The city of Cape Coral will give residents an opportunity to see the progress being made on the Bimini Basin mooring field project.

The city will hold its second public informational open house Tuesday from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the city’s public works building at 815 Nicholas Parkway East

The project team, including city officials and STANTEC, the design firm on the project, will provide residents an update on Phase 2 of the mooring field project, which includes two mooring field design options that will be provided to City Council for consideration.

“We want to get public input so if the public overwhelmingly supports one option over the other it’s something I can communicate to the council,” said Wyatt Daltry, city planner. “Again, we’ll be here to answer any questions, but the main difference from the last workshop is the feedback on the design options.”

There will be no formal presentation and attendees are invited to arrive at any time during the event as a way to avoid crowding. Attendees are asked to wear masks and adhere to all social distancing guidelines.

The previous open house was held June 16 at the Chester Street Resource Center downtown, which was sparsely attended, although the feedback they got was constructive.

“Given how lengthy this project is, we need that kind of feedback. This won’t be done by the election when we get to Phase 3, so having consistent public feedback will be necessary in case we get new council members and we can tell them this is what the public wants,” Daltry said.

That building is now being used as a COVID-19 testing site, necessitating the move.

The City Council approved the mooring field by ordinance in 2018. The field is expected to be nearly 400,000 square feet, or 9.17 acres.

As approved, boats in the field will be allowed to stay for five days, leave for one, then be able to spend five more days (the 5-1-5 rule) to deter long-term stays and derelict boats.

Also, the daily fee is expected to be about $20 per day, with the possibility of a facility on city-owned property. Four Freedoms Park is the only city-owned land in the basin area that could be used for that purpose.

Daltry said he hopes to put something forward for council in September. Any future workshops will indicate a new phase in the project

A Benthic survey has been completed on the field, which identified resources in the field area. Daltry said this will be a slow process.

“The consultants have been developing a report to prepare us for the next steps,” Daltry said. “It’s been incremental and there hasn’t been a huge change in the last two months.”

From this point, a geotechnical investigation, hydrographic survey, 30 and 60 percent drawings and a management plan need to be completed, which could take as long as nine months.

The state and federal permit applications are next, which could take as long as 18 months, followed by a decision on how the field will be administered (municipal, non-profit), construction documents, contract procurement and construction.

Daltry said many of these tasks can be done concurrently, which could reduce the timeframe to three years

All information is available on the project website, www.capecoralmooringfield.com for those who cannot attend in person. Information also is available on the Bimini Basin Mooring Field Facebook page.