By Ronald Hawkins, Reporter-Times
rhawkins@reportert.com
Homes in the 100-year flood plain on Southview Drive, the Centerfield and Williamsburg addition are the only ones to which the Federal Emergency Management Agency will offer buyouts, including some properties that overlap with land the Indiana Department of Transportation may acquire for the future path of Interstate 69.
FEMA is considering buyouts of 28 homes in the 100-year flood plain that will be destroyed, Mayor Phil Deckard said Wednesday. Combined with the homes INDOT may acquire along Ind. 37, an estimated 40 to 45 homes could be included in buyouts, city engineer Ross Holloway said. The properties don't include Williamsburg Colonial Apartments nor businesses in the area.
Indiana Department of Transportation representatives have begun the process of purchasing about two dozen Martinsville homes that were hit by flooding that are in the path of the planned Interstate 69 route, according to an INDOT statement. That path follows a 1,000-foot corridor along the current Ind. 37 through Martinsville.
FEMA officials have already contacted some homeowners and made offers. It is recommending that these home owners not proceed with repairs, unless it is to stabilize a property, Holloway said.
Property owners may reject buyout offers, but if they decide to rebuild the home they will have to elevate the structure by two to four feet, Holloway said.
Relocation benefits will be available for those who accept the offers, Holloway said. Any insurance settlement, however, would have to go to the state. Another meeting with FEMA was scheduled for today.
"I think it's a good idea," Deckard said of the FEMA plans.
The homes will be appraised at their pre-flood value, Deckard said. Those appraisals will be completed by July 13. Payment will be made 30 days after the title is cleared, he said.
"They are going to attempt to get us on an expedited program," Deckard said.
The federal payment will cover 75 percent of the offers with a 25 percent community match required, Holloway said. That, however, doesn't have to be in the form of a check by the city, but may include the value of labor provided, materials and other ways residents assist.
In addition to the losses in the city, county properties also have been damaged. Morgan County Commissioner Norman Voyles said he's had contact with FEMA, but not with INDOT.
There has been major erosion to the county farmland, Voyles said. It is too late to replant corn, but there is hope that land will dry enough in time to plant soybeans.
Additionally, there may be homes outside the city that could be on the planned Interstate 69 path, Voyles said.
To help some county residents, the county is waiving permit fees for repair or rebuilding of flood-damaged residences. Permits, however, are required. Martinsville also has waived the fee for properties where rebuilding is allowed.