Letter to The Editor
March 31, 2021
Dear Editor,
Well, it has become obvious that the city of Cassville has decided to have another “crash course” in flood insurance. But after reading the article in last week’s Advertiser, I am amazed that Walensky even considered this plan as being worthy of discussion. But I greatly fear that based on their previous record, no one on the city council will be willing to put a stop to this.
According to the article, all houses now in the floodway would be eligible for this over priced insurance policy, but once their dwelling needed any serious repairs, it would have to be elevated out of the floodway. As per the article, “existing structures in the floodway will be grandfathered in to receive coverage. However, if there is a need to rebuild damaged structures in the floodway, they would have to be built according to FEMA specifications, whether the damage is caused by flood, tornado, fire or any other force.”
So let’s take a closer look at this. If Cassville gets hit by a serious hailstorm, and this storm leaves behind damaged roofs and broken windows, the owner must make the house compliant with FEMA standards before they can address these repairs? If a water line ruptures in a house, and does significant damage, can it be repaired without making it compliant with FEMA regulations? If the neighbor is burning leaves and the fire gets out of hand and melts the vinyl siding on your house, can you put new siding on that house without making it FEMA compliant? What I’m asking is, at what point does repairing significant damage become “reguilding”?
The real irony here is the fact that the worst flooding Cassville has experienced in the last 20 years was compounded by the city failing to keep the brush cleaned out of the drainage ditches that run east from Fair Street to Flat Creek. This made the water levels much higher between Main and the creek.
Right after this occurred, I found evidence that proved that the city owned this drainage ditch. I took this proof to the city counsel and told them that since the ditch belonged to the city, they needed to clean it out in order to speed up the flow of flood water going into Flat Creek. Everyone there, including Walensky, sat there silently and never spoke a word. Every time I ran into Walensky after that, I confronted him about this, and his response was always something like “you can't prove it belongs to the city’, or “you can’t prove it’s our responsibility”. Eventually, after waiting two years, I hired an attorney and instructed him to file suit against the city. The following week the city cleaned the brush out of the drainage ditch.
If we, as citizens, don’t stop the irresponsibility that is so commonly reflected by our city government, we will eventually lose control of everything we have, just to accommodate the funding of the “Walensky Toy Chest”.
Gail A. Purves
Cassville
Dear Editor,
Well, it has become obvious that the city of Cassville has decided to have another “crash course” in flood insurance. But after reading the article in last week’s Advertiser, I am amazed that Walensky even considered this plan as being worthy of discussion. But I greatly fear that based on their previous record, no one on the city council will be willing to put a stop to this.
According to the article, all houses now in the floodway would be eligible for this over priced insurance policy, but once their dwelling needed any serious repairs, it would have to be elevated out of the floodway. As per the article, “existing structures in the floodway will be grandfathered in to receive coverage. However, if there is a need to rebuild damaged structures in the floodway, they would have to be built according to FEMA specifications, whether the damage is caused by flood, tornado, fire or any other force.”
So let’s take a closer look at this. If Cassville gets hit by a serious hailstorm, and this storm leaves behind damaged roofs and broken windows, the owner must make the house compliant with FEMA standards before they can address these repairs? If a water line ruptures in a house, and does significant damage, can it be repaired without making it compliant with FEMA regulations? If the neighbor is burning leaves and the fire gets out of hand and melts the vinyl siding on your house, can you put new siding on that house without making it FEMA compliant? What I’m asking is, at what point does repairing significant damage become “reguilding”?
The real irony here is the fact that the worst flooding Cassville has experienced in the last 20 years was compounded by the city failing to keep the brush cleaned out of the drainage ditches that run east from Fair Street to Flat Creek. This made the water levels much higher between Main and the creek.
Right after this occurred, I found evidence that proved that the city owned this drainage ditch. I took this proof to the city counsel and told them that since the ditch belonged to the city, they needed to clean it out in order to speed up the flow of flood water going into Flat Creek. Everyone there, including Walensky, sat there silently and never spoke a word. Every time I ran into Walensky after that, I confronted him about this, and his response was always something like “you can't prove it belongs to the city’, or “you can’t prove it’s our responsibility”. Eventually, after waiting two years, I hired an attorney and instructed him to file suit against the city. The following week the city cleaned the brush out of the drainage ditch.
If we, as citizens, don’t stop the irresponsibility that is so commonly reflected by our city government, we will eventually lose control of everything we have, just to accommodate the funding of the “Walensky Toy Chest”.
Gail A. Purves
Cassville