Vermont Flood Victim Seeks Federal Buyout of Properties

Man wants town to help buy out three flood damaged properties
A local Barre, Vermont man who owns three homes damaged by last month’s flooding is asking the town to help him get the federal government to buy the properties from him.

Frank Malnati told the Select Board the three homes are uninhabitable, his insurance company wasn’t being cooperative and he didn’t want to apply for a low-interest loan to repair the properties.

He said it would be foolish to repair the buildings, one of which is his home while the others are rental properties. So he wants to pursue a federally subsidized buyout of the buildings.

He told the board the flooding was worsened by stormwater runoff from hillside developments, which is likely to recur.

“I have a high hazard and a potential for even more danger now,” he said. “I could get washed out tomorrow.”

He wants the town to apply for a federal “hazard mitigation grant” that would largely finance the town’s acquisition of the three properties, assessed at just over $350,000. It would require the town to come up with almost $88,000 to buy Malnati’s property.

Town officials didn’t give Malnati an answer.

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Information from: The Times Argus, http://www.timesargus.com/