NORWICH – At Tuesday night’s town board meeting, tensions ran high regarding property on one of the roads most badly damaged in the June flood. Homeowners Lex and Jamey Supensky stood before the town board to get answers about when they would have access to their Lower Ravine Road home.
Jamey said her family has been living in an apartment since the flood. She explained the family has had to endure the cost of keeping up both residences and her home on Lower Ravine will deteriorate further if no one lives in it.
In June, three culvert pipes in the creek near their home were damaged and caused the bridge to fail. The Supensky home had minimal damage, but their road and any access onto their property was destroyed.
“We have no access into the home, no means to get our children on the school bus and no means for emergency vehicles to get to our residence,” Lex Supensky said.
Supensky explained to the board he and his wife are the only residents on the road in question to live there year-round and they have been not been kept informed of the town’s actions. Lex also explained to the board they have lived in the residence since 1990 and they have seen the road damaged several times, but the bridge has held steady. They said they do not understand why it can’t just be replaced.
Town board members explained that FEMA had guaranteed the money for the road, but the process was in limbo, while they waited to hear if the residences on Lower Ravine were going to get bought out.
The board was just made aware the buy-out of the homes is not going to happen. The board agreed the Supenskys should regain access to their home and Town Highway Superintendent Stanley Foulds is scheduling to talk with FEMA to get money for the project guaranteed. The re-building will make the situation be as it was the day before the flood.
The Supenskys seemed happy to hear the board give Foulds the go-ahead to get the process of rebuilding in order.
“I just want to go home,” said Jamey.