SANIBEL, Fla. — On Tuesday, more sand was promised for Sanibel after city council members learned more about the island's Post Hurricane Ian Emergency Berm/Beach Recovery Project.
During a city council meeting, members learned that an estimated 410,100 tons of sand were needed to complete the project.
In December 2022 and July 2023, surveys of washed-out g
ullies were presented to council which showed many of the impacted areas along the island's coastline.
Jack Brzoza, a biologist for the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF), said those gullies do more than just close down portions of the beach.
Brzoza said in part, that they impact wildlife, like forcing sea turtles to not lay eggs when they crawl onto the beach (False Crawl).
“This year we definitely saw an elevated rate in our false crawl counts, you know that's not something we can directly contribute to the gullies,” said Brzoza.
However, filling the gullies which are part of the island's beach recovery project, would help stop certain instances from happening.
“An adult female who in the process of trying to lay her eggs, sort of fell off the top of one of these gullies and landed upside down and with no way to right herself, fortunately, we were out there,” said Grzoza.
Here is the project timeline:
Oct 5, 2023 Pre-Bid
Oct 20, 2023, Bid Opening
Nov 7, 2023, Award Contract
Nov 15, 2023 to Feb 14, 2024-Construction
