PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — Dozens of people showed up to the mayors’ town hall Thursday where the main topic was hurricane recovery.

In attendance was Redington Beach Vice Mayor Tom Thompson, Treasure Island Mayor John Doctor, Madeira Beach Mayor Anne-Marie Brooks, Indian Shores Mayor Dianthan Schear, Gulfport Mayor Karen Love, and Redington Shores Mayor Tom Kapper.

They shared how their areas fared through the storms and what recovery has looked like since then.

“A lot of people are selling, investors are buying so that’s one concern; what’s going to happen three, five years out of what Redington Beach will look like,” said Vice Mayor Thompson.

“Ten percent of the residential damage in Pinellas County is in Treasure Island,” said Mayor Doctor.

“The landscape of who we are as a city is changing,” said Mayor Brooks.

“There were beach cottages that were devastated,” said Mayor Schear.

“We were hit by three hurricanes and a pop-up flood in a matter of two and a half months,” said Mayor Love.

“We still need a lot of help,” said Mayor Kapper.

Beach residents filled the room Thursday night, eager to hear what they had to say.

“I think they’re all encouraging,” said Jim Beggins, a Madeira Beach resident.

The beaches are mostly back. Many of them have been hosting events to try and help stimulate the economy and help out the businesses impacted by storms.

But they do want to make changes ahead of the next storm season. Permitting was the biggest concern among all their constituents. The mayors described regulations and paperwork as a hassle, and not getting much help from FEMA.

“There were tools that we had at our disposal that FEMA didn’t allow us to use,” said Mayor Brooks. “The issue in the permitting is the bureaucracy of FEMA.”

Some mayors said it can be fixed with changes at the state level. They also talked about property taxes and concerns with their cities’ budgets.

“A lot of houses being torn down is tax dollars we will lose,” said Mayor Kapper.

Beggins said he thinks the beaches will be better off ahead of the next storm season.

“I think government needs to be helped a lot, but in the light of the catastrophe that was here, they did the best they could,” Beggins said.