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New information for Cortez mobile home owners

New information for Cortez mobile home owners

Written by Leslie Lake on . Posted in Community News, Cortez, Featured.

CORTEZ – Many residents in local mobile home parks received substantial damage assessments from Manatee County following water intrusion from Hurricane Helene’s storm surge. Those residents attended a Nov. 6 meeting with Manatee County, FEMA and Florida Department of Emergency Management (FDEM) officials for answers about the next steps in the recovery process.

More than 100 Cortez mobile homeowners attended the informational meeting held at the Bridge Church to hear a presentation by officials outlining FEMA guidelines, including the 50% rule; county ordinances and its participation in, and adherence to, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) as well as timeframes for inspections and disaster assistance contacts.

“This past month has been difficult for everybody,” Manatee County Building Official and Floodplain Manager Bill Palmer said in opening remarks. “A lot of people lost their homes and a lot of houses were abandoned. Everybody wants to repair their homes and get back as quick as possible and get their lives back as normal as possible.”

Discussion on regulations

“Manatee County participates in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) so, when you rebuild or do repairs to homes, we must have guidelines on how you can rebuild. There are regulations so we want to make sure you have all the knowledge to move forward and be able to rebuild or decide which direction you want to go in,” Palmer said.

Palmer said there has been some misinformation circulated about the process.

“I’ve seen things that say we’re going to go in and condemn all the mobile home parks,” he said. “That’s just not true. We’re not going to do that.”

Manatee County Floodplain Manager Cheryl Bagby explained floodplain regulations.

“There are federal, state and local regulations that state if a home is damaged 50% of the value of the structure, or if it is improved 50% value of the structure, then the entire structure must be brought to current floodplain compliance,” she said. “This is commonly known as the FEMA 50% rule. What that means is if you sustain damage and the cost to bring your home back meets or exceeds 50% of the value of the structure, then the entire structure has to come up to current flood compliance, which includes elevating the structure.”

Bagby said the county’s disaster assessment team has gone out to the communities for an initial damage assessment.

“A lot of times they were unable to get inside. They took a look at the buildings and they did a data collection of how much observed damage there was to the building. They took that data and brought it back to us and we’re going to calculate that to see how substantially damaged that is,” she said.

She said Sunny Shores, Paradise Bay and Cortez Park are all located in a floodplain and all are subject to the 50% rule.

Bagby said the county receives the mobile home’s value from the Manatee County Property Appraiser.

“If you go on the property appraiser website, type in your address, it is currently labeled FEMA market value,” she said. “It’s not a value from FEMA, it’s a value that has been calculated for the structure. If you meet or exceed 50% of that the entire structure has to come into compliance.”

Bagby said homeowners have the right to hire a private appraiser to assess the pre-damage value of the home.

“We will take the higher of the two,” she said.  “It should be reproduction value minus physical deterioration.”

Renovation, permits

Bagby said homeowners may remove damaged building materials but an application is required to make repairs.

“Even if you’re in a mobile home, there’s still an application to build back,” she said. “Take out that drywall, take out those contaminated materials, that’s okay. But before you build back you have to submit an application so we know whether or not you need to elevate your home. Don’t go spending money, because you might have something that ultimately has to be elevated and cost you a lot more.”

Homeowners wishing to do repairs to the mobile home must apply to the county for a storm mobile home review.

“You’ll need to submit paperwork with costs,” Bagby said. “If you’re under the 50% we’re going to sign off, say go ahead, you’re approved for repairs. If you’re over 50% we’ll tell you what your options are from there.”

She noted that because mobile homes are not subject to the Florida Building Code, people may think they don’t need permits to make repairs.

“It is, however, subject to floodplain regulations,” Bagby said. “Therefore that 50% rule still applies.”

For most storm damage repairs, permit fees are being waived.

“When you apply you need a contract or a cost breakdown. If you’re doing it yourself we need the material cost so we can get an accurate assessment of what this is going to cost,” Bagby said. “We need documentation validating the values. Labor is counted. For homeowners, it’s $30 an hour for labor. You have to assign a value to donated materials.”

She said with the 50% rule there is a one-year cumulative value. If any permits were pulled within and closed within the last year, or are older and still open, those values count toward the 50% value of the structure.

“The whole point of elevating is so you don’t have to go through this again, so you are protected against these storms because they are happening stronger and more frequently,” Bagby said.

FEMA and Small Business Administration (SBA) representatives attended the meeting via Zoom.

“Manatee County participates in the National Flood Insurance Program,” Tammy Hanson with FEMA Flood Plain Management said. “When the community joined the program, they agreed to adopt and enforce floodplain management requirements. What that allows is the ability for flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program.”

One of the things she said is misunderstood is that FEMA or the state is coming in to do assessments. That is not the case.

“That is not how the program works,” Hanson said. “There are federal, state and local requirements. It’s through the enforcement of local regulations where the determinations of damage assessment are made.”

 Timeframe for inspections

“Our team is very short-staffed right now,” Bagby said. “We have a lot of applications coming in, plus we’re out in the community doing this disaster recovery work. Make sure any application you do submit, have it clearly state hurricane or storm damage so that it gets prioritized. The turnaround time for storm damage is a few days.”

Disaster assistance: FEMA and SBA

“The individual and household programs (IHP) provide assistance to eligible individuals and households who have uninsured, or underinsured necessary expenses that are a result of the disaster,” FEMA representative Millie Diaz said. “The IHP is not a substitute for insurance and cannot compensate all those losses.”

