NOVEMBER NOTES:
Change of Meeting Date for November Civic Meeting
To: Tuesday, November 25 (Thanksgiving week) 7:00 p.m.
St. Peter Evangelical Lutheran Church, 3751 Estero Boulevard
Speaker: Wayne Daltrey, Lee Smart Growth
About Us
The Fort Myers Beach Civic Association is dedicated to informing citizens about key local issues. Increasing growth, development, and environmental issues already affecting and potentially affecting further our quality of life provide major incentives for residents to visit Civic Association meetings, to join our organization, and to stay informed. Our meetings are always open to the public and all islanders are cordially invited to attend.
Regular Meetings ***NOTE***
Change of Date, Location and Time, 2008-2009
Regular meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month, beginning at 7:00 p.m. at St. Peter Lutheran Church , 3751 Estero Boulevard (about mid-island, south of Red Coconut and north of Publix). Meetings are suspended during the summer months. Meanwhile, everyone can keep up with events and information about local issues by watching this web site.
ALERT! - ARE YOU PROTECTED UNDER THE 50% RULE? - ALERT!
Recently I discovered to my complete surprise and dismay that my house was assessed at such a low figure that I could spend no more than about $40,000 in renovations or repairs without coming to grief over the "50% rule". This means that if my house had incurred serious damage due to a storm or any other event - or if I merely wanted to make improvements - amounting to over $40,000, I would either: a) not be allowed to make the repairs or improvements, or b) have to raise my entire house to the current FEMA-required levels. Although I knew, generally, about the 50% rule, I had somehow assumed that it was based on a real-time valuation, and my house, exclusive of land value, was worth considerably more than $80,000 or so. Permits for proposed improvements were denied because the cumulative amounts of recent improvements crossed the 50% threshold. Staff at Town Hall offered one other option, that of paying to have an appraisal done, which would raise the base valuation figure. Clearly, that was the best option, and the new valuation provides a much greater margin now for repairing any significant damage to my home or for making improvements to it. Whew! Word to the wise: know what is the current appraised (on official records) valuation of your house, exclusive of land, and evaluate your risk of incurring damage which might exceed half that valuation to repair!
