COLERAIN TWP. — Township officials hope to complete negotiations with homeowners soon so demolition can begin on homes on Blanchetta Drive and Royal Glen Drive that have been subject to floods.

        Early last year the township was awarded grants totaling more than $1.3 million to buy out 16 homeowners in the southeastern portion of the township and along the West Fork of the Mill Creek.

        Frank Birkenhauer, assistant township administrator, said the township hopes to finish most of the demolition by July. Three homeowners have agreed to sell. Five have declined.

        Cyndi Muddiman and her family, who have agreed to sell their Blanchetta home, found another in Libery Township in Butler County.

        “We think it's a good opportunity,” said Ms. Muddiman. “We wouldn't be doing it if we didn't.”

        She said flooding in their basement in 1998 alone cost about $5,000.

        Purchase prices are in the $74,000 to $83,000 range, said Mr. Birkenhauer.

        The grant money was provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Ohio Emergency Management Agency. The township was hoping to buy enough contiguous properties to create a water retention area, but that doesn't look possible with the holdouts.

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