$28.5 million grant awarded to Sanibel for three future projects

Reporter: Tiffany Rizzo
Published: Updated:

Sanibel is getting even more financial help to bounce back from Hurricane Ian.

The Lee County Board of County Commissioners awarded grant funding for three Sanibel projects earlier this week.

The island is getting $28.5 million for those three projects.

The work is not done on the island.

“We’ve just been through the most catastrophic event, hurricane that this area has ever seen, and so there’s lots of lessons learned from that,” said Dana Souza, Sanibel City Manager.

Souza said that’s exactly what the $28.5 million they were awarded in disaster recovery grants will do. $12.5 million will be used for road reconstruction.

“We had a complete washover of salt water on this island, and they caused a lot of damage to our road system, and some of it might not be as evident, but it reduces the life cycle of the pavement,” Souza said.

$9.1 million will be used for the reconstruction of Sanibel Fire Station 171, which was flooded during Ian.

“The new structure will be elevated above the base flood elevation, so that will protect it from future storm and flood events,” Souza said.

The last $6.9 million will be used to harden and elevate FISH’s building. FISH is a social service agency that provides the community with resources, such as a food pantry and rental assistance.

Maria Espinoza, executive director of FISH, said, “Since the storm, our focus has been helping the island residents, and we really haven’t had the opportunity to work on our own facility.”

Espinoza continued, “Immediately after the storm, our entire team was breaking out of parking lots, a building that was down to the studs. Now, with CDBGDR, we’re going to be able to rebuild the facility we were once in, not only to what it was but even better and more resilient to ensure we have what we need to always be there for the community.”

FISH is expecting to have their building all set up within the next two years.

This money is coming from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which has allocated $1.1 billion for disaster recovery funds to support Lee County’s long-term recovery efforts.

The city of Sanibel submitted 14 applications and was awarded money for three projects.

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