Dutchtown may get help on flood buyout

The often-flooded Cape Girardeau County village of Dutchtown may soon receive help from the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning Commission as the village seeks participation in a federal buyout program.

Authorization for the commission to contract with the village on administering federal grants for a buyout will go before the commission during a meeting Tuesday in Perryville, Mo.

Flooding in Dutchtown has damaged homes in multiple years during the past few decades. Sandbagging frequently occurs when the water rises, as does the closing of portions of two state highways that intersect in the village.

The village, according to Doyle Parmer, emergency management coordinator for Dutchtown, incorporated for the purpose of having a levee built to protect homes. But when the price of the levee that would be built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers kept rising, the plan was dropped.

An application for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to allow the village to pursue a buyout has been submitted, and the commission plans to play a role by offering to administer related grants.

"We've been concerned about it for some time," Chauncy Buchheit, executive director of the commission, said of the situation facing Dutchtown.

The village could apply for two funding sources with the help of the commission, Buchheit said, including participation in a federal buyout program that would pay for 75 percent of the total cost and a community development block grant through the state that would help the village meet the 25 percent match.

The commission also may assist with an environmental study that would be needed as part of grant administration, Buchheit said. The commission's role would be to contact regulatory agencies that must weigh in on federal funds being used for a flood buyout.

Margaret Yates, a grant administrator for the commission, said the number of homes that could be in a buyout has not been determined, but the commission believes there are about 15. Buyout of those properties would depend on whether homeowners want to participate, she said.

The last time sandbagging was needed in Dutchtown was in June. The village also experienced major flooding in 2011 and 2008.

The meeting will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday at 1 W. St. Joseph St. in Perryville.

eragan@semissourian.com

388-3627

Pertinent address: Dutchtown, MO

1 W. St. Joseph St., Perryville, MO