The City of Washington has issued more than 700 building permits to residents as they recover from last year’s tornado. Peoria Public Radio’s Alex Rusciano reports the permits are for partial and completely destroyed homes:
The city issued 360 permits for total rebuilds and 340 for repairs. That covers about 60-percent of the homes damaged or destroyed following the EF-4 tornado that tore through the area November 17th. Washington City Administrator Tim Gleason says many of the remaining 400 homeowners with damaged properties are still waiting:
“You’ve got residents that are still, even at eight months today, are negotiating with their insurance companies, or have passed that process and are waiting for their contractor to be available but haven’t had the need to come and get a building permit.”
Gleason says he hopes 75-percent of all properties are rebuilt by the end of the year. He says the next goal for the city is to start bidding out repair work for roads, curbs and sidewalks damaged in the tornado. To that end, Gleason says the city received $6.5 million from I-DOT. He also says the city received $1.5 million from the state Emergency Management Agency to reimburse debris removal and overtime costs.