Lee County picks up $4M in Hurricane Irma relief funds

FORT MYERS — The Lee County Commission recently voted to approve agreements to accept about $4.1 million in state grant funds to repair infrastructure damaged by Hurricane Irma.

The agreements, according to a statement, are with the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity and are for Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Relief. Lee County’s Department of Transportation will use the grants to:

• Repair sidewalks damaged by debris removal and utility repair vehicles in seven neighborhoods, including Beacon Manor, Charleston Park, Page Park, Palmona Park, Pine Manor, Russel Park and Suncoast Estates.
• Replace the demolished Richmond Avenue Pedestrian Bridge over the Able Canal in Lehigh Acres, an important sidewalk connector for students walking to Lehigh Elementary School. Lee County will assume costs of routine maintenance for the pedestrian bridge, owned by the Lehigh Acres Municipal Services Improvement District.
• Clear vegetation debris and sediment from five canals in unincorporated Lee County: Baker North, Baker South, Walmart, Cartagena and Bonita Beach.

The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity also awarded Community Development Block Grants to Lee County in 2021 to repair sidewalks and flood-control structures in San Carlos Park; for coastal risk assessment and resiliency planning; and for hardening key structures.

The Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, the release from the county states, designated Lee County as a “Most Impacted and Distressed” Community to ensure the county’s priority in receiving disaster response and mitigation funding after Hurricane Irma in September 2017.