Treasure Island officials hope upcoming events will help heal after back-to-back hurricanes

As more and more businesses at the beaches reopen after the hurricanes, those communities are starting to hold events to bring people back to the area.

Life going on around hurricane damage being repaired in Treasure Island.

Life going on around hurricane damage being repaired on Treasure Island. 

Treasure Island recently announced the Back to the Beach: Sand & Kites & Coastal Delights festival, which will take place on March 8th and 9th from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day. 

New dates for canceled events

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The annual Treasure Island Fire Rescue Chili Cook-Off is also coming up on Feb. 21 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. 

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Tickets are $10, and it will be held on the fifth floor of City Hall. Anyone can enter their chili into the competition.

Reinvesting in the community

Why you should care:

Money from that event will go to the Treasure Island Fire Association to help the fire department, which, along with the police department, was displaced, and their stations were destroyed by the hurricanes.

Officials say that while they hope the events bring some sense of normalcy back, they know many residents’ lives are still anything but normal. 

Hurricane damage to Treasure Island.

Hurricane damage on Treasure Island.

"I know some people are worried about their homes, especially when they're still not in them, bringing people in, visitors into the island when they can't even access their homes," Beisel said. "But we've got a police department that's been here protecting the island since the storms. They're going to continue to do that. And we want people to know we can do two things at once."

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Beisel continued, saying, "The first priority is our residents. That is our number one priority, and we are working hard to get them back in their homes, and we're doing everything we can." 

"Most businesses that can, they're starting to reopen, and that's what we like to see and to help these businesses survive, we need people here in Treasure Island. We know people are still hurting," Beisel said. "We know people are still out of their homes. We know people are still waiting on permits, but we still need to bring people into the island to support some of these businesses, to support our community, and to help get this recovery going quicker and faster."

How to get a permit

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As far as permits go, the city starts a new permitting process on Monday. Beisel said you’ll walk out with a permit the same day you walk in to apply for one. 

"When they come in to apply for a permit, they're going to deal with each part of that permit process, whether it's a building official fire, a general contractor, floodplain management," Beisel said. "We're going to get all the information they need that day when they come in, instead of having them fill out the application, then leaving and then finding out there's some missing information, they go home, we have to bring them back in, or we had to contact them and play that back and forth game."

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"That delays the process. We want them to come in, and when they leave City Hall, we want to make sure they have all the information they need, Beisel said. "Hopefully, they'll have that permit in hand." 

Hurricane damage being repaired on Treasure Island.

Hurricane damage being repaired on Treasure Island.

Three more floodplain managers from the state are also helping with the permitting process.

Mayor John Doctor also recently wrote a letter to President Donald Trump asking for disaster relief help, citing FEMA’s bureaucracy as an obstacle.

The Source: FOX 13's Kailey Tracy collected the information in this story.


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