The Juneau Assembly decided Monday to sign an agreement with the federal government for a buyout of View Drive, the street hit hardest by annual glacial outburst flooding.
The decision comes after some city leaders met with residents and found more interest than an informal city poll indicated last month.
Assembly Member Paul Kelly said he attended the meeting with about two dozen View Drive residents on March 3. He estimates a majority seemed interested in the program once they understood that they could still opt out after their property is appraised.
“I feel like we had a very productive dialogue that helped correct a little bit of misunderstanding and might have changed some minds,” Kelly said at Monday’s Assembly meeting.
The buyout program would be sponsored by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, which would cover three-quarters of the cost to purchase the real estate, demolish the homes and turn the land into a park. The city has asked residents who opt in to cover the other quarter of the total project using hundreds of thousands of dollars from their home payouts.
Eighteen homes on View Drive are located beyond the temporary levee the city built last year and many were slammed by the record flood last summer. If all 18 properties opt in to a buyout, the total program would cost an estimated $25 million — but the program could move forward with just some of the properties.
Although the Assembly passed a motion to sign a formal agreement with NRCS, that doesn’t necessarily mean the project is a go.
During the meeting, Assembly Member Christine Woll said nothing is official without an ordinance appropriating up to $558,000 to appraise the properties.
“We can’t actually do anything until we pass the ordinance,” Woll said. “So we could basically get out of that agreement or not spend any money if that ordinance fails.”
Mayor Beth Weldon said she told View Drive residents that if the Assembly decides to appraise the properties, the city’s funding for this project might end there.
“They may have to foot the rest of the bill — so we were very transparent,” Weldon said.
If the buyout moves forward, those residents would leave the street before the next glacial outburst flood expected this summer.
