Four of six Rockdale homeowners, who own homes in the often-flooded section of Central Rockdale along East Ham Branch, have expressed an interest in the buyout offer from the city.
“They sent me a certified letter a couple of months ago and I talked with the city and asked them to send figures for a buyout,” said Mike Kovar, who owns two of the proposed buyout properties on Belton and San Andres streets “I’m self employed so those properties are my idea of retirement. I certainly would entertain the idea, if I can find something in Rockdale and get my renters moved into and transferred into another place in Rockdale.”
The council discussed a buyout in its August meeting, which will be paid for with the $1.2 million federal Community Development Block Grant administered by the Texas General Land Office (GLO) that the city received as disaster relief in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. The City of Rockdale and Milam County applied for the grant in 2017, which was signed off on by former County Judge David Barkemeyer and Mayor John King in December 2018.
The plan is to use the grant for the buyout, relocation and demolition of the properties, City Manager Chris Whittaker told the Reporter in August. The council approved the effort by a unanimous vote.
As for the buyout, the grant stipulates that the city should buy properties at fair market value, according to Barbara Holly, Development Services Director, with the city.
“It’s a voluntary program that gives us enough money to pay moving expenses and make homeowners a fair offer,” Holly said.
She confirmed that four of the six homeowners have expressed a willingness to receive an offer and two have not responded.
“If the grant application is successful, the initial four, plus the two others, will again be approached to assess their willingness to participate in the program,” Holly said.
After the buyout and relocation process, the next step will be demolition and there is a separate mitigation part of the grant that allocates $500,000 to fund plans to turn the area into a green-space. Holly and Whittaker said culverts could be installed or the streets could be raised.
“The benefit of green space is that it absorbs water,” said Holly.
The GLO grant has definite stipulations regarding the land.
“It becomes city property with requirements that we cannot put a permanent structure there,” said Whittaker.
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