The Beaufort County Board of Commissioners declined to seek FEMA money that would be used to buy out homes severely damaged by Hurricane Florence.

Monday, commissioners decided against following through with the application process for FEMA Fund 407, a combination of Hazard Mitigation Grant Funding and Public Assistance funding. FEMA Fund 407 money could be used to acquire owner-occupied residential properties that have been judged by the governing building inspector as substantially damaged by Florence, including properties that were uninsured for flood loss.

Lisa Williams, Beaufort County Emergency Management’s planning and mitigation specialist, presented the program to commissioners, saying that she had so far identified 30 properties in the county that could qualify for the funding, some which were located within the county’s municipalities.

Commissioners’ arguments for not pursuing the buyout money centered around ownership of and responsibility for the properties after buyout and demolition. Titles to the properties would be turned over to the county if located in unincorporated parts of the county or to a municipality if located within a municipality.

“In the past these things have always led to problems,” said Commissioner Hood Richardson. “The property has a perpetual easement and can never be built on again.”

Commissioner Gary Brinn said he didn’t want to see those properties taken out of the tax base, as would be the case should the county have ownership.

Another objection was maintenance of properties. Williams explained that some of the properties she had identified could be allowed to return to their natural states; others, within municipalities, would be the responsibility of individual municipalities. She pointed out that in those cases, in the past, neighboring property owners have often been willing to provide maintenance in exchange for the additional green space.

Williams said only the county could apply for FEMA Fund 407 grants — individual municipalities could not apply on their own.

“We don’t want to hurt the cities that want to take advantage of this,” Commissioner Ed Booth said in support of moving forward with the process.

The board was split on the vote, with commissioners Ed Booth, Jerry Evans and Jerry Langley voting to submit a letter of interest for the program, and commissioners Gary Brinn, Stan Deatherage, Hood Richardson and Frankie Waters voting against.