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<br />In-~~ ~- ---~----------- ~ <br />I CASS COUNTY I <br />GOVERNMENTI <br />1..1.- <br />l------------I <br /> <br />Board of County <br />Commissioners <br /> <br />Scott Wagner <br />Fargo, North Dakota <br /> <br />Vem Bennett <br />Fargo, North Dakota <br /> <br />John Meyer <br />Fargo, North Dakota <br /> <br />Darrell W. Vanyo <br />Fargo, North Dakota <br /> <br />Robyn Sorum <br />Horace, North Dakota <br /> <br />Joyce Schepp <br />Commission Assistant <br /> <br />Box 2806 <br />211 Ninth Street South <br />Fargo, North Dakota 58108 <br /> <br />701-241-5609 <br />Fax 701-241-5728 <br />w\.'vw.casscountygov.com <br /> <br />November 15, 2004 <br /> <br />Mr. Douglas C. Friez <br />State Director <br />North Dakota Division of Emergency Management <br />PO Box 5511 <br />Bismarck, NO 58506-5511 <br /> <br />Re: <br /> <br />Cass County Hazard Mitigation Project Grants for Purchase <br />of Land along the Red and Wild Rice Rivers <br />FEMA-1174 - DR-NO State Project No. 0030 <br />FEMA - 1279 - DR-NO State Project No. 0032 <br /> <br />Dear Mr. Friez: <br /> <br />I am writing to advise you that Cass County will not be able to <br />complete the subject project as previously planned. While we continue to <br />believe the Greenway concept to be a proactive approach to flood <br />mitigation, it has become apparent that restrictions placed on the funds <br />earlier this year make it impractical to complete acquisitions as envisioned. <br />Specifically, the prohibition on purchasing property in the regulatory <br />floodway makes the grant funds unusable for the intended purpose. It is <br />not reasonable to expect landowners to be willing to sell only their non- <br />floodway river property. The practical side of the matter is that property <br />within the flood way is very valuable land provided it is contiguous with a <br />small amount of land outside of the floodway that can be built upon. <br /> <br />We hope you will be able to redistribute these funds to other local <br />flood mitigation projects to the fullest extent possible. <br /> <br />We would have preferred a less restrictive policy on FEMA's part. <br />However, we also respect the fact that FEMA has the authority to set the <br />policies as deemed appropriate. We appreciate the assistance we have <br />received from the North Dakota Division of Emergency Management and <br />look forward to our continued partnership with your organization. <br /> <br />Sincerely, <br /> <br />Robyn Sorum, Chairwoman <br />Cass County Commission <br /> <br />kb/js <br /> <br />K:\Sorum\FLOOD MITIGATION 11-15-2004.doc <br />