IHP has two specific provisions, one is for housing assistance and the other is for needs assistance,

“We also have displacement assistance for those who cannot return to their house and childcare assistance,” Diaz said.

Deadlines for assistance applications are Nov. 12 for Hurricane Debby, Nov. 27 for Hurricane Helene and Dec. 11 for Hurricane Milton.

Here are some helpful contact numbers:

FEMA disaster assistance – 800-621-3362

FEMA community services program – 833-514-2940

Disaster unemployment assistance – 800-385-3920 or www.Floridajobs.org

Crisis counseling – 800-985-5990

Small Business Administration – www.lending.sba.gov or 800-659-2955

A second meeting

To assist in answering questions about individual circumstances, a second meeting is being planned for Wednesday, Nov. 13 to include the following break-out areas:

FEMA:

  • DSA: Disaster Survivor Assistance
  • Individual Assistance
  • SBA: Small Business
  • Hazard Mitigation/Floodplain Management
  • NFIP (insurance)

Manatee County:

  • Zoning, 1 person
  • Floodplain Management
  • Building Official
  • Code Enforcement

Details about a time and location for the Nov. 13 meeting are to be determined.

County starts Cortez damage assessments

County starts Cortez damage assessments

Written by Leslie Lake on . Posted in Community News, Cortez.

CORTEZ — Manatee County inspectors will conduct individual damage assessments of properties in the Cortez zip code, including mobile home parks, beginning Friday, Oct. 25, and continuing through Sunday, Oct. 27.

The inspections were announced at an Oct. 24 town hall meeting at Sara Bay RV Park by Manatee County Floodplain Management Coordinator Cheryl Bagby.

In addition to Bagby, who outlined FEMA and county guidelines for storm-related damage to mobile homes, Manatee County Building Official Bill Palmer, Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge, and Director of Development Services Nicole Knapp answered residents’ questions.

One resident asked, “Are you going to do an inspection of each individual mobile home in the park and record the damage each unit has?”

“We do have a substantial damage assessment team that will be out in this zip code, starting tomorrow over the next few days,” Bagby said. “They are going around and they have a checklist. They are looking at your foundation, they look at your electrical, they look at different components and just basically collect data on how much everything is damaged. We do have teams out over the next few days doing that.”

If no one is at the residence, inspectors will leave a door hanger with contact information, she said.

She said the damage assessment teams will not assess the value of the damage or the structure.

One resident asked the panel to address rumors that the county has condemned both Cortez Park and Sunny Shores.

“This is not Bradenton Beach, this is Manatee County,” Van Ostenbridge said.

Two mobile home parks in Bradenton Beach, The Pines and Sandpiper Resort Co-Op, were recently deemed uninhabitable based on FEMA guidelines for substantial flood damage, triggering a city ordinance requiring 10-12 foot elevation.

“We have not condemned anyone, correct?” Van Ostenbridge asked.

“That is correct, we have not condemned anyone. Every structure in the park will be individually assessed,” Palmer said. “It will be assessed for either substantial improvement or if it’s an unsafe structure, but as far as condemnation, no, we’re not going in and just across the park, that’s not going to happen.”

Mobile home parks in Cortez are Sunny Shores, Cortez Park Co-Op, Sara Bay RV Park and Paradise Bay Estates.

FEMA 50/50 rule and county guidelines

Bagby outlined FEMA and county guidelines for storm-related damage to mobile homes.

“There is a federal regulation of substantial improvement and substantial damage, it is commonly known as the FEMA 50/50 rule,” Bagby said. “If there is damage or improvements that exceed 50% of the value of your structure, the entire thing has to be brought up to current flood plain compliance, which for most of the older mobile homes means elevating.”

She said FEMA options would be either to elevate or replace.

“The replacement would also be elevated as well. So, we’re not saying that you can’t build back, you can, but if you exceed the 50% you have to build back compliant with the regulations,” Bagby said. “On top of that, Manatee County also has a one-year cumulative so if you’ve done any work on your mobile home in the last year, that can count toward your 50% already.”

She said that damaged components such as drywall and insulation can be removed.

“But before you put it back you need to check with us,” she said. “The important thing is don’t build back before you check with us. I would hate for anyone to start putting money into a repair only to find out you now have to elevate your structure.”

One resident asked, “If you are repairing damage and you are repairing it for less than 50% are you still required to elevate, or is that only for someone who’s 50% or more?”

“The requirement is if it is 50% or more you have to elevate. If you’re under that 50% threshold – and this is why it’s so important – the community gets audited by FEMA. We have to have records of your billbacks. If you’re under your 50%, please follow up with us because we have to have records,” Bagby said. “If it’s under 50% we have to prove that to FEMA when we get audited. You do not have to elevate if you’re under 50% but it’s recommended.”

She said FEMA has a base flood elevation requirement ranging from 8-10 feet. The state of Florida and Manatee County require it to be one foot higher than that.

“Unfortunately, based on your location, you’re very low-lying,” Bagby said.

She said the value of an individual structure can be found on the Manatee County Property Appraiser’s website, www.manateepao.gov

“Go to property card, on the second page. It’ll have two columns and it’ll say development value. That is the value we use to assess the value of your structure. We do add an additional 15% to that value,” Bagby said. “If you exceed 50% you have to bring the entire structure up to current regulations.”

Land is not included in the assessment of value.

“Whatever the structure value is, and we do take private appraisals. It should be reproduction minus deterioration and it must be the pre-damage condition,” Bagby said.