There is much to be encouraged about as hurricane recovery continues on a hundred fronts.

     The Charlotte, DeSoto, Hardee Counties Hurricane Charley Recovery Committee formed in the ten days following the Friday the 13th hurricane discussed creating a formal group to follow up on resource opportunities. A subcommittee that volunteered at that meeting has completed its task and formed a tri-county non-profit corporation.

     Florida Power did an amazing job putting many of us back in business. The trash pickup supported by FEMA people and dollars is making us look less like a war zone. Great long running tasks lie ahead.

     A separate FEMA effort on community recovery planning has been a fast paced professional project that has reached out to the entire Peace River Valley to help us come back stronger and better than we were before. Charlotte, DeSoto and Hardee Counties are the only ones in Florida to have benefited from this extraordinary exercise. The FEMA recovery planning team's final product will reflect the thinking of a couple thousand citizens and community leaders. When the FEMA task force departs in about a month we should have a broad blueprint to recreate ourselves as more attractive communities. The final product will have cost estimates, time lines and the sources of funds to help us move into a brighter future. Replenishing our housing stock for a variety of income levels will be one of the major challenges.

     The FEMA team effort by skilled and dedicated professionals is a result of the three Charley counties of Charlotte, DeSoto and Hardee recognizing they have been common victims of nature and that there are many instances when a single voice will be stronger than one or two counties going it alone. The cooperative approach has been effective in getting DCA and FEMA involved in recovery planning. We are the only counties to have been so recognized and supported. The FEMA recovery planning team will move on to use this three county cooperative model in the Florida Panhandle before leaving the state.

     In order to continue to use the strength and expertise of the three counties as FEMA planners leave, the original Hurricane Charley Recovery Committee created a subcommittee representing each of the counties to form a formal organization that could continue using the unique strength of the three counties in the common cause of locating recovery resources. The committee held a number of meetings and reviewed the successful Miami-Dade, We Will Rebuild Inc., a corporation formed following hurricane Andrew. The committee enlisted the aid of attorney Jack Hackett who volunteered the services of the Farr law firm of Punta Gorda in drawing incorporation papers and the by-laws created from committee discussions.

     The committee created a formal corporation called the Peace River Tri-County Collaborative. The new corporation is applying for 501 (c) (3) non profit status.

     The bylaws of the Peace River Tri-County Collaborative Inc. state that the purpose will be to promote the recovery, economic and general welfare of Charlotte, DeSoto and Hardee Counties. Under the bylaws, each county has directors representing the interests of the county government, city government, school board, the non-profit sector, business and a citizen-at-large. That makes six directors from each county. The 18-person board has elected a chairman and hired an executive.

     The board will have a modest budget for office space, the executive and an assistant. The tasks ahead are huge. The resources required will be like nothing before contemplated for this region. The opportunities are equally great to remake ourselves as more prosperous more attractive communities.



02/01/2005