OFFICIALS OPEN OFFICE TO MANAGE FLOOD BUYOUT PLAN

COMMERCE -- Laurel Moldenhauer, grant administrator for the Commerce flood buyout, kept busy Wednesday filing paperwork and meeting with homeowners.

Missouri's State Emergency Management Agency is supervising the buyout program.

Twenty homeowners already have made appointments to discuss their buyout options. During those appointments, Moldenhauer explains the buyout program in detail and answers case-specific questions about flood insurance, previous loans and appraisals.

About 75 residents attended an informational meeting Tuesday evening to learn more about the buyout process.

The Commerce Board of Trustees unanimously approved the flood buyout program before it was submitted to the Federal Emergency Management Agency in August.

The federal government accepted the plan Nov. 8.

About 80 percent of the properties in Commerce are eligible for the $1.75 million buyout funds. The state will contribute 25 percent of the money, or about $680,000, to the project. The federal government pays for the balance.

Commerce Mayor Roy Jones hopes that residents will take advantage of the opportunity to move out of the flood plain. The board of trustees failed to approve a buyout plan following the 1993 flood.

But after another wave of flooding early this summer, some residents have taken a hard look at the buyout.

Imogene Mayberry likes the voluntary option in the program. She has lived in her house during several floods, including those in 1993 and 1995. In 1979, her house had to be raised 10 blocks when water seeped inside.

But despite Commerce's history as one of the oldest towns in Scott County, Jones says the village will remain in tact. The river town was founded in 1790.

"History is a wonderful thing," he said. "But not if you live with water up to your necks."

Many of the residents will continue living in the town, Jones predicts, just not in the flood plain. Residents have the choice of demolishing their homes or moving to another site.

If they choose to move the home, they can receive up to $15,000 in assistance. However, the actual amount a resident receives will depend on the appraised value of their property.

And the number of residents who move out of the flood plain depends on how many accept the buyout offer. The program is a voluntary one, which means that residents have about 14 days to decide whether or not to accept an offer after it has been made.

In effect, the property owners who participate in the buyout program will be selling their land or homes through SEMA to the Village of Commerce.

The land can only be used as an open space, which means the town board can't develop it or build any permanent structures there.

The buyout office is open from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. weekdays until all the preliminary work is complete, Moldenhauer said. The office is in the St. Paul United Methodist Church.