Bay County unveils code enforcement plan post hurricane

March 06-- Mar. 6--PANAMA CITY -- Bay County property owners have from now through October to show progress on needed Hurricane Michael cleanup before any code enforcement actions are taken, officials said Tuesday.

County code enforcement officers will soon start surveying properties to learn what situations owners are in and if they're moving forward with recovery. Owners who show no effort to clean their properties by October could be subject to legal action such as liens.

The Bay County Commission discussed the post-hurricane code enforcement plan during its regular meeting on Tuesday.

Bob Majka, county manager, said that code enforcement officers would keep up with property owners in the coming months after the initial assessment to document progress. The county will work with owners who try to improve their properties but are slowed for different reasons, Majka said.

"For instance, we know some people are just now getting settlements from insurance," Majka said. "It could be well after October before most of these properties get back in compliance."

For properties that show no progress, particularly those foreclosed on or are a health hazard, more aggressive steps will be taken, he said.

"We will do a clean and lien process," Majka said. "This is what we plan to do to move forward."

Commissioners agreed they wanted to show compassion and do everything possible to work with owners trying to clean their properties.

"But we've got to move forward," Commissioner William Dozier said of code enforcement. "If we don't start some type of measure, there will be areas that will continue to be left in shambles."

Philip Griffitts, chairman of the commission, agreed with Dozier that the county had to push forward.

"It's time to start executing a plan," Griffitts said.

During the meeting, the commission also agreed that Majka and Griffitts should negotiate hiring at least a state and possibly federal lobbyist to hopefully get as much hurricane relief money for the county as possible.

"What's most important to me is we have the right person on the ground to articulate what's most important to us," Majka said.

About 40 local, hurricane recovery-related bills have already been filed in the Florida Legislature on behalf of school boards and municipalities. The county, Majka said, should do whatever possible to make those funding requests happen for the area.

Majka noted that he didn't want to hire lobbyists on a retainer, just for the current legislative session, which began on Tuesday.

"Once we get to July, if there's any reason to extend a contract, we can come back and talk about it," Majka said to the commission.

Commissioner Robert Carroll said he supported having a lobbyist, but emphasized that the entire commission should lobby to legislators on behalf of the county too.

"We need to be 100 percent committed to going to Tallahassee," Carroll said.

Later in the meeting, the commission voted to apply for a portion of $15 million recently set aside from Gulf Coast oil spill settlement money to help cover tax revenue losses from the hurricane.

Last month, the Triumph Gulf Coast Board, which oversees the use of settlement money from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, allocated the money for Bay, Gulf, Franklin and Wakulla Counties -- areas hit by the hurricane and eligible for settlement money. The counties must apply for the money and can only use it to cover up to 50 percent of their ad valorem property tax revenue losses expected from the hurricane.

The county estimates a $4 million loss in property tax revenue because of the hurricane.

"Our goal is not to raise taxes, so we need this to offset the loss," Griffitts said of the Triumph money.

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