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Flood-damaged homes come down

Photo

Photo by Bill Olmsted

An excavator scrapes through the remains of a garage at 1815 Joseph St. in Janesville that it had flattened in only a few minutes. The garage and home, which should be demolished on Tuesday, is one of several in the Mole & Sadler subdivision that are being removed as a final bit of clean-up after the destructive flood of 2008.

JANESVILLE — The city is tearing down four homes damaged by the 2008 flood, and more will be razed in the next several weeks.

Three of the houses are in the Mole & Sadler’s subdivision. A fourth is at 809 S. Jackson St.

The city’s public works department will clear four more properties in the next 30 days or so.

Jennifer Petruzzello, neighborhood services director, has worked for almost two years to get federal and state money to buy out the property owners. The homes are not habitable.

The city received $548,590 to buy nine properties. No local tax money is being used.

Eight of the nine property owners chose to participate in the program, and the city now owns the eight properties, which will be converted to green space after the buildings are removed.

The owner of the ninth property at 1809 Joseph St. will renovate the house but must meet stricter flood standards.

Originally, 12 properties were included in the buyout program, but three have been removed because the Federal Emergency Management Agency found groundwater contamination.

Those homeowners are now waiting for grant funding through community development block grants distributed through the state. The contamination is from the former Riverside Plating Co., Petruzzello said.

Those properties are at 1708 Charles St., 1110 Hamilton Ave. and 1709 Joseph St.