FAIRFAX — To protect the western half of a flood-plagued section in the village, Fairfax officials have decided to provide $110,000 in matching funding in order to obtain an $810,000 state grant primarily for flood-proofing houses.

        Village council made the commitment to the hazardous mitigation grant program of the Ohio Emergency Management Agency at its Monday night meeting, more than a year after a flash flood killed two people and damaged 78 homes in the Little Duck Creek basin.

        Twenty-three of 26 homeowners in the western flood plain have agreed to participate in the program. Most of those homes will have flood-proofing work done, while a small, undetermined number will be bought by the government and torn down.

        “There will be a handful of buyouts,” Village Administrator Jennifer Kaminer said. “They are houses on slabs with no second floor that got about 4 feet of water in them last year.”

        The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is working on a revised report that will affect what happens in the eastern half of Fairfax's flood plain.

        The corps initially recommended flood-plain buyouts that would have cost $4 million. But when Fairfax officials voiced doubts about their ability to obtain that much money, the corps agreed to re-examine possible solutions for the flooding problems.

        Fairfax expects to receive the corps' report by the end of this week, Mrs. Kaminer said. She said she believes the corps will recommend buyouts totaling around $2.5 million.

        Residents whose homes were damaged in the flash flooding in July of last year welcomed village's council's action Monday.

        “I think it's absolutely, positively superb,” said Edwina Beck, whose house on South Wetzel Avenue would be bought and torn down. “This house should have never been built.”

        During last year's flood, almost 5 feet of water filled her one-story house, which is built on a concrete slab. After the flood, Mrs. Beck, her husband, Bob, and their two children lived with relatives for four months.

        “This has taken its toll on us,” Mrs. Beck said. “Every time it rains, my kids get up and say, "Should we move our stuff?' ”

        Village Councilwoman Pat Haas lives across the street from Mrs. Beck. Her house sustained $90,000 in damage in last year's flood and will be flood-proofed with money from the state grant.

        She had to abstain from council's vote Monday because it affected her.

        “It's a beginning step,” Mrs. Haas said. “When we had a bad flood here 22 years ago, we didn't have the grants that are available now or the support from the federal and state governments. That makes a big difference.”

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