CITY GETS MORE FOR FLOOD BUYOUTS

Flood buyout efforts in Cape Girardeau received another financial boost Monday through $300,000 from the Missouri Department of Economic Development.

The additional funding, which comes from the Community Development Block Grant program, brings the total budget for the city's buyout program to $2,240,585.

The new money is earmarked for relocating residents who accept buyout offers. Recipients are eligible for up to $22,500 in relocation benefits, in addition to what they are paid for their property.

"This supplements buyout dollars to help a person find another house that is decent, safe and sanitary," said Ken Eftink, development services coordinator for the city. "If they participate in the buyout program they can be eligible for these additional dollars."

Cape Girardeau's efforts to move residents out of flood-prone areas along the Mississippi River have received a number of new money infusions since the program was launched in December of last year.

In September the Federal Emergency Management Administration and the state contributed $738,585 to expand the buyout plan to include about a dozen homes in the Meadowbrook Drive neighborhood along the Ramsey Branch.

Eftink said it is likely, though not certain, that the latest round of funding is the last.

"I suspect this will be all the funding available, but I also think it will be enough funding to buy out all the homes of people interested in participating," Eftink said.

Eftink expects the city to make around 100 offers to property owners in flood-prone areas and anticipates acquiring a total of 65 homes. The buyout program is voluntary.

To date, 35 homes have been acquired in the Smelterville and Red Star areas, plus one property on Highway 177.

Thirty-two of those homes are part of the first phase of buyouts and are slated to be demolished by spring. However, the process involves more than just knocking down the vacant houses.

On Monday, the City Council awarded a $20,000 contract to Mead Environmental Associates Inc. of Cape Girardeau to inspect the structures for asbestos.

Carol Roth, an asbestos inspector with Mead Environmental, said the company's duties will include inspecting the homes and drawing up detailed plans for the removal of any asbestos found.