By STEPHEN BEALE
Union Leader Correspondent
 

GOFFSTOWN - Old data is one of the main reasons why Goffstown residents who have been through severe flooding were not eligible for buyouts from the federal government early this year, a state official said yesterday.

In late 2007, the town applied for the buyouts on behalf of about two dozen residents. The town used information from a 1978 flood study—the last official one—to calculate the damage done to homes in the recent floods of 2006 and 2007.

The buyouts are part of a Federal Emergency Management Program intended to prevent future disasters. Richard Verville, the state coordinator for the program, told residents at a forum convened by town selectmen last night that the cost of buying the homes from their owners and demolishing them is weighed against the benefit of not having to spend money fixing them up after a flood.

As a result of that comparison, a computer program assigns a number to the application. If it is one or above, the town is eligible for a FEMA grant. The Goffstown application came out at .037, meaning that the cost of acquiring the homes outweighs the estimated benefit, according to Verville.

He said the town can improve its application by collecting data on the actual damage done by the floods. “Everything’s in there that needs to be in there,” Verville said. “We just need to do a solid benefit cost analysis.”

Sue Desruisseaux, the town administrator, said the town did not have time to get that data for the first application. She said the FEMA workshops on the buyouts for town officials were in November 2007. The applications were due one month later.

The town is thinking about applying a second time for the buyouts, but selectman Scott Gross last night said he personally believed the odds were low that it would be successful. “I’m not trying to paint an overly pessimistic picture. I’m trying to paint a realistic picture,” Gross said. “My gut instinct is we’re chasing a pipe dream.”

Several residents said they had no choice but to hope. Lynn Lizotte said her family now deals with constant water in their 48 Cove Street home and is battling chronic sickness because of persistent mold.

“My family is getting sick and there is nothing I can do about it,” Lizotte said. “If there is a chance, I think we should try it. Even the slightest chance.”

Ronnie Dachowski, a resident of the Lynchville Park area, however, said he did not want the community to waste effort on another application. Verville said the town could determine its chances quickly by looking at the cost-benefit ratio for some of the lowest lying properties susceptible to the most damage.

Nick Campasano, chairman of the board of selectmen, said he though the town owed it to residents to go through the process of doing another application. Following the meeting last night, the town is now going to organize a committee of residents in the flood areas to work on the next application.

Reproduced by the Goffstown Residents Association.