CANTON – Approximately 30 town residents voted Friday night to accept a Community Development Block Grant of $300,000 for relocating the village out of the flood plain.
Diane Ray, special projects coordinator for the town, said the money will be used to buy and re-establish residents’ homes.
Forty residents who were flooded out during the December 2003 flood have received their buyout offers.
One person, who refused to be identified, accused Ray of buying out a house that was not in the flood zone and not buying some that were.
Ray said the grant allowed for contiguous property to be bought to allow better use of land.
Resident Sue Gammon said the house in question was surrounded by floodwaters, and there were many opportunities for people to come to public hearings to learn how the buyout process worked and which homes were top priority. The list started with the homes that sustained the most damage.
At a public hearing after the vote, residents reviewed a rural development grant/loan application and discussed the village center proposal and design.
Ray said the application was complete, and they were doing the paperwork for a rural development grant. This grant is for assistance with the infrastructure of the new village.
Gammon said Ray “did not decide where to put the village, the people did by their vote.
Jeff Preble, who is in charge of the engineering of the village, said if they know by July how much money they will be getting from the housing grant, they may be able to start on the infrastructure by January 2007.
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