Despite comments at meeting, commissioners say most folks here don’t want to join NFIP

<p class="p1">After handling the normal county business during their regular weekly meeting Monday, including awarding grader-tire bids to Ozarko in West Plains and Allied in Joplin, the Ozark County Commissioners heard from four county residents who had concerns about their roads. The commissioners also heard comments about the county’s lack of participation in the National Flood Insurance Program. </p><p class="p4">Adam Freeman, who resides on County Road 150 in the western district, told the commissioners  his road had been heavily damaged during the April flood and suffered more damage during the recent heavy rains. </p><p class="p4">“The road is now down to ledge rock,” said Freeman. “The grader is going to have a hard time fixing it because there’s no gravel to pull from. I’m just asking if the commissioners can direct a FEMA project toward the road. I’ll pledge my time, personal equipment from my farm and fuel to help with it.”</p><p class="p4">Western District Commissioner Greg Donley told Freeman  that County Road 150 is already one of the projects written up for  FEMA assistance. Donley said he hopes work on the road can start next week and apologized for repairs taking so long.</p><p class="p4">“The mailman also called me a week ago to talk about that road,” said Donley. “But with so many roads in the same condition, it’s been hard to fix them.”</p><p class="p4">“I know a lot of people in the county had a lot of damage, and that’s why I haven’t said much until now,” said Freeman.</p><p class="p4">Bill Vest and William Schoelles, both residents on County Road 314 in the eastern district, also spoke with the commissioners regarding the damage Pine Creek had done to the road. </p><p class="p4">“I’ve been after the county to clean the creek and clean the ditch for a while,” said Vest. “There’s just been concrete piled up, and it hasn’t helped. It’s made it worse. This can’t go on. It needs to be cleaned out.”</p><p class="p4">Schoelles echoed Vest’s feelings. “When I first moved here, the creek was maintained. Part of the reason I bought the land was because the creek was so pretty.”</p><p class="p4">“We will fix it,” Eastern District Commissioner Gary Collins told the men.</p><p class="p4">“What would really help is if you guys got a FEMA grant to fix the creek,” said Vest. “The way it was [before the flood] is not the way it should be. There’s too much gravel.”</p><p class="p4">“Every bridge in the county has more gravel than ever,” said Collins. “We’re going to have to get some more equipment to help us fix some things.”</p><p class="p4">“The point is that after the 2011 flood, the creek shifted,” Schoelles said. “And now [after the April flood] it’s eating the road.”</p><p class="p4">“Bridge by bridge, one at a time, we’re cleaning them out,” Collins assured the men.</p><p class="p4">“Right now our biggest problem is time with these creek projects,” said Donley. “To get the gravel out in a timely manner, we’re going to have to have some help because the gravel is a hazard to the bridges.”</p><p class="p4">A fourth resident also commented during the meeting but declined to share his name with the <em>Times.</em></p><p class="p4">The commissioners say they will continue to meet with FEMA each Thursday for the near future.</p><p class="p5"> </p><p class="p1"><strong>Still ‘no’ to NFIP</strong></p><p class="p4">Once again, the commissioners were questioned about their decision not to join the National Flood Insurance Program when Vest asked the commissioners how residents could get the issue on the ballot.</p><p class="p4">Ozark County Clerk Brian Wise told Vest that, under state statutes, residents are not able to petition to put the issue to join NFIP on the ballot. The law allows residents to petition to <em>repeal</em> a county’s decision to join the NFIP and put that repeal on the ballot, but not to <em>join</em> the program, he said.</p><p class="p4">“Well, it seems like the city of Gainesville can get help and you guys can get help with the roads, but we [residents with flood damage] can’t get help,” said Vest. “But everybody around us is getting it.”</p><p class="p4">“You don’t want the NFIP,” Presiding Commissioner John Turner told Vest. “It would mean planning and zoning in the county and a lot of regulation. They’d also be there telling you how to do things, make changes, and tell you what you could and couldn’t do.”</p><p class="p4">“Well, we don’t have regulations now, and we have people putting blue tarps on their houses and tires on their roofs,” said Vest. “You need regulations. You need inspectors. This is not the 18th century. This is the 21st century, and you have to progress with the times pretty soon or no one will be able to get insurance because the insurance companies will not insure us.”</p><p class="p4">“There are not enough people in this county who want that level of intrusion,” said Turner.