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Largo makes plans for after a disaster

City officials discuss how to handle such things as emergency housing, building permits and an influx of contractors after a hurricane or some other calamity.

By LORRI HELFAND
Published August 12, 2006

LARGO - If a hurricane or other disaster hits Largo, city officials have plans to rescue the afflicted, clear the roads and assess the damage.

But what about later?

Largo leaders, like local officials throughout Pinellas County, are still working on plans for after the disaster.

Tuesday night, Largo city commissioners held a work session to discuss guidelines for rebuilding after an emergency.

They talked about everything from setting standards for emergency housing and issuing building permits quickly to protecting property owners from unlicensed contractors who would probably flood the area.

It's a timely discussion, say officials both inside and outside Largo.

"I don't think the department and the city as a whole had a handle on how catastrophic a major event could be or how it could set back your community," said Largo community development director Mike Staffopoulos.

After seeing the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina and the four storms that struck Florida in 2004, Pinellas officials have learned that handling the recovery can be even more challenging than dealing with the disaster itself.

"The hard part is trying to put the community back together," said Gary Vickers, Pinellas County's director of emergency management.

After a disaster, the Federal Emergency Management Agency could come into the community and set up mobile homes or trailers. Officials want to have rules for where those homes would go and how long they would stay.

About two weeks ago, representatives from throughout Pinellas met to talk about a countywide plan for emergency housing, Vickers said.

"It's a complex issue that's been around for some time, and we're trying to come up with some type of coordinated answer."

Bill Vola, Clearwater's emergency manager, said one of the difficulties is the lack of open space for temporary housing in the county.

"In all probability, our temporary housing is going to have to be outside of Pinellas County," Vola said.

If he has a say, temporary housing wouldn't be trailers at all.

"As a public safety professional, I have a real hard time mentally and morally with placing people who just survived a hurricane in rickety, rinky-dink travel trailers in a hurricane zone," Vola said.

Instead, he would prefer modular buildings that could sustain hurricane winds.

Largo officials also discussed drafting a city ordinance dealing with emergency housing at their work session on Tuesday.

Commissioner Gay Gentry said she asked officials to talk about a disaster recovery plan because she attended a National League of Cities conference in Charlotte, N.C., last year, where mayors from Orlando, Beaumont, Texas, Lake Charles, La., and Gulfport, Miss., spoke about the challenges they faced after disasters.

She is confident about the city's ability to handle emergencies, but hadn't heard staff discuss the mechanics of rebuilding.

In order to accelerate the rebuilding process, Largo officials are looking at ways of speeding up permitting and inspections. They also want to have a system in place to do that with or without power or computers.

Clearwater has also discussed permitting without computers and methods for getting the city online as quickly as possible, Vola said.

"We have a pretty good handle on what we've got to do," Vola said. "As good as anybody can be dealing with the unknown."

Vickers said permitting rules could be eased for temporary repairs, but that major repairs would require more review because structures would have to be rebuilt according to current codes.

Officials also expect workers to flood the area after a disaster. Largo building official Mike Sizemore talked about setting up rules to prevent unlicensed contractors from preying on residents.

For example, he said, the city might issue placards to licensed contractors.

Vickers said that's a good idea. But he said the primary responsibility will still rest with citizens, who need to be cautious about the credentials of people they hire to work on their homes or businesses.

REBUILDING: KEY ISSUES

- Emergency housing: What kind? Where would it go and for how long?

- Issuing building permits: How should the city handle sudden, large-scale needs, even without computers?

- Regulating contractors: How should the city educate the public and make sure contractors are licensed?

[Last modified August 12, 2006, 07:16:14]