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<br />The Lemay Story <br /> <br />"We believe the over arching attitude of all involved has been one of <br />removing rather than creating roadblocks, " <br /> <br />-June McAllister Fowler <br />St, Louis County Department of Planning <br />on th~ buyout program <br />The Lemay buyout provides a textbook example of the dollars saved in <br />1995 as a direct result of the buyout program. <br />Lemay, a community consisting of approximately 330 single-family <br />residences within St. Louis County, had a history of flooding. According to <br />June McAllister Fowler, director of St. Louis County Department of Plan- <br />ning, Lemay experienced flooding in 1976, 1982, 1986, 1993 and again in <br />1995. <br />'The wonderful thing about the flooding in 1995," says Fowler, "was that <br />it occurred exactly where we had concentrated our buyout effort. <br />"After the flood of 1993, Lemay applied for buyout funds through the <br />State Emergency Management Agency to purchase 105 homes which had <br />sustained more than 50% damage, They successfully completed transactions <br />on 102 of the targeted homes with many of the relocated residents moving <br />nearby but outside the 100,year floodplain. Fowler pointed out, "We were <br />lucky that the damage was in such a definable area. When the flood waters <br />rose again in 1995, 81 of those structures were already razed and the reo <br />maining were ready for demolition.""We're developing a neighborhood park <br />there," she said, "The homes near the buyout area are on very small lots and <br />it's a very densely populated area, This will be a nice green space for the <br />residents. The community is getting involved, telling us that they want a <br />passive park and coming up with the name of the park. They're really <br />excited about it." <br /> <br />1993 <br />1995 <br /> <br />Number of <br />applicants <br />492 <br />16 <br /> <br />LEMAY <br />Individual/ <br />Family Grants <br />$168,140 <br />$884 <br />(as of 7113/95) <br /> <br />$608,600 <br />$7,400 <br /> <br />Disaster <br />Housing <br />$403,778 <br />$7,072 <br /> <br />SBA loans <br /> <br />In (St. Louis) county, the (River) Des Peres backed into the county again <br />and flooded many of the homes in Lemay that were abandonedfor govern. <br />ment buyouts after 1993. This time, nobody much cared.Mary Campbell, <br />county community development director, estimated the county already <br />would have spent or committed $7 million in emergency help, rescues, <br />payroll and fuel ifpeople had returned to Kayser Creek, only to be chased <br />out again. "I think this absolutely proves that the buyout was the right way <br />to go," Campbell said. <br /> <br />.St, Louis Post-Dispatch <br />May 26, 1995 <br /> <br />"Our prediction that a buyout was a sound fiscal decision has been proven <br />correct. Unfortunately, it has taken more flooding to prove it, We will <br />continue doing everything in our power to assist those impacted by the <br />current high water." <br /> <br />-Buzz Westfall <br />St. Louis County Executive <br /> <br />- <br /> <br />- <br /> <br />... <br /> <br />'This is not about a bunch of <br />people who are stubbornly <br />remaining in the floodplain. <br />Some did stay, but many moved <br />out and many more are moving <br />out. This point is you can't <br />recover from a SOD-year flood in <br />two years. It's just not enough <br />time, We still have a disaster on <br />our hands. The children who had <br />nightmares two years ago are <br />shell.shocked by the return of <br />high water. Many of them are out <br />of their homes, unable even to <br />play. It's almost as if they've <br />been imprisoned in a disaster <br />mode." <br /> <br />-Rev. Gretchen Pickeral <br /> <br /> <br />Photograph by Scott Dine, <br />St. Louis-Post Dispatch <br /> <br />-- <br /> <br />- <br /> <br />-- <br />