NORTH FORT MYERS, Fla. — Fox 4 is continuing its coverage of the derelict boats at the Old Bridge Marina in North Fort Myers near the Edison Bridge. On Thursday morning, the owner reached out to Fox 4 senior reporter Kaitlin Knapp, wanting to explain what's taking so long to remove them.
LB Skaggs owns the marina and Nastar Roofing, and says he's been trying to clean up the boats.
"First thing we did was reach out to FWC," Skaggs said.
Watch to see why the owner says the boats are still around:
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission is the department in charge of removing derelict vessels. Skaggs says he submitted the removal application in March 2023.
"Three to four months goes by and we're excited because we're finally told that they subbed the work out to a contractor," Skaggs said.
In notes given to Fox 4, it says they were told in August 2023 the application is being processed.
In June 2024, the notes say FWC told him they are not removing the boats.
"I asked why. Because they had received grant funds through the state of Florida and they went through all the funds, and before our debris was picked up, the grant funds were no longer available," Skaggs explained.
Knapp asked FWC earlier this week about the boats and they said because it's on private property, they cannot remove them.
When asked about the claim by Skaggs, they said they would look into it as Thursday afternoon.
Skaggs said he wanted to clean it himself, but says he was told he would get arrested because it's theft.
He tried to contact the boat owners.
"The thing that has stopped us the most is not being able to reach out to the owners of the boats for them to give up the permission to remove the boats," Skaggs said.
The owner turned to the City of Fort Myers. E-mails show Skaggs had been talking to them since October 2023. As of early last week, Skaggs met with many city leaders about the derelict vessels, the city told Knapp.
"We're in the process of putting the permit in," Skaggs said. "It's going to have to go through review for the environmentalist clean up."
Which lines up with what the city said — that he's preparing to get a permit from the Department of Environmental Protection to remove the boats in an environmentally responsible manner.
According to the DEP, the permit goes through the Southwest Florida Water Management District. The DEP website says Lee County has 532 permits under review, the second highest in the state. Collier County has 585.
"It's embarrassing for us. We're the owners of the property," Skaggs said. "It's embarrassing knowing that we're the owners and it looks like a landfill."
Knapp asked what Skaggs would want to say to the community about the boats.
"It's not me to apologize. I think it's the state of Florida to be apologizing," he said. "I've reached out and done everything I can do."
The City of Fort Myers told Fox 4 they will post signs at the property to let boat owners know the boats will be legally removed by the owner. However, the city says the signs will not be posted until the permit is approved.
"We didn't just abandon the property," Skaggs said. "It's something that's out of our control at this moment."
Ideally, Skaggs wants the boats removed in three to four months, but without the permit, there's no timeline set.
