The town of Fort Myers Beach is considering three locations for its pump out boat, which is the boat that services the waste from the mooring field boats. Those 3 locations are canals on Virginia Avenue, Chapel Street and at Bay Oaks.
Town staff plans to reach out to residents near all three locations, show them the plan, with the hope that one location can be chosen soon. Residents that live around the area will be notified and called in for a mini town hall meeting so they can fully explain what would take place if one of the three locations are chosen.
Town of Fort Myers Beach Environmental Project Manager Chadd Chustz says there is no smell when the boat is emptied out and it’s not a noisy process. “Peristaltic pumps are not noisy. They have the same equipment at diversified and Pink Shell.”
We asked Chustz how often the boat would be pumped out in the neighborhood chosen, if one of the three finalists are chosen. “The routine would be to pump the black water out when docking the pump out vessel, after a pump out, weekly on average. We would want to minimize black water being stored while docked. The holding tank is treated after pumping it out.”
The pump-out vessel would then be docked in the location chosen in on a boat lift.
The Matanzas Pass Mooring field is permitted for 89 mooring systems. There are currently 77 balls operational.
I thought the town lost money on the mooring field. And now the town wants to use a residential canal to support it? Sign a contract with a marina— and reduce the size of the field instead of expanding it.
If have to choose an area, how about Moundhouse pier (assuming you mean a public dock, on town land. It’s a public town area. Dock isn’t near any home in a canal. DO NOT USE A RESIDENTIAL CANAL!
OR….how about behind the surf club? Dock space area and an owner that doesn’t seem to want to fix up his property. Quick on/off of the island
Why not the Coast Guard station? Or by Diversified?
So, when the spill happens, and it will, what is Plan A for the cleanup as the residents along the canal suffer for weeks the unbearable stink of human waste?
And who is it on the public payroll so willing to put residents and that bay at such risk?
Chadd and Austin
This totally disgusting that the town now wants to use canals on the bay to access pumping out waste. This has never happened in all our years here and live adjacent to the canal on chapel street and hate the town for even considering this option. I just hope the entire island wakes up to what they town has sugggested.
What makes you think they’re pumping it into the canals?!
🤦♀️
That’s not how the process works.
It’s the spillage that comes with this service. Not the dumping
Where was it taken before the storm?
Please have them do clean outs at your location if it’s so great to have done in a canal.
Holly O
“The process” has never been spill proof.
Enough! This directly affects us as we live on this quite beautiful canal – RESIDENTIAL area….Tropical Shores Way. They say Chapel Street but it’s our canal. We had this fight with the potential upland facility issue two years ago and we will fight again. The mangroves are a hurricane barrier and protected by law.
I agree !! We went through this before when they tried to sneak this through a few years back !! Please leave our canal alone . IT’s bad enough that we get sludge when they rinse off all the town’s vehicles, I have watched the tide come in and when it goes out the sludge is on top of the water. We went through months of the debris from the clean up pile up on the town’s property falling into the canal , which I did contact the town about , If the pump out is so safe put it on the bay oaks property. Resident tropical shores way ,
The town meetings to provide detailed information will be very important. I’m sure I’m not the only one envisioning Cousin Eddie standing at the sewer. No disrespect to the Town intended.
There is something wrong with this picture. Pump it out onto a septic truck off the island and make the boat owners pay for it…whatever happened to clean waters ?
Why residential canals? I am still displaced because of Ian, I expect to “be notified and called in for a mini town hall meeting” about this. This meeting needs to be after work hours, please. I try to get to meetings and be an involved citizen. I work in Naples, currently reside in Estero and am a FMB resident which makes it difficult to attend the meetings.
Where did they pump it out previously?
how about 1 of the Marina’s that already have operating pump out systems
Here we go again. WHY ARE THEY LOOKING AT RESIDENTIAL CANALS? And calling us “finalists”? No one wants waste pumped out by our homes on nice quiet streets. No one. Haven’t we all been through enough?
Yep don’t want to be a winner in this contest!!!