SCRANTON, Pa. — In September, homes along Leggett Street and North Merrifield Avenue in Scranton were underwater after flash flooding from heavy rains.
Mayor Paige Cognetti and other city officials met with 19 homeowners in two of the hardest-hit neighborhoods about opting into a program in which the city buys the property and tears down the homes.
"These are properties that really shouldn't probably be residential anymore," said Mayor Cognetti. "Building a soccer field there is probably the best thing for the property owners and the best thing for the city as a whole."
The city is seeking more than $2 million in grant money to help fund these buyouts.
David Kozlansky's home along Leggett Street was damaged. After facing flooding several times over the years, he and his family have chosen to take part in this buyout program.
"You see light at the end of the tunnel. You say, 'Hey, listen, we're prepared to move on in and stop being worried every day.' It's time to, hopefully, get the buyout from the government and just move on with our lives and feel more safe," Kozlansky said.
"These are places that have flooded before so we're hoping that, especially in the case of the Merrifield properties, you know, there's pictures from 1940 where those homes were flooded. We're hoping that you see that historic flooding and that that will really make our case," Mayor Cognetti said.
The homes need to be appraised by February 29 before the application for grant money can be processed. Kozlansky and his family are still able to live in part of their home, but that's not the case for so many others.
"The problem is some people were displaced out of their homes, so they're kind of living in a relative's house, hotels, other places for now, and we were told it might be till you see the final result, an 18-month span. So that's a long time."
Mayor Cognetti says they haven't gotten an official word from FEMA on a disaster declaration from the September flooding but believes they have been denied. She hopes there will be an appeal process to keep fighting for that relief funding.