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Pay her the value of the land with the government absorbing the cost of demolition and removal of what's left of her damaged home. Chances are, she has probably received some form of Sandy aid or insurance on the home.
IIRC, the voluntary buyout programs were/are given pre-storm value...it only seems right that those forced into an involuntary sale be given the same.
Also, for those that carry a mortgage, the insurance checks are made out to you AND your bank - and the bank will only endorse the check if they see paid receipts for repairs. In other words, unless you own the home free and clear, nobody is banking insurance checks without making the corresponding repairs. And if it's your second home (like many in Fire Island), you're not getting anything from FEMA or most other forms of aid.
Normally I'd be on the other side of this, but we're talking about a very small number of homes (41) and the money is coming from the federal government. The difference between pre and post storm value is a drop in the bucket compared to all the money being doled out in post Sandy programs....but certainly very impactful to the individuals affected.
Please keep on the topic at hand which is about FIRE Island and the homes which stand in the way of a project to protect LONG Island. If you want to discuss a borough of NYC, please do so on the NYC sub forum. Thanks!
Our house has been on the beach in Ocean Bay Park for 81 years. We along with other communities became Federally managed beaches via FEMA prior to Sandy. We had to make concessions to qualify for this, and paid millions of dollars to have an engineered beach installed with an Army Corps of Engineers plan. This agreement required FEMA, the State, and homeowners to respond financially in the event of something like Sandy, to rebuild the beach. After Sandy the FEMA deal went south. No information available as to why for over a year. Rumors started to circulate that 41 houses would have to be removed for the new "emergency" plan. It has been two years since Sandy and we are yet to be notified that our home (our primary residence) is destined for condemnation under imminent domain. Although our previous FEMA plan required a duplication of the engineered beach we installed, the "new" plan sites expense as the reason our homes must be removed. they feel that it would cost too much to do other than a straight line plan. The amazing part about this is the estimated FIFTY MILLION DOLLARS it will cost to buy the houses seems to be forgotten. $50,000,000 buys a lot of sand, much more than wound be required to do our previous, Army Corps of Engineers plan (FEMA). The new "emergency" plan is virtually the same as our last, except for the taking of homes.
As a requirement for this plan, every Fire Island ocean front home owner (400+) must sign a permanent easement to their property. Reasons for this cite; need for equipment staging and storage, access for personnel, possible need to put sand on your property, patrol, inspection, maintenance, repair and replacement of the "dune".
There was no requirement for ANY of this with our previous plan.
The interesting part is that the Army Corps of Engineers has stated that this is a "one time plan". They have no intention to do anything but put sand on the beach and go. New York State has no plan to do anything, nor does Suffolk County???
Therein lies the rub...why the need for permanent easements?
It took "them" a long time to figure out how they were going to slip their upcoming BILLION dollar plan past the residents of Fire Island. The rights to the permanent easements may be TRANSFERED to any governmental agency the holder desires.
Enter NYS Power Authority and Long Island Power Authority...One of the consequences of a property easement is the loss of rights...in this instance, the view...
Here comes the offshore wind farms and their 250 foot towers. Kiss that "been there since the first day the sun came up" view goodbye. Oh and yeah, you signed your rights to that away with the signing of the easement.
This was tried by LIPA five years ago off Jones Beach and was knocked down by public opinion and that LIPA determined it would have to use and pay for this electricity needed or not. Now there is a new company like the former ENRON that shuffles power around the wind farms grid.
It is called in some quarters the "NEPTUNE PROJECT" after the cable name (manufactured in Italy). It starts in Massachusetts, goes to Rhode Island, to 30 miles east off Montauk Point, comes from New Jersey to Queens. The Department of the Interior is in the process to lease 34,000 Atlantic Ocean acres in something called the New York Bight for a wind farm.
Who is the big company? Deepwater Wind.
So why are they taking our homes, for a plan that by the Army Corps of Engineers OWN determination, has a life expectancy of 5 -10 years? As the smartest person I ever knew (my father) once said in reference to the IRS going after the "small guy", it establishes "religion". The word spreads in the neighborhood that "John Q" got audited and people become alerted to "this could happen to me, don't cheat". Mission accomplished.
In our case, we are the sacrificial lambs. The 400+ easements will be signed (or maybe they will take our homes). The cost of our homes (41) is less than the equivalent revenue of one tower per year.
Remember where you heard it first.
