FEMA buyout update draws reaction from Kersey Bottom resident

By WILLIAM PAINE

Patriot Publishing

An update recently given to the Pulaski Town Council regarding a FEMA funded buyout plan in Kersey Bottom has drawn some concern from residents of that neighborhood.

At last week’s meeting of Pulaski Town Council, the Town of Pulaski’s Zoning Administrator, Nathan Smythers, updated council on a FEMA project that would buyout property owners in the flood prone Kersey Bottom neighborhood transforming these areas into open space.

According to the update, the project was submitted to FEMA for approval in 2023 after town officials contacted several residents in Kersey Bottom, who expressed their willingness to sell their property at fair market value. FEMA has yet to approve the project, which would disperse these buyout funds through the Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM).

According to Smythers, members of VDEM, “went onsite to see if property owners were still interested” and “the majority were for it.”

A subsequent article in The Patriot and Southwest Times newspapers caught the attention of Kersey Bottom resident James Steele, who insists that he and his neighbors should have been notified of this update.

“Our biggest concern is that they held a meeting concerning our lives and we weren’t notified,” said Steele.

“I’ve always said that local government is the world’s worst at communicating and this is probably another good example,” said Town Manager Todd Day in response. “I recently received an email from VDEM and they brought up an issue that I had never heard of ever in my life. I had no idea Kersey Bottom had been looked at by FEMA or VDEM. So, what I did at the very next council meeting was to bring it up in an open forum to council to let them know that VDEM is rekindling a fire that they started a long time ago and we’re just now learning about it.”

Steele also took issue with the idea that Kersey Bottom residents were approached before the update to see if they were still interested in selling.

“No one came to my house to ask about the project and my wife is here 24/7,” said Steele. “None of my neighbors were either. I went door to door myself to ask if they had been contacted about this past meeting and they were like, ‘We didn’t find out about it until it come out in the paper and everybody was talking about it.’”

Though no notices were sent out to residents, according to Day, Doug Phillippi of the town’s engineering department and officials from VDEM did go to Kersey Bottom before the meeting.

“They did indeed knock on a few doors and spoke to a few people and I don’t know who they were but they did indeed speak to a few people, and they made attempts to knock on several more doors,” said Day. “But needless to say, people are at work, so they were unable to contact everyone.”

Steele, who retired from the City of Radford Public Works Department, also expressed his thoughts on how his neighborhood has been neglected though the years.

“There’s ditch that goes from my house to the creek and that ditch hasn’t been cleaned out for 8 or 10 years,” said Steele. “You got a pothole when you turn into the bottom, I mean I know everybody’s got potholes, but when you turn down into the bottom, there’s a pothole that’s been there for 3 years. The town bought a brand-new mowing machine last year and they ain’t using it up my way!”

“If they don’t do something to that creek, you’re going to have more problems at Kersey Botton,” Steele asserted. “That new brewery and all that will get flooded. I’ll lay my house on it! I’m not talking about just a flood where you’re sweeping mud out of the house, I’m talking about something like what happened in Texas!”

“I can absolutely agree that the infrastructure needs improvement,” said Day. “I’ve got a $4 million sewer distribution CIP (Capital Improvement Project) out. I’ve got a $25 million CIP out for the water treatment plant and we need a half-million dollars worth of new water meters. The infrastructure in town is ridiculous. The culverts are in bad shape. The maintenance program that we’ve got, we’re doing the best we can with it, given the situation we’ve got. But I absolutely concur with him. This town needs a lot of attention and we are absolutely going to get there but it’s going to take some time.”

Steele had originally agreed to sell his properties if the FEMA project were to go through.

“I more or less told them to show me the money and they ain’t never made me an offer,” said Steele. “I own two properties down there. I’ve lived there for 60 years. My grandbabies are 5^th generation.”

Would he still sell his property to FEMA?

“As long as I don’t go backwards,” he answered. “See what I mean? Can they give me enough money to put me in the same situation that I’m in right now? I’ve got a three-bedroom house. A 20 x 20 garage out back. I’ve got a 14 x 18 outbuilding. On the right-hand side of me I got a chain link fenced in yard and I don’t have to worry about my grandbabies. I have a severely autistic grandchild. I live in a neighborhood where everybody knows, if he gets out and the people in the neighborhood will get him and bring him back to either me or his daddy. Fair market value you’re still only looking at maybe $150,000 or something and that’s probably on the high end, so no, I can’t replace what I have for $150,000.”

As of this writing, FEMA has yet to decide whether or not to approve the project but in the meantime, Town Manager Day said he would keep residents of Kersey Bottom better informed.

“So VDEM has given us a pamphlet and we will be distributing that pamphlet and we will be communicating with everybody that’s on that list and I do believe Mr. Steele is on that list,” said Day. “I want to say I don’t blame this gentleman. Local government, again, is the world’s worst at communicating but I can assure there was no malicious intent and we’ll press on when it comes to communicating.”