UNIVERSITY CITY, Mo. – University City hoped to buy out up to 300 homes damaged by flooding, many of which were condemned. The city learned that the federal government would not approve the application.
“At this point, we have submitted a total of 24 homes,” said Gregory Rose, city manager of the University City. “While we wanted to submit the entire 300, we were advised that that application would likely not receive approval, so we pared that down significantly. There is a limited about of money that SEMA will receive from FEMA.”
Rose shared his thoughts of having to cut down the list.
“That’s another You Paid For It story, that being, what is the responsibility of Metropolitan Sewer District as it relates to their management of stormwater within the region and what is the role of the Army Corps of Engineers,” he said. “While University City has been waiting a long time for something to happen.”
The City of Brentwood decided to take matters into its own hands to deal with flooding along the area and other neighborhoods.
Brentwood Mayor David Dimmitt said they’ve been seeking answers for a long time.
“Absolutely, what we have tried probably 10 years prior to that to find ways to address this flooding, but for a number of reasons it didn’t work out with the turnover of the board,” Dimmitt said. “We decided to take a fresh look at that, we had our engineers to come up with a way that we could do it all on our own, and that’s how we came up with the flood mitigation. You put together a good team of professionals, and if you’re in the right place at the right time. It’s amazing what you can do.”
Brentwood project is designed to give the water from Deer Creek a place to go when it floods rather than going out onto Manchester Road or other areas.
Officials passed a sales tax with 75 percent of the vote to raise funds for flood mitigation. The flood mitigation will cost about $56 million to $80 million. It’s expected to be complete by next spring.
Rose said University City was making the same stride as Brentwood years ago.
“University City was very proactive if you recall there was a plan that was approved in 1988,” he said. “The failure is that the plan was terminated after it was actually approved at the federal level.”