Little Falls to bond $2.5 million for FEMA flood mitigation program

Tuesday January 31, 2012, 1:28 PM
BY MATTHEW KADOSH
STAFF WRITER
Passaic Valley Today

LITTLE FALLS - A group of 33 homeowners in flood prone parts of the township are one step closer to having their homes elevated or bought out by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

The council introduced a $2.5 million bond ordinance at its Monday night meeting to provide funds to elevate or acquire those homes. A second reading is scheduled for Feb. 27.

The funds will go to elevate 29 homes and buy out four homes as part of FEMA's Severe Repetitive Loss (SRL) program, Joanne Bergin, FEMA program administrator for Little Falls said.

Although FEMA is providing the homeowners with a grant, residents still have to apply to the town for the program and the township has to front the money for the project.

"The purpose of this ordinance is to authorize the execution of the contract with FEMA so that we may begin the second round," Bergin told the council, referring to the second part of the township's agreement with FEMA to elevate or buyout homes.

She added in an interview: "We have to have a pocket of money in place to get the construction underway."

FEMA will cover 90 percent of the cost to elevate the homes and the Increased Cost of Compliance Program, a federal disaster insurance program, will pay the remaining amount, Bergin said.

Mike Corbosiero, of Louis Street, is one of the 29 homeowners having his home elevated. Bergin first contacted him about the possibility of having his home elevated a year ago.

"I think it's fantastic," he said. "It's moving swiftly but never swift enough."

To qualify for the program, homeowners must be insured under a National Flood Insurance Policy and meet one or both of two requirements. They must have had at least four claim payments, including for the damage of their home and its contents, of more than $5,000 each with the claims exceeding $20,000; or at least two separate claim payments for the structure where the total of the claims exceeds the market value of the home.

This is just one of the programs Little Falls is pursuing to get flood victims of harms way. The township is in the process of either elevating or buying out 100 homes with FEMA or state Blue Acres funds, according to Bergin.

In a phone interview, Phyllis Deroian, a FEMA spokeswoman, spoke favorably of the township's move.

"We are always encouraging the towns, when there is repetitive loss, to mitigate the flooding," she said. "So this is positive."

Email: kadosh@northjersey.com

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