Grant to help Marble Hill buy flood-affected property

The Missouri Department of Economic Development has awarded two community development block grants to Southeast Missouri areas affected by weather-related disasters in 2008.

Marble Hill will receive $70,475 to help buy six residential properties affected by flooding along Crooked Creek. The funding will supply the required match for Federal Emergency Management Assistance funding, department spokesman John Fougere said. The grant, which will provide the 25 percent match FEMA requires, is contingent on the city receiving the FEMA funding.

The properties, once acquired and cleared, must remain under city ownership. Their use will be restricted to green space, wetlands or recreation.

In 2008 there were three federal disaster declarations including Bollinger County as a result of flooding, Fougere said.

The Southeast Missouri Regional Planning and Economic Development Commission will receive a $122,720 grant, the department announced, to be used for land use planning in the seven-county area it serves. The funding will help the agency plan for flooding, winter storms, tornadoes and general hazard mitigation, said Chauncy Buchheit, executive director of the commission.

The commission serves Bollinger, Cape Girardeau, Iron, Madison, Perry, St. Francois and Ste. Genevieve counties.

Pertinent address:

204 E. High St., Marble Hill, MO