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New funds approved for red tide cleanup

Posted at 7:59 PM, Aug 09, 2018
and last updated 2018-08-09 19:59:26-04

LEE COUNTY, Fla. -- The Lee County Tourist Development Council approved new funding that will make cleaning fish killed by red tide more efficient on Southwest Florida Beaches.

The council unanimously voted to buy two new raking machines to clean fish washing up on Lee County coastlines as a result of red tide. They also approved emergency beach cleanup funds, which will help with day-to-day cleaning and monitoring of beaches from Boca Grande to Bonita. "These machines will probably be here in a week, we already started that purchasing process after today," said Commission Chairman Cecil Pendergrass. "We're trying to find something more effective and safer for the beaches that doesn't disturb sand so we don't have to replenish it in the future."

The county is paying for this using the county's bed tax, which has been collected from tourists over the years, so this comes at no cost to Lee County tax payers.