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<br /> <br />By Ihe time Ihe program was <br />compleIed in May. 1996. only 31 <br />Commerce homeowners had accepIed <br />a buyout offer. 16 One of them was ex- <br />mayor Ann Huck. who had opposed <br />the buyout in '93. She had accepted <br />$15,000 to move her house live blocks <br />to the lop of a hill overlooking the <br />town. She Iold Laura Johnson of Ihe <br />Chaffee ScolI Countv Signal. 'Tve <br />been in Ihe floods since I was a lilIle <br />girl. . .We should have done this years <br />ago:.17 Roy Jones. the man who had <br />run for mayor on a platform of <br />accepIing the buyout. was also one of <br />the first to accept a buyout offer. <br /> <br />AlIhough most people were <br />happy. some were not. Many felt Ihe <br />government offers were too low, and <br />in fact four residents left a meeIing <br />with SEMA officials on February 16. <br />at St. Paul" s Church when they found <br /> <br />out what the appraised value of their <br />home was. <br /> <br />Tommy and Joyce Cox re- <br />ceived a $57.000 offer on Iheir house <br />!hat Ihey considered worth $89.000. <br />Official assessors felt that the home <br />may have been worth that if it had been <br />situated ouIside of a floodplain. but the <br />Ihreat of almost yearly flooding <br />considerably reduced its value. <br /> <br />In the end. 27 property owners <br />out of 58 applicants rejected the buyout <br />price. and 19 residents did not choose <br />10 participate. Many were motivated by <br />a fierce affecIion for their town and <br />feared the buyout would encourage too <br />many people 10 leave. diminishing the <br />town.18 Dixie High felt that people who <br />accepted the bUYOUI. "didn.t care what <br />happened to Commerce. they wanted <br />10 sell Iheir homes and get out:. <br /> <br />Yet. the current mayor. Allen <br />WrighI, who owns an auto repair shop <br />in town, did not believe Ihe buyout <br />"hurt us thaI bad:. Wright points out <br />that some new businesses came 10 <br />Commerce: a Bed and Breakfast. a <br />winery, and a new tavern. Ann <br />Williams is the owner of the new KDs <br />Tavern. and says business is good. <br />Also. for the firsI time in years, <br />somebody is building a new house in <br />Commerce, well above the flood <br />plain.19 <br /> <br />Commerce flooded again in <br />May 1996. When it did, some people <br />began Ihe almosI yearly riIual of <br />cleaning out their home once again. <br />However. 31 homes will not have to be <br />cleaned out Ihis lime because nobody <br />lives there. At Ihe time of Ihis writing, <br />the 31 homes are just the shells of <br />houses waiting for the wreckers.2u <br /> <br /> <br />Page 29 <br />