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Civic Group Still Working To Get Clubhouse Fixed

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By CARL ORTH, The Suncoast News

Published: October 19, 2007

HOLIDAY - As the TAT Civic Association continues struggling to recover from the 2004 hurricanes, members will host a bond rally from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at the still-damaged clubhouse, 3210 Darlington Road.

Once the site of spaghetti suppers, dances and other fundraisers, the clubhouse has been closed since the storms hit Tahitian Homes, Aloha Gardens and Tiki Village three years ago.

Before the wind had its way, the association was on schedule to pay off the clubhouse mortgage by 2006.

The roof was fixed from part of the payout on the first insurance claim, for $372,000, that the association filed. The insurer, however, wouldn't pay a second claim after the clubhouse sustained more damage.

A contractor stopped work with the interior essentially gutted.

The storms of 2004 also damaged many mobile homes, and Tiki Village residents looked forward to a state program to reinforce older homes there.

Then money for the upgrades ran out in June, leaving 114 out of about 170 units at Tiki Village unfinished.

Now, on the heels of distressing developments, residents are getting good news: the state program is expected to resume soon.

About $15 million was put back into the revised state budget by legislators during the just-ended special session, according to the office of state Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey.

The budget will need Gov. Charlie Crist's signature before it takes effect. He has the power to cut individual appropriations - called a line-item veto - so the hurricane-proofing money isn't a done deal.

When, and if, the program does resume, 'Tiki Village is at the top of the list,' said Greg Giordano, Fasano's chief legislative aide.

About 10 crews had been working in the community in June. Tie-downs were the first priority, followed by reinforcements to porches and carports.

With many of their homes in limbo, Tiki Village residents wrote letters this summer to persuade Crist to restore the $15 million for the Manufactured Housing and Mobile Home Mitigation and Enhancement Program.

Dozens of copies of form letters from the Federation of Manufactured Home Owners of Florida Web site, www.fmo.org, were circulated around the neighborhood, which is west of U.S. 19 and south of Gulf Trace Boulevard.

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