Des Plaines is set to receive nearly $3 million from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency to buy and demolish 13 homes in the Des Plaines River floodplain.
Jon Duddles, the city’s assistant director of Public Works and Engineering, said he has yet to learn the exact addresses of the homes which will be bought, torn down and left as open space in perpetuity. All are located in the area of Big Bend Drive, a street that is surrounded on both sides by the river.
“There’s four streets affected right in that area and that is an area that has had repetitive loss,” said Des Plaines city manager Michael Bartholomew. “Every time there is a major flood there is damage.”
Flooding in the area is not infrequent, either, he said.
“It’s not a matter of if it will flood, it’s just when is it going to flood the next time,” Bartholomew said.
These particular grant funds are tied to a major flood that happened in April 2013, Duddles said. The city previously received money from FEMA and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to buy homes following a 2008 flood.
FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, which awards the grants, prevents both residents and the city from having to deal with flooding issues over and over again by requiring that the land where these demolished homes once stood remain as open space forever, Bartholomew said.
Due to the frequency of the flooding, removing these homes is, in the long term, beneficial for both the residents and the city, said Des Plaines Mayor Matt Bogusz.
“Whatever is in best interest of residents is in best interests of the city,” he said.
In addition to the FEMA funds, Des Plaines has a tentative agreement for a $1.4 million grant with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District to buy and demolish homes, Duddles said.
The city identified 80 homes in the area that are at risk of flooding, Duddles said, most of which are currently occupied. The grant money will pay to buy and remove 13 of them.
The program is voluntary, Duddles said, and home owners can back out.
For those interested in selling their homes, Duddles said the city will purchase the structures at fair market value. The homeowner can remain in the house for up to one year after the agreement is signed, he said.
The city hopes to buy all 13 homes within the next year, Duddles said.
Gaines is a freelance reporter.
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