Tavares, FL - Dec. 9, 2011 - Lake County may be losing out on a State funded program to retrofit tie downs for older mobile homes to reduce damage from hurricanes. Newer mobile homes have much stricter tie down requirements, and the retrofit is to upgrade older homes.
Apparently, there is a program funded by the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe fund for about $3-million, and Lake County residents never get a chance to make use of the funds. Their "contacts" page is HERE.
It pays up to about $1600 for contractors to refit older mobile homes with more tie-downs and "stabilizer" bars to reduce the possibility of the home shifting during high hurricane winds.
I had asked the County building inspector at one damaged mobile home park if they had any inspection standards for older homes to recommend improved tie down methods used in more recent mobile homes. She said they did not.
NOW, the St. Petersburg Times has written an expose HERE on the secretive program (2020 update - this link no longer works) and exposed that the State gave administration rights to a Tallahassee area community college, and a very connected mobile home industry "leader" Ken Cashin, has been getting the SINGLE contract to spend ALL the AVAILABLE funds in mobile home parks he selects. He was a mobile home lobbyist who helped DESIGN the program in 1999, then he founded a company,
In otherwords, typical Florida State cronyism has taken place, and many locations, including Lake County, have no clue the funds and program existed. (To be verified)
Cashin's firm runs crews in mobile home parks he selects, and none in Lake County have been selected.
The Times expose also found that Cashin's company failed to install the required number of tie downs in many homes, and makes a HUGE gross profit due to excess fee levels. Up until this year, Cashin's company was paid up to $1600 per mobile home to install tie downs and stabilizers, but many were not completed properly.
Read their LONG article for more details which will make you and US mad as hell that Florida State let this go on so long.
Meanwhile, we at FiscalRangers.com will find how Lake County mobile homeowners can apply for these safety improvement grants. We understand that the leaders in a mobile home park must apply for the entire park, because the repair crews work on one mobile home park at a time, and not on individual's homes.
vj
