SAGEVILLE, Iowa (AP) - Nearly three years after floodwaters swamped their homes, residents of Valley Hill Trailer Park have received federal flood aid, and demolition of homes is set to begin soon.
“It’s bittersweet,” Kevin Schmitt, who owned and operated the trailer park in Sageville for nearly 15 years, told the Dubuque Telegraph Herald (https://bit.ly/1l2Zk4k ). “Glad to see it gone, but sad to see it go.”
Mobile home owners were reimbursed this spring for each trailer’s pre-flood value, receiving on average $15,000 per trailer, in addition to up to $22,500 in relocation assistance.
The project is expected to cost about $2.5 million, with the federal government covering 75 percent, the state of Iowa 10 percent and the city of Sageville 15 percent, using grant funds.
The trailer park sits in shambles after dirty floodwater poured into 19 of the 37 trailers and damaged another 15 in July 2011. Many residents lost their trailers and possessions in the flood, and few had insurance.
“We’re happy now that the money has finally gotten into people’s hands,” City Clerk Mary Habel told the Herald.
Most had to move out of their mobile home because they were too badly damaged but still had to pay lot rent - albeit at a much reduced rate - to the trailer park’s owner, Habel said.
“For some, it’s been a real burden,” she said. “Now, they’re getting their money so they can get on with their lives.”
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Information from: Telegraph Herald, https://www.thonline.com
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