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<br /> <br />One senior citizen had conscientiously <br />paid her premiums for years and had <br />also maintained and created an <br />.'exIremely well maintained property."' <br />The buyout program acknowledged <br />her efforts. by offering pre-flood fair <br />markeI value, which. with the insur- <br />ance payoff, allowed her 10 move 10 a <br />desirable property out of the flood- <br />plain. The officials aI SEMA were <br />generally willing 10 adapt the buyout <br />program to fairly compensate ciIizens <br />who had accepted responsibility for <br />living on land thaI was vulnerable 10 <br />flood waters. <br /> <br />Cedar City was a kind of <br />testing ground for the buyout program. <br />because Jefferson <br />City was the first <br />municipality 10 of- <br />fer the program 10 <br />its citizens. Coop- <br />eratively. Jefferson <br />City and SEMA <br />worked out some <br />"kinks."' For in- <br />stance, ofticials dis- <br />covered Ihat county <br />assessors in Cedar <br />CiIy had seriously <br />underesIimaIed the <br />value of property in <br />the years before the <br />flood, and the "fair <br />pre- flood markeI price of Ihe property.' <br />was about 15% undervalued. SEMA, <br />therefore allowed a 15% mark-up in <br />the offering price to offset this <br />difficultY.7 This kind of flexibility and <br />fairness has been typical of Ihe Flood <br />BuyoUl Program generally. SEMA <br />officials realized Ihat 10 make the <br />program a success. it had to be <br />sensitive to local conditions. <br /> <br />of the program was immediaIely <br />apparent when Ihe floods came this <br />second time. In 1993,473 citizens of <br />Cedar City had applied for individual <br />assistance during the Ilood. The total <br />cost 10 the Iaxpayer for disaster <br />housing, Individual Family Grants, and <br />Small Business Administration (SBA) <br />loans was SI,435.149. When the floods <br />came again in 1995. most residents <br />were gone, and consequenIly Ihe <br />number of people applying for emer- <br />gency aid was less. In 1995. only 53 <br />people applied for individual assis- <br />tance which Iotaled $176.902. The Iwo <br />floods covered almosI the same areas in <br />Cedar City. buI because of the buyOUI <br />program, the taxpayers of Missouri <br /> <br />to indi viduals for a token renI of <br />$]5.00 a year.lo A few previous <br />landowners worked OUI special ar- <br />rangements with Ihe Jefferson CiIy <br />Parks and Recreation Department. <br />whereby Ihey were allowed lifetime <br />gardening rights on Iheir old garden <br />sites. I I The mosI original use of the <br />land. however. has to be on Ihe six <br />acres rented to Harry Thompson and <br />his son Ben. Ben was Ihe president of <br />his local Future Fanners of America <br />(FFA) chapIer, and Ihe group needed <br />a fundraising projecl. The Thompsons <br />teamed up with the organizers of the <br />Jefferson City River Rendezvous <br />FesIi val. in OCIober 1998. 10 produce <br />a truly amazing attracIion. First. they <br />planted corn on <br />six acres ofland <br />and Ihen cut out <br />of Ihe ] 2 foot <br />high field of <br />corn a gigantic <br />500 by 350 fool <br />crop art repre- <br />sentation of the <br />Missouri State <br />Capitol Build- <br />ing. This giant <br />image was only <br />visible from Ihe <br />air. but visitors <br />10 the Rendez- <br />vous FesIival <br />could enjoy the "sculpture.' in yet <br />another way. At ground level. the <br />image. cut from the live corn, was <br />actually an intersecting maze of paIhs <br />7-12 feel wide. VisiIors to the <br />Rendezvous FesIival could pay a fee <br />and try 10 negotiate Iheir way Ihrough <br />the maze. Unfortunately, four days <br />before the festi val, a flash flood on Ihe <br />Missouri River IhreaIened to drown <br />the whole area in water, and Ihe <br />fesIival had 10 be moved 10 higher <br />ground. It was not a Iotalloss. for the <br />threaIened flood did not overtop the <br />levee system. and the resourceful <br />Thompsons were able to harvest and <br />sell the com in the field. AdapIing to <br /> <br /> <br />Pavilion adjacent to the Katy Trail State Park in Cedar City. <br /> <br />By March I, 1994, Ihe first <br />buyout had been approved. followed by <br />the first payment to an owner on May <br />11.8 Most of Cedar City's houses were <br />empty of people by May. 1995. when <br />Ihe water rose again. The effecIiveness <br /> <br />were able to save $1.258.247. After <br />1995. most of the remaining citizens of <br />Cedar City decided that they 100 would <br />take advantage of Ihe bUYOUI ofter. <br />Today. only six people live in Cedar <br />City, and the emergency cosI of helping <br />Ihem has been greaIly reduced.9 <br /> <br />VVhat has happened 10 Ihe <br />land where housed once sIood? <br />Jefferson CiIy has built a picnic <br />pavilion on part of it along with an <br />extension of the KA TY Bike Trail <br />that connects that Irans-Missouri <br />bicycle paIh with the Missouri River. <br />JeIterson City"s Park and Recreation <br />Department has renIed garden plots <br /> <br />Page 25 <br />