On Beach Talk Radio Sunday Mayor Dan Allers indicated that there’s a possibility the Town of Fort Myers Beach might be able to get off probation sooner than expected.
The Mayor said FEMA, in a March 21st letter, gave the town a list of three things that needed to be completed which might lead to the town getting back in the good graces of FEMA, getting off probation, and getting residents their 25% discount back for national flood insurance.
Here are the three items the town needs to take care of:
#1) FEMA wants the town to update the details of about 1500 properties on the beach. FEMA paid out claims to that list of about 1500 property owners and they want to know if those property owners have come into compliance with the town. Did they get the proper permits to rebuild? Where are they in the permit process? Are they enrolled in a mitigation enrollment program? Have their homes been knocked down? What is the status of every one of those properties? Allers said originally he was never told this was one of the reasons the town would end up on probation when this list of 1500 properties was sent to them last year.
#2) The town needs to show FEMA that the town has gone through the process to remove all the containers on the island.
#3) The town needs to provide documentation that demonstrates the town is leveraging its code enforcement process to address new and existing code cases for all structures not confirmed as compliant.
FEMA wants all the information submitted by May 4, 2025.
Allers said if the town completes those three assignments they will be sent an official letter stating that the town will be off probation November 18, 2025. Originally FEMA (under the Biden administration) said the town would be on probation for 2 years. Fort Myers Beach is the only community in Southwest Florida that was put on probation and lost its National Flood Insurance Program discount. In other words, FEMA never really explained what the town wasn’t doing.
Allers plans to work to get residents their 25% discount back completely. His argument will be that the town has followed direction FEMA has given them all along, that nothing has really changed now, compared to where the town was when this process started.
Yet the town recently allowed containers and trailers to be placed at the fire station construction site…all within view of town halls trailers….lol
Are the residents of FMB so naive that they do not connect former mayor Murphy’s hot mic comment, during President Biden’s visit after Ian, with the FEMA probation ruling? A coincidence?
Not according to Carol, it’s all Allers fault.
FEMA wants to know if the town has been true to its own codes, which it promised to do decades ago in order to join the flood insurance program.
Considering the lower cost insurance it offers in comparison to the reported higher costs for less coverage by the few private companies now offering it it only seems fair
Have any other Florida locations, hit by hurricanes, had FEMA’s 25% discount rescinded? If so, what was their experience?
Great Question!
Doesn’t the article say we’re the only community in swfl?….probation i guess
Can we ever get a straight answer as to EXACTLY why this happened? We are forced to pay more because SOMEONE in the town effed up and now we are going to cheer because we MAY get off probation earlier??? Someone needs to be held responsible for these mistakes that keep happening.
Carol.
Ditto
Right on Carol
Beach Talk Radio,
Can we have a discussion about determining what our actual discount is? All we ever see is that we will or have lost our “25% discount”. How do we come up with that number? On my latest bill from Wright Insurance who has provided my flood insurance for many years shows a “Community Rating Discount” of only $19 which is about 1/2% (.5) of my flood premium not counting reserves end federal fees, etc. I challenge anyone to prove that we are actually getting a 25% discount and show me how I can see that calculated. I am curious if different customers get different discounts based on their policy cost, home value, or whatever factor there may be. I am curious if it is really as big of a deal as we would be lead to believe?
I agree. My Community Rating Discount is $14
The discount is based on the CRS. FMB’s CRS is Class 5, which is a 25% discount. It’s a scale of 1-10; a CRS of Class 10 is no discount; Class 1 is a 45% discount.
It’s calculated based on “the building, contents, and ICC after deducting expense/loss constants and mitigation discounts” [at the time of policy issue or renewal]. You can tumble down a rabbit hole on FEMA/NFIP’s floodsmart dot gov page trying to decipher all that.
Ask Wright insurance. They will tell you. Let them know the town is on NFIP probation and what does that mean for your new policy premium beginning 4/1/25. Please share what you find. I was told, it’s going up 25% so for a $4000 policy, it will not cost $5000.
1) It is questionable that a federal regulator can override state ordinance or municipal codes derived from the state.
2) Florida Building Code does not make an exact distinction of “substantial damage” which means every permit is subject to local scrutiny and discretion. The matter of discretion means that enforcement will use an abundance of caution, further meaning that your ordinary or deferred maintenance will will be questioned.
3) FEMA is now requiring that all three hurricane’s damage be bundled to determine compliance in order to evaluate the 50% rule valuation. This retroactive approach hasn’t been done successfully before.
All of this is to say that it’s unlikely the town has enough staff and direction to meet that unlikely deadline. Welcome to Lurch Beach.
Sounds like the town has a lot to do by May 4th. Does containers include La Ola? The town will not make them move.
Yes. La Ola has been specifically called out by FEMA and the town. Their deadline to remove their trailer was 11/18/24. The town allowed them to stay, issued them a permit, then revoked the permit, then issued them a code violation that LA Ola fought the in front of a judge, the judge ruled with the town and FEMA that they had to go due to safety issues (even though it’s not hurricane season, tornados can still pop up) and now LA Ola is appealing the decision doing exactly what La Ola and the town wanted, to buy more time…at the expense of flood insurance policy holders.