SANFORD, Fla. – Nearly three years after Hurricane Ian damaged Sanford’s marina, the city says it’s still hoping FEMA will reimburse it for the repairs.

An update posted by the city on Facebook this week says in part, “While FEMA recently approved an estimated funding amount, they also reduced the project parameters and cost.”

The post continues with the action the city is taking, including formally asking FEMA for “detailed, policy-based explanations for these changes.”

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The reaction from the public was swift. More than 100 people have commented on the post so far, wondering why other funding isn’t available for the repairs and why it is taking so long.

Since 2022, the city has been trying to get FEMA to reimburse them for the damage done to the marina by Hurricane Ian. But in March, News 6 learned from staff that the tone of recent meetings they had with the agency turned “disappointing and concerning.”

Documents obtained by News 6 show the needed repairs for the marina will cost $20 million, but the city is only asking FEMA to reimburse them about $18 million.

“We’re just as frustrated as the public is that it looks like this, and it’s looked like this for so long,” Mayor Art Woodruff said.

Mayor Art Woodruff said city leadership is doing everything they can behind the scenes to get the repairs done.

“We had engineers come in. They’ve done a full assessment. Luckily, we had done some assessments not long before [Ian], and that’s one of the reasons we know how much silt came into the basins and needs to be removed, because we know what the depth was before Ian. And so, we have all those numbers for them,” said Mayor Woodruff. “We’re also looking at, you know, if you come back, it needs to be according to current code. And we want to make sure it’s resilient so that we don’t have to do this after the next hurricane. So, FEMA usually will help fund those kinds of improvements, too. And so we’re still working with them on that for the mitigation.”

Mayor Woodruff said that the city had approved about $3 million in repairs before Ian, which included some electrical work and dock damage.

“We did some work in the dry storage building. We replaced and reshuffled some of the racks to make that more efficient. We put a new roof on it,” said Woodruff. “We have been doing some work on the marina. We can’t do work on the basins and docks until we get an agreement with FEMA.”

When asked about other possible funding sources, the mayor said they will have to dip into the general fund, and in that case, taxpayers would have to fund the work if they don’t get the reimbursement from FEMA.

“We, of course, would work on some grants,” said Woodruff. “But the more things like that, you know, that adds more time to it. And it’s not a short process.”

Nancy Grooves, who has lived in Sanford for two decades, said she spends a lot of time on Lake Monroe and the St. Johns River as an avid boater.

 She said the marina needed improvement before Hurricane Ian hit.

“We only have one restaurant. That should have been a hotel,” Grooves said while pointing out an assisted living facility on Marina Isle. “We don’t have a hotel downtown at all.”

Grooves said she sees so much opportunity, but she is frustrated with city leadership.

“We spent all this money on the boardwalk, which is wonderful. People use it, they walk, but we don’t really cater to the boaters.”

Grooves believes more money should be allocated to the marina in the budget.

“I understand there’s different departments, there’s different funds that you can tap into, but you have to plan it so that you can do a little bit every year. It’s like your house, you know. This year you fix your roof, make sure you fix the plumbing, but you gotta save for it.”

Grooves said she has faith things will change, but it will happen slowly.

“I love Sanford, and I really do have a lot of hope for Sanford.”

Mayor Woodruff said the city does see the marina’s value and that is why the repairs are a priority.

“It’s so important to get this back. It’s a recreational facility for us, for all of central Florida. It’s an economic resource for us,” said Mayor Woodruff. “I think part of the frustration with the public is, you know, they don’t see what’s going on in the background. They don’t see the behind-the-scenes things that are being done. But our staff has been working continuously. We’ve got our engineers on board. We have the consultant that usually helps us with FEMA issues and documentation. We brought in a FEMA specialist to help us get through this process. So, we’re working as hard as we can to get this finished.”

The city says they hope FEMA will reconsider the proposed scope to restore the entire marina, and they have promised to keep the public informed about the process.