As I observed in my post yesterday on this topic, the experience of flooding out with Katrina, and then twice three years later with Ike and Gustav has taken the starch out of local popular opposition to allowing swamps and marshlands to remain in development. Our own Rep Gene Taylor was taking no chances however making sure the message the proposed ACE buyouts are voluntary has been heard loud and clear. The Sun Herald has the story:
U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor said Wednesday that South Mississippians shouldn’t panic over a proposed federal private property buyout plan that’s moving toward Congress for funding.
In fact, Taylor, D-Bay St. Louis, said that the Mississippi Coastal Improvements Plan has some excellent aspects, such as restoration of the barrier islands. And even though the plan has shrunk somewhat in scope since its origin, it is “still a very, very ambitious project,” he added.
Taylor said he has told officials in the corps’ top echelon that any property buyouts must be voluntary on the part of the sellers, and any mandatory buyout by the government will not fly. “Given the sensitivities, there was a very high level of concern. They got the message,” he said Continue reading “Gene Taylor on the New Army Corp of Engineer’s Buyout Proposal”