An unprecedented event in Hurricane Ian sees tens of millions of dollars needed to fully recover, city of Cape Coral officials said Wednesday afternoon.

An estimated $86 million will be needed to repair and reopen all city buildings, grounds, and functions in what is sure to be an arduous process.

The city’s Financial Services Director Mark Mason said the majority of recovery dollars –about $54 million — is going towards debris cleanup and removal.

Mason said the city has yet to receive its first invoice for cleanup from Oct. 4 to Oct. 31. They will receive a second invoice after the first for work performed from Nov. 1 onward.

The amount spent by the city as of Nov. 30 was roughly $9.8 million, Mason said. He said the city has submitted three expedited worksheets with FEMA, two of which have been obligated, with money coming in the next few weeks.

The first submission to FEMA was $5.4 million for debris, and the second for “emergency protective measures” totaling $4.6 million. Mason said the city should get back 50% from FEMA in both cases, and hopefully the third.

The third submission to FEMA currently being processed totals $10.1 million for labor and equipment.

Mason said the city currently has about $39 million in encumbrances including debris and monitoring contracts that will be revisited in a meeting on Dec. 7, as they took place due to the hurricane.

When it comes to damages to city facilities and where they stand, Mason said Florida Municipal Insurance Trust sent out a damage assessment team within 10 days of the storm and identified “most” of the damages associated with city facilities.

“Subsequently, insurance adjusters have come back down, they’ve taken the information from the initial damage assessment, and have gone through and made determinations about the amount of insurance that we can expect to receive associated with our facilities,” Mason said.

Mason said as of now, adjusters are looking at $678,000 in insurance claims, and the city has approximately 53 “turn key” projects in the works where insurance companies contract with local vendors to repair facilities.

“The repairs are designed to get those facilities back to their original shape before the storm,” Mason said.

He added city staff and heads of department will meet to get the ball rolling on those “turn key” projects in the near future. With these projects through insurance comes a deductible. The city’s rate for wind/storm is 5% of the value of each property.

There was about $1 million in damage done to the city’s water treatment facility, with the deduction amount on the location at $1.5 million. Mason said the city will be on the hook for that price, but could then submit that expense to FEMA for reimbursement.

As of now, damage submitted to FEMA as of Dec. 7 falls into the 100% reimbursement category.

Lee County recently requested that FEMA reimburse up to 90% (remaining 10% split between state and local government) after the Dec. 7. FEMA’s usual rate following the total reimbursement period drops to 75%.

Many city buildings that will need repairs were already tapped for improvements as part of the fiscal year budget. Mason said throughout the restoration process, those upgrades would be made, but not be sent in as part of their FEMA application.

“That’s on us,” he said.

The city also contracted TetraTech to look through damages at facilities at about 100 city facilities, as FEMA likes two groups to perform assessments.

“We’re working through those, combining them in with the costs associated with the insurance review and the damage assessment,” Mason said. “And then we’ll come back and we’ll discuss, again, with the owners of the properties and work through, and develop any project worksheets for recovery.”

The Florida Department of Emergency Management has also contracted Tetra Tech to do an evaluation of all utilities in Lee County, both public and private.

Mason said Tetra Tech will determine things they need to repair on a “temporary basis.” He said FDEM would then work with a contractor to come in and purchase the goods on the city’s behalf and repair the facilities, or in some instances, have the city perform repairs itself.

“This is very unusual, this is the first time this has every happened in my career,” Mason said.

After analysis is finished, the city has 60 days to get things taken care of, or be on the hook for the dollar amount after that timeline.

Mason reminded members of City Council that FEMA is a reimbursement process. The city has to pay up front.

Debris removal will be paid for using the General Fund, and as receipts come in, it will become replenished, Mason said. He added any funds used would be replenished with FEMA dollars. He also urged patience.

“Recovery is not a sprint,” Mason said. “It can be a marathon and it can be a very long period of time. We end up having to deal with FEMA for a host of things… and they make a final determination of how much you’ll actually get back. If you speak about Irma, we have yet to receive all the funding we applied for, and we’re now four to five years into it.”

Hurricane Irma made landfall at Marco Island on Sept. 10, 2017 as a Category 3 storm, not the category 4 feared, sparing Lee County the predicted storm surge seen with Hurricane Ian.

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