COMMERCE MAYOR HOPES FOR BUYOUT

Given the history of recent flooding in Commerce, Mayor Roy Jones said a federal buyout is the most sensible path to recovery.

Jones pointed to a petition signed by nearly 80 percent of the residents during the 1993 flood and complaints from residents who have grown weary of the 1995 flood to support him.

In 1993, the city's trustees voted 3-2 against a buyout, even though 80 percent of the people favored a buyout.

"I thought the board's decision in 1993 was one of the most selfish acts I've ever seen," Jones said, especially because it went against the people's wishes.

With a new board, Jones doesn't think such a negative vote would happen again.

"There are a lot of people who are tired of this constant flooding and just want to get out," he said.

Jones said the only alternative to a buy out is a levee, which could cost more than the property in the town is worth.

"I don't see anyone wanting to build a $4 to $5 million levee to protect a town that's worth less than $2 million," he said.

Scott County and Cape Girardeau counties were among the state's 24 counties that will receive individual federal assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

FEMA public affairs spokesman LeRoi Brashears said Commerce, which has been affected by flooding the last three years, "sounds like a town that would be eligible to be moved out of harm's way."

The most immediate concern for residents of Commerce is how much they would receive from the federal and state government to move to higher ground. FEMA officials estimate there may be as much as $1.5 million available for new buy outs.

Brashears said the value of a home is assessed at pre-flood conditions and would go according to "the local community's calculation."

"If by that they mean the local realtors the property wouldn't be worth a plug nickel," Jones said. However, many people have improved their homes since 1993.

"I've put $7,200 worth of improvements into this home, but I don't know if I'll ever get that back," he said.

Commerce would have to make an appeal to FEMA to apply for the federal buyout program. With a combination of Hazard Mitigation Section 404 funding and Community Development Block Grants, local governments were able to purchase thousands of primary residences from willing sellers, allowing thousands of Missourians to move out of flood-prone areas.

Under the buyout program, 2,042 homes, 1,009 mobile home pads and 210 vacant lots in Missouri were bought out with 75 percent of federal funds and 25 percent of state and local dollars.

Brashears said that with the duplication of federal and state money for the same damage, there was more buyout money left from the 1993 flood.

In a review of 500 completed Missouri buy outs, FEMA officials reported the average buyout offer per home was $25,000. In some cases the buyout applicant had already collected as much as $10,000 from the other sources.

"In that example, we authorized the local community to cut a buyout check to the homeowner for the difference, which would be $15,000," said FEMA Region VII Director John A. Miller.