Grant funds purchase flood-prone land

CELINA - A Celina man said he was able to get his first night of decent sleep in a decade after finalizing an agreement to transfer his and his wife's flood-prone property to Mercer County.

The couple said though the agreement is far from ideal, it's the only solution they could find to relieve them of the nightmare of having to live through multiple flash floods over the years that caused extensive, costly damage and inflicted emotional distress.

They said they tried to hold onto their house as long as possible. At this point, though, they are physically and mentally exhausted from dealing with the fallout of floods including repeated property damage and fear of future floods.

Mercer County commissioners this week closed on a Federal Emergency Management Agency Flood Mitigation Assistance Grant with Randy and Diane Donovan, 5248 St. Anthony Road, Celina. FEMA agreed to pay 75% of the cost to purchase property, raze the structure and forever deed the land as county-owned property.

The couple was compensated 75% of their property's appraised value, according to county documents. In turn, Mercer County will assume ownership and likely maintain the property as green space.

"They just signed over the deed, and we gave them their check," Mercer County Emergency Management Agency Director Mike Robbins said. "The deed's been recorded. The county owns the property now so now we still have to seal the well, tear the house down."

Nothing can ever be built on the property, Robbins said.

"Because that's the idea of the mitigation. It's never going to flood a house again there," Robbins said of the deed restrictions.

The couple's property, which they said experienced extensive flood damage four times over the last decade, was appraised at $143,000 in 2017, according to commissioners' letter to the Donovans.

Under the terms of the agreement, the federal grant pays 75% of the appraised value of the home - $107,250. The couple is required to cover 25% of closing costs and demolition expenses, the letter states.

After the property's mortgage was paid off and $10,000 was placed into an escrow account for demolition expenses, the couple was to be paid $4,725, the letter indicates. Any money remaining in the escrow account after demolition is completed, which includes sealing off the well, emptying a septic tank, clearing debris and leveling and planting the lot, would be returned to the couple, Robbins told the newspaper.

"We're probably talking at least another month before we get this all completed," he said, noting the county still must approve contracts to have the house demolished, which he conservatively estimates will cost $20,000.

The federal grant and the couple's match will cover all demolition costs, Robbins pointed out.

"It's not going to cost the county money," he said.

Seven property owners, most of whom live on St. Anthony Road in Butler Township between Coldwater Creek and the railroad tracks, have spoken out about flash flooding over the last several years.

The Donovans had owned their property for more than three decades before transferring the deed to the county. They said they faced major floods in 2011, 2015 and twice in 2019, leading to tens of thousands of dollars in property damages.

Each time, the couple said their basement would be inundated with at least 8 feet of water, which destroyed personal belongings not covered by insurance in addition to teaching supplies, canned food and other items. They've also lost seven vehicles.

The floods forced the couple to take up temporary residence in their daughter's and parents' homes, they told the newspaper.

They believe the flooding was caused by a host of factors, among them a nearby culvert, increased residential development of Coldwater and St. Henry without the installation of retention ponds to handle adequate overflow and a high water level maintained in Grand Lake.

The couple said they've brought the issue to the attention of several local, state and federal officials to no avail.

"Nobody knows what to do," Randy Donovan said.

They still feel terrible for those living on and around that area on St. Anthony Road and fear future floods could intensify and take out property and lives, they said.

Local officials a few years back updated the county's Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan. During the update, they learned that flooding - flash flooding, accumulation of runoff and overflowing banks - is the county's top natural hazard concern, followed by wind damage from both straight-line winds and rotational winds or tornadoes.

"There are other homes that have had damage out there right on St. Anthony Road, (but) not the kind of damage Donovans had," Robbins said. "But one thing you have to have is in-force flood insurance at the time you apply for the grant, and other homeowners out there had flood insurance and dropped it so when we did this there was nobody else who was actually eligible."

Robbins doesn't know if any other county homes qualify for FEMA's Flood Mitigation Assistance Grant Program, pointing out this latest application was submitted more than two years ago.