BOARDMAN — Funding for the demolition of four homes in Boardman Township now is secured.
By tearing them down, the plan is to help reduce localized flooding, said Marilyn Kenner, township road superintendent.
A little more than $800,000 in grants have been awarded for the homes at 230 and 241 S. Cadillac Drive, and 230 and 233 Wildwood Drive.
Appraisals of the houses were approved for the Federal Emergency Management Agency grants, which will cover costs for the purchases, demolitions and regrading of each propery located within the Cranberry Run water course.
Once the homes are gone, the properties will be graded and become a two-stage channel so water stays put within the area rather than flooding adjacent homes.
Offers will be made in January with closing in February and the demolitions to be done in March and April, Kenner said.
Various avenues have been sought to try to save the houses, she said, but unfortunately after extensive research, there is no other option.
“It’s bittersweet,” she said, but all of the homeowners have agreed and eminent domain — taking the properties — was not necessary, Kenner said.
Discussions of the homes coming down began after a storm in August 2018, Kenner said. It was shortly after when a representative from the Mahoning County Emergency Management Agency shared news of a grant program that helps tear down houses in flood plains.
Kenner wasted no time in applying.
In May 2019, when another disastrous storm drenched the Mahoning Valley, Kenner was able to apply for more grant funding after the area was declared a federal emergency site.
A partner in the grant application has been the ABC Stormwater District.
Township Administrator Jason Loree explained the district will match 15 percent of the $800,000.
Once the homes come down, Loree said the district will be involved with the design process to ensure additional flood plain storage is included.
Demolition of the four houses will be “very, very helpful in getting the flood plain expanded in that area,” Loree said.
“Allowing the water to naturally flood where it’s supposed to and not be in peoples’ homes is key,” he said.
Kenner previously stated that funding for eight homes in the flood plain was sought, but until funding is secured locations of other homes to be torn down would not be disclosed.
The ABC Stormwater District is funded by taxpayers in Austintown, Boardman and Canfield townships where they pay a fee.