</p><p class="p4">“It’s not a bad thing to have regulations,” said Vest.</p><p class="p4">“There are not enough people who want to have countywide zoning,” Turner said again.</p><p class="p4">“How do you know? Have you talked to a lot of people?” asked Vest. “Don’t you think the people with the big houses on the river pay a lot of taxes? I’m sure they would want it.”</p><p class="p4">Turner assured Vest that he had talked to many people. “There’s just no traction for it. Even the people on the river didn’t want it,” he said. “We just do what we think voters in the county want.”</p><p class="p4">After reading a letter to the <em>Times</em> from Michael Dougan [see page 4] also concerning the NFIP, the commissioners agreed that although the letter was well written, it didn’t change their minds about the program.</p><p class="p4">“It’s a free country, and I’m glad he’s got the right to state his opinion and I have the right to state mine,” said Donley. “The election is in three years, and that’s why we have elections. We can’t make everybody happy; we just go with what the majority of the people want.”</p><p class="p4">Donley also added that if the program only affected the landowners along the river, their response might be different. However, joining the program would affect all landowners in the county. Even landowners not in a flood plain would be under the same planning and zoning regulations. </p><p class="p4">“I do hate it for the people who lost their homes,” said Collins.</p><p class="p4">“Maybe it’s time to step up and help them,” said Vest.</p><p class="p5"> </p><p class="p1"><strong>Work begins on Dawt bridge </strong></p><p class="p4">Collins told the other commissioners that he planned on starting work on the Dawt bridge Tuesday.</p><p class="p4">“The bridge looks OK,” he said. “There’s just lots of mud and debris against and on the bridge, and we have to get the stuff off it. I hope when we get the debris out that the river will go back to normal.” </p><p class="p4">Collins said he has high hopes that the newly cut channel around the bridge’s west end will go away once the repairs are made and the river is able to flow as it did before the April flood. He said the channel between the bridge and the road on the west side is large enough that he saw a jet boat go around the bridge recently.</p><p class="p5"> </p><p class="p1"><strong>Help still available, register by Aug. 1</strong></p><p class="p7"><strong>Registration deadline.</strong> Aug. 1 is the FEMA and Small Business Administration registration deadline for residents who sustained damage during the April 29-30 flood. To register, visit DisasterAssistance.gov, use the FEMA smartphone app or call 800-621-3362 between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. CST. Residents may also contact SBA directly at 800-659-2955. United Way is also a source of disaster-relief information; call  211 for more information.</p><p class="p8"><strong>Free legal advice.</strong> Missouri residents and businesses impacted by the recent floods have access to free legal services through the Missouri Bar’s Disaster Recovery Legal Assistance Hotline. Volun-teer lawyers throughout the state are available to help hotline callers with questions about insurance claims, replacing important legal documents, avoiding scams and  rebuilding. Those seeking legal assistance should call 1-800-829-4128.</p><p class="p8">Calls are screened and then referred to volunteer lawyers who offer free telephone consultation for disaster-related problems. Callers who need representation in court or who have issues requiring fee-generating services will be referred to the appropriate services, according to a news release from the Missouri Bar Association.</p><p class="p8"><strong>Mental health services.</strong> FEMA has awarded a grant to fund the Show Me Hope Crisis Counseling Program in providing psychological services “to help build hope and resiliency in Missouri’s survivors,” according to a news release from Gov. Eric Greitens’ office. </p><p class="p8">The grant continues outreach services to flood survivors, including Ozark Countians, through participating community mental health centers, including the Ozarks Medical Center in West Plains. Those who need this assistance can dial 211 for more information. Residents can also contact the Disaster Distress Helpline 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 1-800-985-5990 or send a text message “TalkWithUs” to 66746.</p>

<p class="p1">Eastern District Commissioner Gary Collins said Monday that work would begin this week to remove  debris from around the bridge at Dawt, where the North Fork of the White River, shown here overflowing County Road 318, has cut a new channel on the west side as the result the April 29-30 flood. The bridge, which has been submerged since the flood, looks OK, Collins said, and he hopes when the debris is cleared, the river will go back to its normal channel and will again flow under the bridge.</p>