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<br /> <br />buyOUI would concentrate on homes <br />instead of businesses.8 <br /> <br />The county commissioners <br />selected the personnel aI Boonslick <br />Regional Planning Commission. head- <br />quartered in Warrenton. to organize <br />and administer the buyout. ResidenIs <br />of Winfield. with a local government <br />separate from the county. had 10 file a <br />separate buyout applicaIion through <br />its city council. The council also <br />selected Boonslick Regional Plan- <br />ning Commission to guide them <br />Ihrough Ihe process.9 No malter who <br />administered the buyout procedure. <br />Ihe process was the same in both <br />Lincoln County and Wintield. <br /> <br />First. a survey had to ascer- <br />tain damage. In Lincoln County. a <br />survey in March, 1994. revealed IhaI <br />I.I 00 homes had susIained damage, <br />and nearly 300 homes scaltered <br />throughoUI the eastern edge of tbe <br />county had suffered more than 50% <br />damage.lo An earlier inspection in <br />Wintield revealed that about 100 <br />homes, mainly in the Winfield Acres <br />area. had suffered damages above <br />50%.11 <br /> <br />The initial survey was fol- <br />lowed by a contact through Ihe mail 10 <br />owners whose property qualitied for a <br />buyout. The questionnaire asked <br />people whether they were interesIed <br />in tbe program; iI also asked them 10 <br />supply tinancial infornlation about <br />the home. Owners had 30 days to <br />reIurn Ihe application. <br /> <br />In tbe iniIial mailing. 243 <br />bomeowners in Ihe counIy and 50 <br />bomeowners in Winfield received <br />quesIionnaires. Once returned, prop- <br />erties were appraised and assigned a <br />value based on Ihe markeI value of the <br />house prior 10 Ihe flood. This value, <br />minus any prior governmenI pay- <br />ments such as flood insurance or <br /> <br />money to repair the home. was the <br />price offered to the homeowner. The <br />owner was free at that point to accept <br />the offer. reject the offer. or appeal the <br />offered price.12 <br /> <br />SEMA approved funds for <br />numerous buyouts in both Lincoln <br />County and Winfield. Initially SEMA <br />had offered S3,479,360 to buy 243 <br />homes in Lincoln CounIy. and <br />$713.000 to buy 30 homes in <br />Winfield. 19 In October, 1994, Lincoln <br />County and Winfield received ap- <br />proval for each to spend an additional <br />$1 million if necessary to buy <br />homes.~o <br /> <br />In one original program, <br />encouraged by Boonslick Regional <br />Planning Commission, Wintield of- <br />fered a new lot. well out of Ihe <br />floodplain. as an even exchange for <br />Ihe lloodplain lot of any homeowner <br />flooded out in '93. There were 75 lots <br />available.17 About 12 floodplain <br />viCIims took advanIage of the offer. 18 <br /> <br />By February 7. 1995. Lincoln <br />CounIy had completed 140 bUYOUIS.21 <br />The first buyout took place on July <br />26. 1994. when Alice Reimers signed <br />her llood damaged home over to the <br />counIy. She had lived there for 15 <br />years. She owned Alice's RestauranI <br />on Highway 79. and the business. <br />spared by floodwaters. had been an <br />unofficial meeIing place for people <br />parricipating in the buyout program. <br />She moved to a new home in the <br />nearby DarIa Home Subdivision in <br />Winfield. She told reporter Gregg <br />Ochoa of the Lincoln County Journal <br />after she received her check. '"I"m <br />happy. I could have ended up with <br />nothing."' She also crediIed county <br />officials with how they had helped her <br />with the buyout process.22 <br /> <br />By November 7. 1995. Lin- <br />coln County had purchased 270 <br /> <br />homes. at an average cost of $13,000 <br />each.23 A monIh later thaI number had <br />grown to 280. and the county had <br />received an award for its handling of <br />the buyout program. The award was <br />the gift of the Missouri Associarion of <br />CounIies and praised Lincoln not only <br />for the efficiency of the bUYOUI process <br />but also for iIs unique demolition <br />process of the ruined homes.24 <br /> <br /> <br />The award winning demoli- <br />tion Iechnique was the brain child of <br />Chuck Freidrichs. Lincoln County's <br />engineer and buyout coordinaIor. He <br />felt the usual demolition method <br />which involved a bulldozer smashing <br />a ruined home to rubble and earring <br />the ruined remains off 10 a landfill <br />was wasteful. <br /> <br />Realizing thaI up to 80% of a <br />home could be recycled. Ihe materials <br />used 10 build new houses. he hired 30 <br />people. most of Ihem unemployed, 10 <br />take each home apart and separate <br />reusable items from Ihe non-usable. <br />Then the items were sold to people <br />who wanted to rebuild or repair a <br />home. Freidrichs told reporrers from <br />Ihe Post Dispatch Ihat doors. ceiling <br />joists. bathIubs. vinyl siding. toilets. <br />sinks. altic insulation, plywood. two- <br />by-fours, and roof Irusses were "hot <br />items.". "Everything has a value to <br />somebody;. he said. "Other places <br />burn and bury. or come in with a high <br />lifI and crush an entire house and put it <br />on a truck. II'S sIupid. These are good <br />materials.". The program raised a half <br />million dollars. paid Ihe demolition <br />costs. and managed 10 tear down 260 <br />houses.25 <br /> <br />By October 26. 1996, when <br />buyout program ended. 323 houses <br />had been sold to the county.26 In <br />Winfield. the program resulted in Ihe <br />buyOUI and demoliIion of 37 homes <br />that traditionally had been most at risk <br />during floods.27 <br /> <br />Page 43 <br />