Babylon looks at joining flood aid program

Babylon Town officials are reconsidering taking part in a federal program to help raise flood-damaged homes, after a group of neighbors pleaded for help.

More than a dozen residents who live east of Bergen Avenue off the Great South Bay appealed to officials during a Tuesday town board meeting. The residents want to take part in FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, in which FEMA reimburses 75 percent of the costs to elevate homes in flood areas.

However the program, administered by the state, must be managed at the local level, said Mary Colvin, FEMA's chief of flood plain management in New York; and Babylon town officials say they have not taken part because the potential expense of running the program.

Residents said the program is needed.

"It's something that's easy for the town to do for us," said Bill Walters, who says he has had $60,000 worth of flood damage in the past four years. "We're not asking for a lot."

Cathy Gismervik, 55, produced photos of more than a foot of muddy water flowing through her living room. She estimates she's had to file more than $200,000 in insurance claims in the past 33 years. The widow said she can no longer handle the preparation and cleanup from the floods. She also cannot afford the estimated $100,000 to elevate the house.

"I can't walk away from an investment me and my husband made in our 20s," she said. "If they raised my house, I would stay there until the day I die."

Town spokesman Tim Ruggeri said a cost-estimate completed years ago found the town would have to create a new department and hire staff to handle the applications, something officials found cost-prohibitive.

But Supervisor Rich Schaffer said the town would reconsider. Ruggeri said the town is working on other flooding mitigation techniques and has applied to FEMA for $600,000 to retrofit 200 storm drains south of Montauk Highway with check valves.

The town's three villages have tried the home elevation program.

Amityville Village took part about 10 years ago, Clerk Diane Sheridan said. Ten residents applied but eight backed out because of the cost. Since then, she said, the village hasn't had enough staff to handle the task. "It would be a big undertaking," she said.

In Lindenhurst Village, from 2000 to 2005, 30 homes were approved but only 13 followed through, said Doug Madlon, deputy clerk. He said staff took on the paperwork.

Babylon Village is "testing the waters" with the program this year, said Mayor Ralph Scordino.

"The paperwork is monumental," he said.

His secretary, Suzanne Schettino, is handling the task. She said four residents have made requests.

Rick Lord, chief of mitigation programs for the state's office of emergency management, said he knew of only six homes on Long Island that had been elevated through the FEMA program since 2006. He said he expects to see a large number of applications this year due to Tropical Storm Irene. So far, there have been 55 applications statewide, he said.

Residents said they hope the town takes part.

"All of our friends tell us to leave, but we don't want to," Walters said. "It's a beautiful neighborhood, and we want to stay, but we need some help."