuss the future of the pier.
The pier on Fort Myers Beach was totally destroyed by Hurricane Ian on September 28th, 2022. The pier is owned by Lee County which has a mile-long list of projects that need to be fixed thanks to Ian. The Let’s Go FMB Pier committee is doing everything possible to keep the pier at the top of that list.
On the 27th, the pier committee will present Harner with the results of a recently conducted survey that committee member Allen Shanosky says netted over 9,000 responses in 2 weeks. Shanosky says the results are from registered voters, residents and visitors to Lee county. The survey was broadcast on local media, social media, and solicited at local restaurants and the farmers market.
91 percent of those surveyed responded that they’d like to see Lee County make replacing the pier a top priority.
When Lee County eventually decides what the replacement pier will look like it’s expected to take 4-5 years to complete. FEMA will typically fund projects if they are rebuilt exactly the way they were before the storm. If that rule also applies to the pier is unknown at this point. The pier has not been discussed publicly by the Lee County Board of Commissioners. Harner said back in October that the pier is in the FEMA paperwork process.
The survey results Shanosky shared with us show that 98% of the respondents want Lee County to invest more money into the pier if it costs more to rebuild than what FEMA will reimburse. The survey also states that 98.5% would like to have an improved pier, 68% want the pier to be wider than it’s original 16 feet but only 17% want the pier to be longer than it was. 85% of those who responded to the survey want the pier to be free. The biggest concern of those surveyed is the amount of time it will take to rebuild the pier.
See the survey results HERE.
*** We found out Tuesday morning that this meeting has been moved from this Thursday to November 27th.
10 years, minimum.