About two months after the purchase of the property was closed on by the city of Decatur, the house located at 421 Bellmont Road was destroyed as part of the city-wide efforts to restore land within the floodplain back to its original purpose. The land across from Bellmont High School marks the 100th property that has been restored in the decades-long project.
“The goal is twofold,” explained Rod Renkenberger of the Maumee River Basin Commission back in September when the City celebrated the purchase of the property, “we want to open the floodplain back up to what it was intended for and to remove people from harm’s way.”
The project began in 1997 with the announcement of Flood Mitigation Assistance grants from the federal government that would be given to each state. By 2001, ten properties had been restored, however this did not prevent the massive damage caused by the 2003 flooding. The natural disaster acted as a catalyst for the project and by the city’s next major flooding event in 2015, 63 properties had been restored. Following this, the city would go on to purchase a new property about every three months, culminating in the September purchase of the 100th.
As of that purchase, it was announced by Renkenberger that the city intended to close on four remaining properties within the floodplain. This would give the city all the available properties they intended to restore, outside of the ones that owners are choosing not to sell.
