It took 18 minutes on a dry and sunny Friday morning for a heavy equipment excavator to begin erasing the ruins left by storms that two years ago dropped 21 inches of rain on Austell.
More than 700 homes were flooded, some so badly that, while they still stand, they are hardly habitable.
The machine demolished a house on Owens Drive that had floated off its foundation when Sweetwater Creek rose almost 20 feet. Then it moved to another dislodged house about 200 feet away and tore into it.
A crew in another part of town tore down two more water-ruined houses Friday. Over the next few weeks 15 more houses will be razed and hauled off, and a corner will have been turned, said Austell Mayor Joe Jerkins, who was on hand with a few city officials watching the demolition.
“I’m glad it’s finally getting started,” Jerkins said. “I wouldn't say it's emotional to me, because a lot of families have had a lot of problems since the storm; we’ve all been through a lot. But I’m glad to see it under way.”
The city has been criticized for moving slowly in applying for Federal Emergency Management Agency funds to buy the homes, get the permits to demolish, and start tearing them down.
Jerkins said Friday the city didn’t miss the deadline. “We just wanted to make sure we had all the figures before we submitted our application,” he said.
He also sought to deflect recent criticism of the city for hiring a demolition contractor who owes Austell about $19,000 in back property taxes. Jerkins said the company, Hiram-based Carlos Jones Construction Co., does owe the taxes, but they were the lowest bidder -- on nine contracts totaling about $65,000 -- and “they’ve worked for the city a good bit and done a good job.”
City Council members Trudie Causey and Martin Standard opposed giving Carlos Jones the contract, which passed by a 4-2 vote. But Jerkins said it was “the smartest thing we could do because they’ll get paid and it’s the best way for us to collect our taxes."
The city also awarded demolition and asbestos abatement contracts worth about $115,000 to Southern Demolition LLC, and a $35,000 asbestos abatement contract to Dahlonega-based CWI Environmental LCC.
Randy Bowens, Austell public works director, said Friday the city used about $1 million of the $2.9 million federal buyout funds it has received to purchase the 19 houses being demolished.
He said there would be a second round of demolitions, but the city isn’t sure how many of the 15 homes now on that second list ultimately will be eligible, because the federal funds don’t cover homes that are rented or in foreclosure.
“It might be as few as three,” Bowens said.
Jerkins said the city, which has seen its tax base eroded and budget slashed by a third in the aftermath of the flooding, has spent about $1 million in recovering from the storm. The city contributes 10 percent, the state 15 percent and the federal government 75 percent to the demolition, Jerkins said.
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