Stinesville resident says sewage backup displaced her home, urges county action and FEMA assistance

During the Sept. 11 Monroe County commissioners meeting, resident Molly Radecki of Stinesville said she has been displaced since April after sewage backed up into her home and that she fears losing temporary housing while a lien is threatened on her unoccupied property.

Radecki told the board she believes the backup resulted from the absence of a backflow device on a septic/hybrid system installed by a contractor she identified verbally during public comment. She said she applied for FEMA assistance but that flood victims from April 2–9 were "bypassed for help" and that an appeal’s outcome is unclear to her. Radecki asked county commissioners to contact the Department of Homeland Security, the governor’s office and FEMA to request release of funding and to audit the authority or contractor she named. She said the authority has two vacant seats that the county could fill, which she argued gives the county leverage to push for constituent assistance.

Responding in open session, a commissioner urged Radecki to contact the county’s emergency management department and to work with building and planning staff; the commissioner noted that staff can assist but that the board cannot change rules on an individual case. Radecki said she had already engaged county staff and that she had email records showing she was treated as a second-class constituent.

Why it matters: The comment raised questions about access to disaster assistance, the county’s role in oversight of local authorities and the process by which FEMA and state disaster funding is distributed. Commissioners directed Radecki to county emergency-management and building/planning staff for case-specific assistance but made no formal commitment to change rules or policy during the meeting.

No formal county action was taken on Ms. Radecki’s request during the meeting.