Monday, December 27, 2004

Gated communities in Palm Beach County want FEMA cleanup cash
Another example of the betwixt-and-between status of HOAs:

Grasping at whatever hope there is, county officials and community leaders are seeking federal reimbursement of thousands of dollars spent clearing debris after hurricanes Frances and Jeanne. The issue remains mostly unsettled for gated communities that paid haulers to pick up fallen tree limbs and other vegetation from their roadways, which the Federal Emergency Management Agency considers private and ineligible for assistance. But with the backing of two county commissioners, community leaders are gambling on a payback...An explanation of the policy in an internal FEMA memo from late September states: "[R]emoval of debris from private property, including roadways in private and gated communities, does not necessarily serve the public interest because the restrictions inherent to private or gated communities limit the exposure of the community-at-large to the hazard posed by the debris."
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