Our house has been on the beach in Ocean Bay Park for 81 years. We along with other communities became Federally managed beaches via FEMA prior to Sandy. We had to make concessions to qualify for this, and paid millions of dollars to have an engineered beach installed with an Army Corps of Engineers plan. This agreement required FEMA, the State, and homeowners to respond financially in the event of something like Sandy, to rebuild the beach. After Sandy the FEMA deal went south. No information available as to why for over a year. Rumors started to circulate that 41 houses would have to be removed for the new "emergency" plan. It has been two years since Sandy and we are yet to be notified that our home (our primary residence) is destined for condemnation under imminent domain. Although our previous FEMA plan required a duplication of the engineered beach we installed, the "new" plan sites expense as the reason our homes must be removed. they feel that it would cost too much to do other than a straight line plan. The amazing part about this is the estimated FIFTY MILLION DOLLARS it will cost to buy the houses seems to be forgotten. $50,000,000 buys a lot of sand, much more than wound be required to do our previous, Army Corps of Engineers plan (FEMA). The new "emergency" plan is virtually the same as our last, except for the taking of homes.
As a requirement for this plan, every Fire Island ocean front home owner (400+) must sign a permanent easement to their property. Reasons for this cite; need for equipment staging and storage, access for personnel, possible need to put sand on your property, patrol, inspection, maintenance, repair and replacement of the "dune".
There was no requirement for ANY of this with our previous plan.
The interesting part is that the Army Corps of Engineers has stated that this is a "one time plan". They have no intention to do anything but put sand on the beach and go. New York State has no plan to do anything, nor does Suffolk County???
Therein lies the rub...why the need for permanent easements?
It took "them" a long time to figure out how they were going to slip their upcoming BILLION dollar plan past the residents of Fire Island. The rights to the permanent easements may be TRANSFERED to any governmental agency the holder desires.
Enter NYS Power Authority and Long Island Power Authority...One of the consequences of a property easement is the loss of rights...in this instance, the view...
Here comes the offshore wind farms and their 250 foot towers. Kiss that "been there since the first day the sun came up" view goodbye. Oh and yeah, you signed your rights to that away with the signing of the easement.
This was tried by LIPA five years ago off Jones Beach and was knocked down by public opinion and that LIPA determined it would have to use and pay for this electricity needed or not. Now there is a new company like the former ENRON that shuffles power around the wind farms grid.
It is called in some quarters the "NEPTUNE PROJECT" after the cable name (manufactured in Italy). It starts in Massachusetts, goes to Rhode Island, to 30 miles east off Montauk Point, comes from New Jersey to Queens. The Department of the Interior is in the process to lease 34,000 Atlantic Ocean acres in something called the New York Bight for a wind farm.
Who is the big company? Deepwater Wind.
So why are they taking our homes, for a plan that by the Army Corps of Engineers OWN determination, has a life expectancy of 5 -10 years? As the smartest person I ever knew (my father) once said in reference to the IRS going after the "small guy", it establishes "religion". The word spreads in the neighborhood that "John Q" got audited and people become alerted to "this could happen to me, don't cheat". Mission accomplished.
In our case, we are the sacrificial lambs. The 400+ easements will be signed (or maybe they will take our homes). The cost of our homes (41) is less than the equivalent revenue of one tower per year.
Remember where you heard it first.
"We had to make concessions to qualify for this, and paid millions of dollars to have an engineered beach installed with an Army Corps of Engineers plan."
I am a bit confused ... did you personally pay millions or was millions paid by a group of homeowners ? I once read that the Army Corps of Engineers started building groins on the beaches further east (in the sixties) that contributed to this mess ...
Another question .. why would anyone who owns beachfront property on Fire Island think they have rights to stop a tower being built in the water miles away ? Was there a covenant I'm not aware of ? This happens all the time in NYC (new building goes up and blocks view of the river, etc.).
The individual communities paid for the plan, our towns average share was $8,000 per household.
Yes you are right, the Army Corps of Engineers did build a groin system in the Hamptons...backwards. It was New York States responsibility to fill these groins with sand. NYS dropped the ball and went away leaving the groins backwards and empty.
As far as the wind farm towers, the Atlantic Ocean is not real (as in real estate) property. It is a natural resource like the Grand Canyon. In this case, the frist three miles out is NYS, three to thirty is USA.
It is important to know that this is not the first time residents have paid to maintain the beach. Although it is now popular to say "we need this plan to protect Long Island", the US Geological Survey recently presented testimony in support of NY Audubon, stating that this plan would NOT protect Long Island. (Federal - NY Audubon vs US Fish And Wildlife and Army Corps of Engineers).
To understand the futility of this "plan" it is important to know that the "plan" will NOT be allowed on the beach in front of the majority of Federal lands on Fire Island. These lands comprise approximately one half (1/2) of the Island. Some "plan". feel safer? Once again, by their own estimate the Army Corps of Engineers gives the "plan" a life expectancy of 5 - 10 years. Our home has been there for 81 years. The logic escapes me, except for the back room deal for the wind farms. Follow the money and you always get to the answer.
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