County Council to hold meeting on U. City flooding
Flooding in University City
A committee of the St. Louis County Council will hold a meeting at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday on flooding problems in University City. Council Chairwoman Hazel Erby hopes the session would be a catalyst to get something done about them.
The session, scheduled to last an unusually long two hours, will be in the council chambers, 1st floor, County Administration Building, 41 South Central Avenue, Clayton.
“We’ve had many meetings and nothing has been accomplished,” Erby, D-University City, said this morning. “The people need help.”
The flood-prone areas along the River des Peres in north central and north University City are in her district.
Erby stressed that she wants the federal government to become involved in solving the flood problems. She has invited U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and U.S. Reps. William Lacy Clay and Russ Carnahan, both D-St. Louis, to the session.
Erby does not expect them to attend, but she hopes they would send staff members to hear the residents complaints. Later, McCaskill, Clay and Carnahan should walk along the creek to see its problems first hand, Erby said.
The council chairwoman is not leaving state and local governments out. She wants area state representatives to come. She invited officials of the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District to the session. Jeff Theerman, its executive director, will speak at the meeting.
The residents suffering from flooding are county constituents as well as city ones, Erby said. The hearing will give council members a chance to get information about the situation that they can provide to residents who call the county about the situation, she said.
WHEN YOU BUY REAL PROPERTY IN A HISTORIC FLOOD PLAIN, GUESS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN IT RAINS!!! All of these homes were purchased with well documented knowledge that they are in a flood plain with mandatory flood insurance for all mortgaged dwellings (come on less than 40 feet from River Des Peres and 15 feet above its basin check your deeds and paperwork Wilsonites). The low sales prices and unstable home ownership reflect this fact as well, check zillow.com and the County assessors office, during stable financial times these 26 structures have had a disproportionate number of foreclosures and owner abandonments in comparison to other section in U. City. These individuals all were aware that they were in a lifetime historic flood zone when they purchased them, as their sales prices and requirements of their insurance companies reflect (each had to purchase flood insurance and sign disclaimers at or prior to closing). They took advantage of the bargains that flood plain properties provide, i.e. pennies on the dollar. Now after speculating these properties, these less than savvy investors are going to stick all tax payers with buying-out sub par properties at above market compensation. I disagree with any form of government sponsored buyouts period. If University City and its other residents want to pay these speculators then more power to them but the state and federal governments should stay completely out of it. After all U. City collects the property taxes for these homes so they and their Wilson residents should figure how to solve their own water problems. Suggestion, University City has way more than 26 abandoned homes not in a flood plain within their jurisdiction, they should do a brick for brick property swap for them, or relocate the structures to one of the old U. City school sites scheduled for closing or already closed in U. City. When these residents purchased they knew what they were getting and chose to anyway, now they want 160,000 for houses everyone knows are not worth it, never were and never will be worth 160,000. All of the properties are either 3br/2ba or 2+br/1.5ba. worth right around 100k (dry) just inches south of Olive in the less desirable part of U. City. It is not the rest of the worlds’ problem when individuals buy flood plain property well below market value and then try to stick unwilling tax payers with the market price bill. If these homes are uninhabitable then their respective insurance companies should total them out and spread the cost amongst themselves, just as if any other insured item is totalled. For example, if a person knowingly parks on the STL riverfronts’ cobblestone shore and the water rises and floods the vehicle, will the city, state or federal government purchase the vehicle, H-LL NO! If this works for the Wilsonites then why shouldn’t everyone who really needs a government handout get one? Get your lifeboats out Wilsonites its going to rain this week. And taxpayers everywhere get your checkbooks out the Wilsonites are looking to get unfairly paid, again.