City creates recovery nonprofit

Nov. 13--PANAMA CITY -- City leaders voted Tuesday to create a nonprofit that will accept donations to help offset Hurricane Michael recovery costs.

Called the Panama City Florida Hurricane Disaster Relief Fund, Inc., the nonprofit will be used solely for offsetting city recovery spending not covered by federal reimbursement or insurance -- a cost expected to total millions of dollars.

The Panama City Commission voted to create the nonprofit during its regular Tuesday meeting. The nonprofit will be overseen by a board of directors that will include all five city commissioners, the city manager as president and the city clerk as secretary and treasurer.

Mayor Greg Brudnicki said the city isn't yet sure how much the Federal Emergency Management Agency will reimburse the city for cleanup and recovery spending. However, the city will at least have to cover 12.5 percent of the total cost, Brudnicki said.

"Our 12.5 percent could end up being $50 million," Brudnicki said during the meeting. "We're going to fight tooth and nail to make sure we offset those costs."

In addition to cleanup and repair costs, the city has spent money on comfort stations for residents and salaries for state troopers who helped in the early days of the hurricane that hit a month ago.

"That's all costs our taxpayers here should not have to bear the brunt of," Brudnicki said.

City Manager Mark McQueen said the city would do whatever possible to reduce recovery costs to the city and taxpayers.

"This is another vehicle or vessel to offset these expenses," McQueen said. "My intent is to defer every bit of that ... to offset that 12.5 percent."

City Commissioner Jenna Haligas said during the meeting that she already had received several calls from people asking how they could donate money and make sure it went only to the city.

"So, this is a great idea," Haligas said of the nonprofit.

Also during the meeting, the commission voted to end slip rental agreements at the Panama City Marina and most agreements at the St. Andrews Marina, other than for a few commercial ships that are still operational. McQueen said it needs as many boats as possible removed from the marinas so they can undergo hurricane damage repairs.

"We're giving them two weeks to vacate their slips," McQueen said of renters. "It's going to get cluttered there pretty quickly."

During the meeting, the commission also approved a resolution that waives enforcement of city code prohibiting mobile homes on private property, such as in front of houses. The enforcement will be waived until the commission can change the code, which it plans to do after holding public hearings at its next two meetings. The plan is to uphold the code changes for one year.

City Attorney Nevin Zimmerman said the intent of the changes is to permit emergency mobile housing for residents with damaged or destroyed homes in the city limits, including mobile units provided by FEMA.

The agency recently announced its first shipment of mobile homes was set to arrive on Sunday in Bay County. Once installed, the FEMA mobile units will remain for 18 months.

Brudnicki noted that the city was working with the Panama City Housing Authority to help any residents with housing if they need it after the FEMA trailers leave.

"We have to be very proactive as a city to help these people," Brudnicki said.

In other news, the commission voted to:

--Waive city utility bills for the past four weeks, including the time of the hurricane. The commission also waived base utility charges for residents who have no service use in November and December.

--Waive utility service fees, including late fees and fees to turn water off and on, until Jan. 1. Meanwhile, the commission reduced garbage rates by $7 a month for pickup from the standard blue garbage bins.

--Spend $717,137 to replace water meters damaged by the hurricane, an expense McQueen said would be largely subject to reimbursement.

--Pay $199,000 to engineering firm Mott MacDonald to assess hurricane damage to the city's two wastewater treatment plants and perform any design work related to the damage. "It is prudent to move forward and do a full assessment of damage of both facilities and repair them," McQueen said.

--Pay $494,565 to Dewberry Engineers to assess the city's water distribution system and its water collection system, and coordinate needed repairs for both. All of the engineering work will be paid for through the city's utilities enterprise fund, but should be reimbursed by FEMA, McQueen said.

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