We are sad to announce that due to Milton’s impacts, Lee County Parks and Recreation needs to cancel the Fall Festival that was to be held Oct. 25. It was to be held at the now-damaged Boca Grande Community Center that afternoon.

Please help spread the word that this is canceled. Our Parks team looks forward to coming up with additional options for island families just as soon as possible. We appreciate your patience and understanding.

A Tuesday, Oct. 15 evening update on the island’s recovery:

• G.I.W.A was able to move water today to 7th street. The goal for tomorrow is to get all the way to 1st street. Three phase power was restored to the waste water plant and the pumping station and they are running. Two lift stations were started back up and are working.
• Pipes were delivered for the repairs on the Causeway, which will begin tomorrow.
• Hurricane Plass distribution will be at the Fire Station tomorrow from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
• Remember when coming on the Island, prominently display your hand held tag and get in the left lane.
• F.P.L. continues to restore power.
• The comfort station is available at the Crownandshield House. Restrooms, showers, laundry, and wi-fi are at that location. 
• We have ice, potable water, canned water and various other things available at the Fire Station.
• Debris pick up starts tomorrow. Place your debris curbside and separate.

Lee County this afternoon opened a comfort station for Boca Grande residents to assist with recovery from Hurricane Milton.

The comfort station is located at 240 Banyan St. at the rear parking lot of Island School and Community Center. The comfort station provides residents in need with:

• Restrooms
• Showers
• Laundry facilities

All services are free for island residents. The county and its partners will soon have Starlink for internet connectivity. Once activated, this will provide residents with free open-access WiFi.

Visit www.leegov.com/storm for additional Milton-related information and resources.

The south end of Manasota Key has reopened to residents and businesses. Charlotte County Community Development has done an initial damage assessment and affected properties have been tagged with notifications of the condition by a placard placed on the structure.  

News from Chief C. W. Blosser of the Boca Grande Fire Department:

• Soon you will see comfort stations, portable showers, and restroom trailers.
• When entering the Island use the left lane for Hurricane Tags and the right lane for non-tags
• The Causeway will be down to one lane during the day for repairs at the washout.
• Temporary tags will be issued at the Bridge, and permanent tags are being issued at the Station. Tag distribution at the Station is from 8:30 a.m. till 4 p.m. 
• Curfew is in effect from 9 p.m. till 6 a.m.
• There is ice, canned water, bulk water and a restroom trailer at the Station. A bulk water dispenser for 5 gallon buckets is next to the Barnichol.
• Power continues to be restored on the Island.
• Sand from clean up can go to the Dog Park even by private contractor.

In order to highlight the importance of local commerce, Florida Commerce Secretary Alex Kelly will come to Gasparilla Island to get a tour of small businesses affected by the last two hurricanes.

Kelly will meet with business owners in Hudson’s Park at Tuesday, Oct. 15 at 2 p.m. He will bring his staff to visit business owner’s and store or offices to assist with assessment and explain what the state of Florida can quickly do to provide relief.

The state has a number of programs, including a Florida Small Business Emergency Bridge Loan Program, which is a $50,000 at zero percent interest. Businesses impacted by Helene and Milton could apply for both storms.

Questions? Contact Mary O’Bannon at (239) 229-1611‬.

Links

A link to the Rebuild Florida Business Loan Program is below. Also, below is a link to the Island Fund for Disasters:

• floridacommerce.my.site.com/RebuildFloridaBusinessLoanFund/s
• Island fund for disasters, led by Lighthouse United Methodist. Applications are available at the Beacon or at the church, at the Beacon office, or HERE.

Lee County Facilities and Library staff were happy to see that the sandbags and plastic combination at the doors worked and the interior of the Island School had minimal water intrusion.

Mrs. Oliver and the Island School staff prepared the building pre-Milton and Lee County staff packed up the library and classroom books today. The books have no visible water damage and will be stored in a climate-controlled Lee County warehouse.

A separate letter to The Island School friends, families and supporters went out today.

The Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM), with support from Charlotte County, has established a public fuel depot at Charlotte Sports Park, located at 2300 El Jobean Rd. in Port Charlotte. The site is open daily from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. until further notice to assist residents in their recovery efforts. Each vehicle is limited to 10 gallons of fuel. 

Access to Gasparilla Island has reopened. Access to the bridgeless barrier islands and South Manasota Key remain closed. Hurricane Hang tags issued by the Boca Grande Fire Department are required for access. These passes, which are part of a longstanding program of the department, were issued before the hurricane.

At right are the old version of the tags; they do not expire.

For storm response and recovery information, call the Charlotte County Emergency Operations Center at 941-833-4000 7 a.m.-7 p.m. daily. Those with internet access can find information on resources at www.CharlotteCountyFL.gov/storm.

Lee County Solid Waste garbage collection will resume Monday, Oct. 14, on the normally scheduled day for all routes in Lee County franchise areas that are accessible to collection trucks. This collection is for household garbage only, which includes everyday trash items and all spoiled food. The county on Monday also will begin Hurricane Milton storm debris pickup throughout the impacted areas of Lee County. Storm debris is collected separately from household garbage. Residents are urged to set out all Milton debris today for the county’s contractors to collect.

Use the following guidelines so that work crews can quickly and efficiently remove debris:

• Most Important – Please set storm debris at the curb away from your normal weekly garbage service; it will be collected and documented separately.
• Place storm debris at the curb in four separate piles: household garbage, appliances (white goods), yard waste and construction and demolition debris. Federal Emergency Management Agency rules require documentation of the volume and type of debris collected to reimburse the county for storm cleanup, which saves local taxpayer dollars.
• Household garbage must be placed in a 40-gallon can or heavy plastic bag, each weighing no more than 50 pounds. If you have a larger county-provided container for automated garbage collection, you may use that as well.
• Place yard waste in piles that can easily be managed by collection personnel with a claw truck.
• To expedite collection, do not place anything beneath low hanging obstacles like trees or power lines or near anything like fire hydrants or mailboxes.
• Food must be removed from any appliance set at the curb. Inedible food should be placed with your normal weekly garbage.

Everyone,

Let’s end the day on some positives:

Power is being restored sporadically on the Island. Lots of people got on Island today we will continue to expand and support that mission.

Mutual aid firefighting units arrived today and were put to work later this afternoon. We had a structure fire and 2 more small fires within an hour. All were handled swiftly and successfully.

C.W.

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