FEMA National Flood Insurance Program to be discussed at Tuesday meeting

Lee County will provide an update Tuesday related to FEMA’s announcement that it would alter discounts on National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) premiums by retrograding the county’s and four municipalities’ Community Rating System (CRS) classifications.

This issue will be publicly discussed during the regularly scheduled Lee Board of County Commissioners meeting at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, April 16. “FEMA CRS Update” is listed under County Manager Items on the agenda recap. The agenda can be found at www.leegov.com/bocc/meetings/agendas.

The meeting will be streamed live on LeeTV, YouTube and Facebook Live. The meeting video will be available on YouTube after it ends. Regularly scheduled Board meetings are held in Board Chambers in the Old Lee County Courthouse, 2120 Main St., Fort Myers.

In its commitment to transparency, Lee County has launched a landing page dedicated to this issue. Visitors to the site can review publicly available documentation and other information. Go to www.leegov.com/femacrs

The Lee Board of County Commissioners is committed to retaining the CRS rating of 5 to maintain the discount available to residents with National Flood Insurance Program policies.

To further that effort, Lee County Manager Dave Harner and city managers from impacted municipalities – City of Bonita Springs, City of Cape Coral, the Village of Estero and the Town of Fort Myers Beach – sent a letter to FEMA on Friday, April 12. The letter is posted on the landing page. It summarizes conclusions reached during meetings last week with county, municipal, state and federal staff.