OLIVE BRANCH, Ill.--Almost two years after enduring the worst flooding in recent memory, residents of Olive Branch finally will be in a position to decide their own destinies now that a buyout grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been approved.

The grant from FEMA, called the Alexander County Hazard Mitigation grant, is worth $8.7 million dollars and will be used to purchase homes and property in Olive Branch and in other Alexander County communities that were damaged by Mississippi River flooding in 2011. A grant worth $2.9 million from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources also will be applied to the buyout process.

"It took awhile, but we're excited," said Beth Ellison, project manager of Community Recovery and Rebuilding at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, which advised the Olive Branch community during the grant process.

Jeff Denny, Alexander County engineer, said he was beginning to wonder if the grant would ever be approved.

"It seems like we waited so long," Denny said. "Now it's time to move forward."

According to Ellison, there are 167 homes and businesses in Olive Branch and in the communities of Miller City, Hodges Park and Unity that are eligible to be bought out. Property owners will be notified by mail of their options, which also include having their homes elevated as protection against future flooding or to have their homes moved to another location away from the flood plain.

"We know of only four property owners who are interested in having their home raised, and nobody has expressed a desire to have their homes moved from one place to another," Ellison said.

Terms of the buyout will offer pre-flood market value to property owners who accept a buyout. However, Ellison said property owners can't be forced to accept buyouts.

Denny said his preference is for the people of Olive Branch to stay in the community even if they accept a buyout.

"We don't want anyone to leave," he said.

If a buyout is accepted, ownership of the land will be assumed by Alexander County and structures on the land will be demolished. No taxable structure can be built on the property, but Ellison believes there are ways to make the land beneficial.

"We've been thinking that a community garden can go into one of the vacant properties," she said. "We also think that a neighbor can use a property as an extended backyard with approval from the county."

Ellison said Community Recovery and Rebuilding had worked closely with the Olive Branch community in applying for the Alexander County Hazard Mitigation grant from FEMA.

"We started to help shortly after the flood," she said. "We helped community officials get the FEMA grant together, which was applied for in September 2011."

Ellison added that helping the people of Alexander County has been a wonderful experience.

"It's been a rewarding job," she said. "Some people there are like family to me."

Purchases and demolition of properties in Olive Branch and in the other communities could begin in about two months. The buyout grant is being administered by the Illinois Emergency Management Agency.

klewis@semissourian.com

388-3635

Pertinent address:

Olive Branch, IL

Unity, IL

Hodges Park, IL,