State to pay for flooding

Ten homes along Dominion Way damaged by recent rains are on governor's top priority list for aid

Web posted July 8, 2000

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By Matthew Boedy
Staff Writer

Some property along flooded Dominion Way in west Augusta will be at the top of the list of homes the state is set to buy this fall.

State Rep. Robin Williams said Friday that Gov. Roy Barnes agreed to give the properties top priority - a move that will cost about $800,000 for the 10 most damaged homes.

The property owners also will receive $5,000 each in immediate assistance - a total of $105,000 set aside by the governor and the Georgia Emergency Management Agency for the 21 homeowners who were forced out by the flood waters of Crane Creek on June 13.

``We're trying to help these people right now, the ones staying in hotels,'' Mr. Williams said.

The city now can proceed with its plan to build a $3.1 million retention pond on Crane Creek near Interstate 20 - a project for which state Sen. Don Cheeks is hoping to get state and federal dollars to complete.

Engineers say the pond would help alleviate flooding around Dominion Way.

The Augusta Chronicle reported this week that the last four homes built in the Commonwealth subdivision - at 44, 45, 46 and 47 Dominion Way - were constructed in 1994 under agreements that would leave the city not liable for any flood damage.

Although homeowners were supposed to be notified of the agreement, it did not appear in any of their deeds - even though the ``hold harmless'' papers are on file in county property records.

Building permit records show at least six other homes - to total the 10 now being set for purchase - were built after a 1991 ordinance prohibiting development in flood-prone areas and in the lower half of the 100-year flood plain.

That ordinance - which prompted the 1994 agreement - was passed unanimously by the Richmond County Board of Commissioners in August 1991 after two days of flash flooding in October 1990 caused an estimated $17 million in damage.

Reach Matthew Boedy at (706) 823-3339.