FEMA funds are on the way to pay for Cedar Rapids' first, 117 flood buyouts

Funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency are on the way for the city of Cedar Rapids' first  buyouts of flood-damaged properties, Sen. Tom Harkin said Wednesday afternoon.

The $7.438 million in FEMA funds will be used to buy out 103 structures and 14 vacant lots along the Cedar River, an area that then will become a riverfront greenway.

Another 50 or so properties initially thought to qualify for FEMA-funded buyouts are outside the existing 100-year flood plain and do not qualify.

But Jennifer Pratt, the city's development coordinator, late Monday afternoon said those property owners will simply have their properties purchased with federal Community Development Block Grant funds, which are expected to be released to the city soon.

Pratt said the city will immediately send out letters to those getting FEMA buyout funds and to those other 50 or so property owners.

Some months ago, the city sat down in one-to-one sessions with each of the property owners to complete a buyout application in preparation for the FEMA funding awards. The city also has contracted with outside professional help to expedite the title and legal steps that are part of property acquisitions. The city had scheduled a meeting with the contractors for today.

“This is exactly what we wanted to be ready for,” Pratt said of Wednesday's news about FEMA funding.

Pratt said the city's goal is to meet again in November with the owners of the 117 affected properties  and at that time present each a purchase offer. The first acquisitions will occur in December with demolitions beginning in January and February, she estimated.

Once a purchase is made, FEMA expects the property to be demolished or removed in 90 days, she said.

The buyout of 117 properties is the start of what the city expects will be 1,300 buyouts. Most of the funds for the other buyouts will come from federal CDBG funds already earmarked for Iowa.