Flood Repairs Update

Four months after the April flood that caused millions of dollars worth of property damage in Ulster County, the Town of Shandaken is still struggling to finance road and creekside repairs, while negotiating with Federal, State, and New York City agencies for reimbursement and watershed permits to complete the work. The town has depleted its highway department budget on emergency repairs and finalization of some restoration projects, which will be largely funded by outside agencies, but reimbursement is slow, and the red tape is mind-boggling.

On Wednesday, August 10, for example, it took seventeen people two hours to decide how to accomplish the removal of the house still lying on its side in a creek bed on Route 42. In attendance at the town hall meeting were five representatives of the NYS Emergency Management Office (SEMO), four from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), three from the Town of Shandaken, two from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), one from the NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the owner of the house, and his lawyer.
Also under discussion were the finishing up of road repairs at the site and the need to widen and modify the Bushnellsville Creek to accommodate normal springtime high flows. The construction work requires permits and oversight by the DEC. The total cost of the project will be about $80,000, with 75 percent of that amount paid by FEMA, 12 1⁄2 percent by SEMO, and the remaining 12 1⁄2 percent by the town, a standard reimbursement formula for FEMA-funded projects.
Meanwhile, said highway superintendent Dick Merwin, other projects await. Following emergency repairs to make the roads passable, he still has to beef up bridges, culverts, and roadsides washed out in Oliverea, Allaben, and elsewhere. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has promised to reimburse the town for two recently completed repair projects on Silver Hollow Road in Chichester, totaling $250,000. The paperwork went out several weeks ago. “The check is in the mail,” shrugged Merwin. Supervisor Bob Cross, Jr. estimates that another $1.5 million in repairs will be needed for full recovery.
As for the house in the creek, the highway crew rerouted the stream back to its original channel, so the house is not in the water any more, but it will be after the next spring thaw, a major concern of the DEP, concerned with preventing the pollution of New York City drinking water. The owner, Ortelio Grillo, spent $281,000 on the 6.3-acre property and hundred-year-old house in 2004. “This is not my idea of a weekend retreat,” he murmured to Jack Isaacs of the DEC during a break.
The final decision, on the advice of FEMA and SEMO representatives, was for the town to condemn the house as a hazard to health and safety, since the town and/or homeowner would be liable if any curious child were injured while exploring what is known as “an attractive nuisance”. A condemnation notice would give Grillo thirty days to remove the house and would put it into the realm of coverage under homeowner’s liability insurance. If no action is taken within thirty days, the town has the right, under a local ordinance, to remove the house and bill the homeowner, putting a lien on the property if necessary. Everyone seemed satisfied with the resolution.
While the town figures out how to fund infrastructure repair, homeowners have their own problems. Cross said that of fifteen homes damaged by the flood, twelve are still uninhabitable. Two or three families have moved out of the area, while others are living with relatives or friends. Kids in one family have split up to stay with various relatives.
Ed and Jessica Ryder and their three children are still living in a rented cottage while they try to figure out what to do about their condemned house on South Street in Phoenicia. “The town has said it can’t be fixed,” said Jessica. “The insurance company says it can be, the contractors who’ve looked at it say it can’t be.” To meet FEMA’s flood plain regulations and town zoning requirements, the Ryders have been told they have to raise the house eleven feet. “We’re trying to get a house mover to see if it’s possible, but I would lose my kitchen, bathroom, and utility room, which are concreted into the ground. And we can’t get a certificate of occupancy without a bathroom.” With their life savings sunk into a house they bought two years ago, the Ryders are in limbo.

Violet Snow