New officials elected, new reef voted in at BoCC meeting
The Lee Board of County Commissioners voted Tuesday to accept a $120,000 grant from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for the construction of an artificial reef approximately 15 miles off the coast of Captiva. The money comes from a Sportfish Restoration grant. The reef will consist of 1,000 tons of secondary concrete at a site known as Chris Koepfer’s artificial reef and will create habitat for marine life and a new destination for residents, visitor anglers and scuba divers. The exact location is 26° 24.732’ N, 82° 24.665’ W.
The project is expected to be completed by September.
Lee County’s artificial reef program has been in place since the early 1990s with grants from federal, state and private donations creating opportunities to supplement our local waters’ natural reef system. This particular reef, Chris Koepfer’s ARC Reef Site, is named in memory of the pioneer of Lee County’s artificial reef program.
In other Lee County news, Boca Grande’s dog park is expected to come before the board some time in March. We will let you know when more on that develops.
The board of Lee County Commissioners consists of Chairman Cecil Pendergrass, Vice Chair Ray Sandelli and Commissioners Brian Hamman, Kevin Ruane and Frank Mann.
