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Good day to all!!!
It has been a while since a writing to you and am thankful to say thank goodness hurricane season is now over. It was a very rough season for so very many and it is my sincere hope that those extremely affected are beginning to work towards getting some of their lives back. It won’t be normal for a long while and I can only imagine how frustrating, stressful and expensive this is for you and I am so very sorry. What I do know is the determination, tenacity, resiliency and grit of the citizens that live in North County things will only get better as time progresses.
Below is some information that may be of interest to you. I know it is lengthy, but it is good information to know. Also, I would highly suggest if you have a contractor you are working with sit in on the public information webinar for contractors scheduled for Dec. 18 at 3 p.m. Contractors are asked to pre-register at Webinar Registration - Zoom. I am sure it will provide very useful information as to the process.
If you haven’t already please take a moment to view the website https://pinellas.gov/storm-recovery-permitting. It has a lot of information.
Substantial Damage determination letters distribution continues. As of Dec. 11, 1,339 letters have been mailed and another 4,000 will go out in the coming weeks. Building and Development Review Services continues to issue permits online and through the in-person Permit Support Hub. I have also attached a substantial damage flowsheet for your information.
Live Storm Repair Permit updates are now available at: https://pinellas.gov/substantial-damage-substantial-improvement/
It might appear everything is moving at a snail’s pace, and we are quite aware everyone is anxious to rebuild/restore I would feel the same way. I must share that a lot of work actually goes into determinations that are being made; which I am sure you can appreciate. Here is some information about the processes for determinations and substantial damage letters.
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The Building Department is working closely with the State contractor, who at this point has completed inspections of approximately 5,400 properties in the unincorporated county. They are now conducting quality control on the data prior to entering the information into the FEMA estimator tool. In some cases, there can be up to 54 data fields where information is reviewed and/or entered before the tool can provide a determination. It appears to be an arduous process that I know we all want to have completed accurately for our property as well as others. The Building Department has requested an additional 50 professionals from the State to assist with this data entry, and they are in the process of fulfilling this request. This team will support all communities coordinating with the county, including our unincorporated areas.
The Building Department continues to work very hard to keep all the wheels rolling forward in their department with regular permits and inspections amidst the additional amount and complexity of storm work and FEMA. With that, they are working extremely hard to have all letters mailed out by year-end. That may sound far but in reality, it is only a couple weeks away. To help facilitate this goal, Building have activated an additional 19 professionals from third-party contractors. Those folks have been trained and are focusing on quality control and data entry for the unincorporated county to supplement the work the state contractor has completed for unincorporated.
I know folks in Ozona and Crystal Beach are wondering why they have only received a few letters in their entire communities. Well, both communities had quite a bit of damage and the Building Department is continuing to work on them but still have many properties that need to be processed. With the additional team from their contractor, the Building Department expects to make significant progress in the coming weeks.
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Debris:
- The County’s contractor is into the second and final round of storm debris removal in the unincorporated areas. The goal is to have remaining debris along public streets picked up by the end of December.
- As of Dec. 11, Pinellas County has collected in unincorporated areas 16,457 truckloads of debris totaling over 609,045 cubic yards. Updates and more information can be found at pinellas.gov/debris.
FEMA Assistance – The deadline for FEMA Individual Assistance for Helene and Milton is Jan. 7, 2025. As of Dec. 11, FEMA had 270,684 registered individuals for assistance.
Housing:
- The Safe Home Inspection program was initiated in Accela, allowing minor repairs to facilitate residents staying in their homes. Several cities have also launched programs to assist their residents with repairs. Residents are urged to contact their municipalities for more information.
- The State of Florida is launching a mitigation program for elevations, buyout, and repairs. Residents can sign up to receive information at floridadisaster.org/subscription-topics/.
- Staff is developing additional public education materials to assist residents along their housing journey and what resources are available to them.
Upcoming Deadlines for Public Assistance
Communications & Outreach
- A public information webinar for contractors is scheduled for Dec. 18 at 3 p.m. Contractors are asked to pre-register at Webinar Registration - Zoom
We want to again thank everyone for their continued patience through all of this. It is new to everyone but like I said with all the determination, tenacity, resiliency, and grit of the citizens living in North County, it can only get better!!!
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Stacy O’Donnell
Executive Aide, Commissioner Dave Eggers
Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners
315 Court Street, Clearwater, FL 33756
sodonnell@pinellas.gov
Office (727) 464-3276
All government correspondence is subject to public record law.
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