Town Can Borrow Money for Water Utility

Town Can Borrow Money for Water Utility

Two recent developments may mean that the long-awaited redo of Estero Boulevard is on the horizon. This morning, a judge in downtown Ft. Myers validated the Town of Fort Myers Beach’s 2008 referendum to borrow money to fix the island’s aging water utility, and last Friday Commissioner Ray Judah announced the county’s ­­intention to spend $750,000 on planning and designing the upgrade to Estero. Both the Town and the county have expressed their desire to do the two projects simultaneously, and Mayor Larry Kiker hopes that the fact that the Town is now ready will push the county into action.

"We are moving forward on this,” he said. "Now it’s up to the county to get going, too.” Kiker has said that he plans for all of Estero to resemble the one-mile section on the north end of the island – with landscaping, sidewalks and trolley pull offs. The Town recently completed that project on the one section of the road that it owns under budget and in under two years.