By Wally Kennedy

wkennedy@joplinglobe.com

PICHER, Okla. — Larry Olds lives on an island in a sea of devastation.

His place in the Mineral Heights addition is spotless while everything around it still looks like it did three months ago when a tornado ripped across the south side of this town on May 10.

“I had debris from Main Street in my yard. We worked six to seven hours a day for a week to get it cleaned up,” Olds said. “It’s sure depressing now. All of my neighbors are gone.

“There’s been no mowing and all this crap lying around. We are anxious to get out.”

His house sustained some roof and window damage. Since then, he has made minimal repairs while waiting to see what else the future might hold for him. His next big hurdle is the appraisal he will receive in connection with the buyout.

For some residents awaiting relocation, the tornado has complicated what already was a complicated process. For some, the tornado has helped them financially or given them a financial option that they didn’t have. For still others, the tornado took away the chance they had to leave the Superfund site.

Settlements deducted

Larry Roberts, operations manager for the Lead-Impacted Communities Relocation Assistance Trust, said the trust recognized the predicament that several residents in Picher faced after the tornado and moved quickly on May 13 to adopt guidelines to assist those who had become homeless.

“The trust initiated a second opportunity for four



residents who had lost their homes to the tornado and had previously rejected the initial offer. Three of those have accepted an offer and the fourth opted out to retain insurance proceeds in lieu of the buyout,” he said.

The trust put together a “Post-Tornado Residential Survey,” which was made available to each victim of the tornado, he said. The appraisers used the survey information compiled by the applicant to have a better understanding of property and amenities that were damaged as a result of the tornado. In addition, the appraisers compared the survey information to the Ottawa County assessor’s records on each property.

“As a result of the tornado, many files were moved to a new priority. Overall, few tornado victims have complained about the appraisal process,” Roberts said. “Most of the tornado victims have expressed appreciation to the trust for offering to buy a home which no longer exists.”

The trust received 122 survey forms from residents who experienced varying degrees of property damage. Roberts said the volume of work for the trust has greatly increased since May 10, but that the trust has endeavored to assist the tornado victims in a meaningful way.

The trust’s decision to deduct tornado-related insurance settlements from the offers is not sitting well with Olds.

“They’ll appraise my house in the next couple of weeks and hopefully I will get a fair deal there,” said Olds. “What I want to know is what I will have left over after the insurance settlement. I was upset about the state law they pushed through to deduct the insurance money from the offer. The homeowners, not the trust, paid those premiums.”

‘A fantasy appraisal’

Olds learned last week that his property will soon be appraised for the buyout and relocation. He’s anxious about what will happen.

He’s heard the stories about appraisal mistakes and that some have not had enough money to leave Picher because their offer was too low after the insurance settlement was subtracted.

While Olds is in a state of limbo, others in Picher have found a way out.

John Mott, 81, a lifelong resident of Picher, signed the papers on his house with the trust five days before the storm. Three days after the storm he was making a deal on a house in Commerce that included the furnishings. He received $55,000 for his house from the trust, but nothing for his gun shop. He figured his total property was worth $78,000. He had to borrow $30,000 to get into his new home in Commerce.

After receiving his offer from the trust, Mott also got a settlement check from his insurance company. The timing of the payment was before the state law took effect. He used the money from the insurance settlement to pay down his debt to $10,000, which he hopes to pay off by the end of the year.

“I was looking at $30,000, now it’s $10,000,” he said. “Somebody was looking out for me if you know what I mean. What I don’t understand is why so many of the older people here in Picher, like me, are having to borrow money to move out. That does not seem right. They won’t live long enough to pay off what they owe.”

Joel and Mary Thompson’s home on the southeast side of Picher was blown away by the tornado. They lost everything, including two barns. He figured his property, which includes 100 acres, was worth $300,000.

“The appraiser told me he could not offer me full value for what my property was worth,” Joel Thompson said. “They offered me $190,000 — less the insurance settlement, which is $87,000. The barns were not included, but the offer did include the 100 acres.

“They have offered other people 40 cents a square foot for land. They offered me 4 cents a square foot. The way I figure it, we’re $110,000 in the hole.”

Said Mary Thompson: “But we had those barns and they gave us nothing for something we owned and worked 32 years to accumulate. It’s not right.”

Joel Thompson said, “It’s a fantasy appraisal, but it’s all real for you. I don’t understand this. I don’t have any options, but to just say no to the trust and move on with my life.”

Thompson said he owns land a half-mile down the road from his former home site and that it is outside of the buyout area. He said he could use his insurance settlement to rebuild his life on that land, but in the meantime he’ll see what kind of deal he might get after a second appraisal is done.

“This fight down here won’t end. At some point, I want this to end. I want to be done with this mess,” he said. “I truly believe the governor and Sen. Inhofe wanted good things for here, but there is a force that is preventing that from happening.

“I don’t understand the why on this end. They want good things for down here, but somehow it doesn’t get there. I wish I could tell you why?”

‘Not a typical situation’

While residents are weighing their options, Picher could see the start of a cleanup in two weeks that will be funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the state of Oklahoma. The contractor is to be hired by the city of Picher. The estimated price tag is $4 million.

Michelann Ooten, spokeswoman for Oklahoma Emergency Management, said the state agreed to pay the 20 percent in matching funds to get the federal money.

“The delay in the debris-removal process was because Picher was not a viable applicant as a local entity,” said Ooten. “The community of Picher will still award the contract and oversee the cleanup, but it cannot go in debt itself for money it may not have. The state is assuming those responsibilities.”

The delay in cleaning up Picher, she said, was due in part because state and federal authorities had never encountered such a situation where a buyout was under way in connection with a Superfund site.

“It took three months because this was not a typical situation,” said Ooten. “There were other issues. This is a Superfund site, and we have never faced that before.”

The debris is to be shipped to a construction landfill north of Columbus, Kan. It was chosen because it was the most efficient for that type of debris and it is the nearest permitted landfill, said Skylar McElhany, with the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality.

While the debris removal is set to begin, the Twin Bridges Co., of Quapaw, is continuing to relocate houses from Picher to an area near Quapaw that eventually will become a new subdivision. The company is also demolishing houses that cannot be moved.

Johnny Seeling, owner of the company, said the tornado destroyed about 20 houses that he intended to move to the new subdivision.

“Mineral Heights was one of the nicer areas of town the tornado went through. We lost some good homes there, but overall it has not adversely affected my project,” he said.

Out of 700 or so structures in the town, Seeling said his contract involved about 340. Of the 340, about 150 were to be moved.

“There is a possibility we could add additional properties to the contract to keep the volume at the anticipated level,” he said. “That number is important because of the cost spread for the installation of utilities.”

So far, the company has moved 16 houses. They are in some phase of remodeling at the development today.

“We are getting closer to a permanent infrastructure — sewer, water and gas. It takes a long time to get people on board with it who need to be on board,” Seeling said. “We should be able to get the water and sewer lines in by the middle of September. We’ll start selling houses before the first of the year in the $60,000 to $85,000 range.

“That’s unless something else, like another tornado, throws a monkey wrench in our plans.”



Flair

The tornado that swept through Picher on May 10 changed lives and plans, but the buyout and relocation of families continues. So far, 487 property appraisals have been completed and 410 buyout offers have been made. A total of 212 houses and 57 tenants have been vacated, according to Larry Roberts, operations manager for the Lead-Impacted Communities Relocation Assistance Trust.