Work has started on the Fort Myers Beach Pier almost four years after Hurricane Ian took it, and FEMA is covering under half of the contract price

Work has begun on rebuilding the Fort Myers Beach Pier, almost four years after Hurricane Ian destroyed it in September 2022.

WINK News reports that the project is still in a pre construction phase and that construction has not officially started. Lee County says crews are establishing the work area, installing site fencing and mobilising equipment. The next major step is demolition of the remaining pier structure. The county expects the work finished in 2027. The report is by Jillian Haggerty.

On the money, the Fort Myers Beach Bulletin and Beach Observer reported in July that FEMA has awarded Lee County 5.5 million dollars for the reconstruction through its Public Assistance programme, against a contract reported at 11.7 million dollars. The county is covering the balance from Tourist Development Tax funds and RESTORE Act grants, which are Deepwater Horizon oil spill settlement money.

The difference between those two reported figures is 6.2 million dollars. Neither source states the federal and local cost share percentages, and no agency has published a final county contribution, so that difference should be read as the gap between an award and a contract price rather than as a settled local bill.

The replacement pier is planned at approximately 1,000 feet long and 12 feet wide, which the Beach Bulletin and Beach Observer describe as more than 70 percent longer and 50 percent wider than the pier Ian destroyed.

The local share is being funded largely by the bed tax and by oil spill settlement money rather than out of general property tax revenue, which is a more favourable structure than much of the county's post Ian rebuilding has carried.