SEMINOLE, Fla. — Since hurricanes Helene and Milton, the city of Seminole has made progress in clearing all of the debris, but there is still much work to do to rebuild the damaged properties.

The city's building and permit office has seen an increased volume of visits from applicants seeking approvals. Assistant City Manager Vince Tenaglia said that Seminole is reducing its permit base fee by $50.

Property owners who received a building permit since Sept. 26 qualify for a fee refund.

Kevin Hogg, a snowbird, owns a vacation home in Harbor Lights Mobile Home Park. He and several residents there have been without power since Helene.

“They are slowly working their way across the park over to here, where there are the most severely damaged houses,” said Hogg on power restoration efforts.

Hogg says reducing permit fees will help with unexpected costs.

“When we got hit with the water, it came up about 12-and-a-half inches in the house, and it took out the transformers and the pedestals,” Hogg said about the damage caused by Helene.

Harbour Lights is one of several mobile home parks that are in the process of updating its electric boxes or pedestals to code so that power can be restored by Duke Energy.

Due to limited damage, some residents have been able to get power back without paying any extra fees.

However, if there is any damage to the service line that runs to a residence, the homeowner is financially responsible for additional repairs and obtaining permits and a separate electrician.

“A lot of people, this is their house, they lost everything, and I feel terrible for them. I hope they can rebuild for as little as possible,” said Hogg.

He says a little bit of help can make a huge difference.