Cobb County town hall meeting on flood recovery draws 300

By Mary Lou Pickel

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Hundreds of residents gathered Monday night to question Cobb County officials about flood rebuilding and the possibility of buyouts for severely damaged homes.

"I don't want to live in the flood plain. Do you want to buy my house?" asked Jeremy Fryson, who says his house near Austell is severely damaged, although the county says it is not. Residents clapped as he spoke.

About 300 people gathered at the Ron Anderson Recreation Center near Powder Springs to hear about how they can rebuild their flooded homes.

Bill Higgins, head of Cobb County's storm water division, said it's his intent to buy out the 85 homes that were severely damaged in September's 500-year flood.

"We feel like we have a moral obligation," Higgins said.

But he said he'll have to find different pots of money to get the job done, and it could take more than a year. Usually the county receives only enough money to buy out 10 homes per year, officials said. It’s unclear how much money would be available for this flood.

The buyouts won't address the other 600-plus homes that were damaged in unincorporated Cobb County and the approximately 700 damaged in Austell.

"As much as I'd like to buy out all of them, I can't," said Higgins.

Cobb County Commissioner Woody Thompson said, "There will be some people who walk away."

Loretta Crowder-Rorie, acting president of the Cypress Club subdivision in Austell, worried that houses would be left vacant for too long.

"People are very reluctant to start building again," Crowder-Rorie said.

She asked what the county is doing to prevent such massive flooding in the future. About 160 out of the 180 homes in the subdivision were flooded, she said.

"We're looking for a reason to put money back into these homes," she said. "I don't even know if we're going to have a neighborhood anymore after this."

Thompson held the town hall meeting to talk about flood recovery and other issues. Each county commissioner holds town hall meetings several times per year to hear from constituents.

Thompson represents the Austell and Powder Springs areas of south Cobb, which were heavily damaged in last month’s historic flood.

Here are some steps Cobb County is taking to address flood rebuilding:

*The Cobb County Commission plans to waive construction permit fees for flood victims at its meeting Tuesday night. Permit fees are $4.50 per $1,000 of expected work. A $40,000 renovation would normally require a permit fee of $180, county spokesman Robert Quigley said. Those flood victims who have already applied for a building permit would get a refund if they ask for one.

*The county has waived late penalties and fees on property taxes due this month for flood victims. Residents can file a request for a waiver, and if granted, they will have until April 2010 to pay their property taxes.

*To better answer residents’ questions about the status of their property, Cobb County is now posting individual property inspection results on the county’s Web site.