Gasparilla recovery the subject of Lee Commission meeting on Tuesday morning
Lee County provided a hurricane recovery update at its regularly scheduled Board of County Commissioners meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, including updates on the Boca Grande Community Center grounds.
Assistant County Manager Robert Codie said that the Community Center and The Island School had between 2-22 inches of water intrusion.
“Those buildings are old, they were built in the early 1900s and what they have is crawl spaces,” Codie said, “and in those crawl spaces we have water intrusion, and that water impacted the wood that is in those buildings. The wood in those buildings is extremely old and fragile, and it caused extreme damage which will result in us removing all of the wood out of there, minus the community school.”
There was not as much damage in The Island School, he added.
“There was minor damage to the cabinetry on the ground which is being removed as we speak,” Codie said. “We look to have that school open by Monday.”
Assistant County Manager Marc Mora said that Lee County had also offered mutual aid to the Gasparilla Island Water Association, but it was not needed.
“We’re looking at this as a great opportunity to roll out newly developed post-storm processes and demonstrate the improvements that have been made,” Mora said.
Assistant county managers also mentioned on Tuesday morning that seven trucks were certified for debris removal on Monday and Lee County will prioritize and expedite all storm-related permits.
