Hayes Hits Road Tuesday To Share Flood Mitigation Program

Livingston Mayor Curtis Hayes hit the road Tuesday afternoon to talk with homeowners affected by flooding about buying their homes.

The city extended the deadline for the Hazardous Mitigation Program for two weeks. Hayes said he wanted to make sure individual homeowners knew they had additional time to make a decision.

“I think the grant process could be a win win for the city and for the property owners that were affected by the flood,” Hayes said. “I think the city is certainly not in the business to be buying homes.”

The FEMA grant will allow the city to purchase plots at a fair market price. Hayes said TEMA and UCDD officials had clarified that the fair market price would be based on pre-flooding valuations. Several homes and businesses were impacted by flooding during the February, 2019 storm.

The program is voluntary, Hayes said. He told aldermen Monday night he wanted to make sure homeowners understood the program. The city also hosted a public meeting on the program last week.

City of Livingston officials are applying for a $450,000 FEMA grant to purchase the homes.

“We will turn the application in within the next 30 days, but it’ll probably be six months before we get the grant,” Hayes said.

Hayes said once the plots are sold they can be used as green spaces for more parks.