Lee County officials reported that staff provided an update to the Lee County Commission at its meeting on May 4 related to the work to provide all requested and required documentation in response to FEMA’s efforts to retrograde the county’s Community Rating System classification.

On May 3, the county submitted documentation on all 414 properties identified by FEMA.

“County staff will remain available and responsive to FEMA staff as the agency reviews the documentation,” officials reported. “It’s anticipated that review could take about a month.”

The county also updated its website at www.leegov.com/femacrs dedicated to the issue. The site now includes a document called “Lee County’s Floodplain Management Post-Hurricane Ian Compliance Response to FEMA,” as well as an Executive Summary.

“Both documents, which also were provided to FEMA, describe Lee County’s compliance activities, including why Lee County made the decisions it did after Hurricane Ian, the timing of those decisions and how the county adhered to FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and CRS guidelines,” officials reported.

The county noted that the commission is committed to retaining the CRS rating of 5 to maintain the discount available to residents with NFIP policies.