PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Pinellas County announced Monday it has been awarded more than $813 million for hurricane recovery efforts and wants the public's input on how to use the funds.

The funds can impact all of Pinellas, except for St. Petersburg. The county said the city is receiving its own funding.

The money came from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to support long-term recovery from Hurricane Idalia in 2023, and hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024.

At their Feb. 25 meeting, Pinellas commissioners were told the money can be used to help with unmet needs — anything from un-reimbursed costs for home repair and reconstruction, to public services like legal aid, to grants and loans for small businesses.

"What we're proposing is that we really focus on people first and put the municipal and the county's cost as a secondary burner," Pinellas County Administrator Barry Burton said at the meeting.

70% of program funds are meant to help low-to-moderate income residents and areas.

Commissioners were told at the February meeting that when it comes to individual households, that works out to an income of $76,000 per year for a family of four.

For infrastructure improvements like road repairs, 51% of the service area's population must be considered low-to-moderate income.

The county has launched an online survey and hub, and will host a series of public meetings in April and May.

Here are the meeting dates.

Public meetings

Monday, April 7, 6-8 p.m. (South County)
Lealman Exchange
Ray Neri Room
5175 45th Street North, St. Petersburg

Thursday, April 10, 6-8 p.m. (Mid County)
City of Dunedin - City Hall
Commission Chambers
737 Louden Ave, Dunedin

Thursday, April 24, 6-8 p.m. (North County)
Harbor Hall/White Chapel
1190 Georgia Avenue, Palm Harbor

Tuesday, May 6, 9:30 a.m. (Board of County Commission Meeting)
333 Chestnut Street, Palm Room
Clearwater, FL 33756

Zoom Meetings

Links at recover.pinellas.gov/meetings
Tuesday, May 13, 11 a.m.
Thursday, May 15, 6 p.m.

Pinellas businesses see a glimmer of hope

Brian Himert, manager of The Spice & Tea Exchange at the John's Pass Village & Boardwalk, said he plans to apply for any assistance if his business is eligible and would also like to see help available to get people back into their homes.

He and his wife, Lisa, set up shop at the location 18 years ago.

As it did for so many people, storm surge from Hurricane Helene changed everything.

For about five months, Himert and his employees have set out their array of teas, spices, and salts under a tent every day.

"It's been a long battle. We're very fortunate that we have a large guest following," Himert said.

Pictures provided by Himert show the inside of the tea shop gutted following the storm. He told Spectrum News he was also hit at home, with five and a half feet of water inundating the first floor of his Treasure Island house.

"We were able to stay in our home because we live on the second and third floor, but a lot of people are in hotels, in apartments, and paying mortgage payments," said Himert. "Or they're in a situation where all the equity in their home is gone, and now all they can hope for is to sell the land. So, it's a horrible situation."

The news that Pinellas County is getting more than $813 million that could potentially help homeowners and businesses was welcome.

"I think there's a lot of small mom and pops like us that are really ingrained in the community and believe in their communities that could use a lot of help," he said. 

A few shops down at Made in the Shade Sunglasses, owner Joshua Cearnal is glad to be back in his store. He reopened March 15 after six months of repair work that he said he did on his own.

Cearnal said he'd like to see a reimbursement program set up for small businesses.

"It would help out tremendously," he said. "We didn't have income for six months."

Any program ideas are just possibilities at this point.

It was stressed at the February commission meeting that public input is going to play a big role in figuring out what the most pressing needs are in Pinellas County and how to meet them.