BY SUSAN WARE

A handful of Brookside Terrace residents met on Sunday, June 24, to weigh their options. The issue is that a quarter of their mobile home park sits dangerously close to the Suncook River and has been flooded twice in the past two years.

Today, almost three months after the last flood, there are six condemned mobile homes in the park, the owners having fled when the water started quickly rising on April 9.

The flood has caused problems for the homeowners who lost everything, but also for the remaining residents who now have to deal with the financial strain.

Brookside Terrace has a mortgage for 21 homes. After the heavy rains that caused flooding on Mother’s Day 2006, one of the Jasper Lane members of the co-operative had his flooded mobile home removed, leaving the other members to cover his share of the mortgage.

Lynn Booth, a representative of New Hampshire Community Loan Fund, has been working with the co-operative to figure out how they will manage their mortgage with only 14 homes.

“We work with co-operatives on financial matters like this. We need to figure out how they can manage with six fewer homes. We are working with their bank,” said Booth.

Jack Payne is the president of the co-operative and his home sits on the upper side of the park. He is one of the lucky ones.

Almost three months after the flash flood, the mobile homes on the lower riverside lots are empty. Their owners left in a hurry, leaving food on the stove, laundry on the clothesline and all of their possessions.

The floods were not just water, but water that seemed to converge on the neighborhood from three different directions because locals contend that the path of the river is changing.

The force of the water caused mobile homes to move off of foundations, oil tanks to detach, and silt and mud to fill what once were lawns and living rooms. Lawns, now overgrown, are home to grass and aquatic foliage.

“Look at the river now. Unbelievable. There’s barely 2 feet of water,” said Payne pointing down over the embankment to a seeming passive river.

But remnants of the flood remain in the Suncook River too. Look one way and there is a home oil tank sitting on the river floor in a few feet of water. There is twisted metal from mobile homes caught up in the embankment and other household items.

Payne said the co-operative took an informal vote on June 24 as to whether they should work with Community Action Program to clean up the condemned area by removing the five mobile homes and infrastructure and relocating the families.

Andy LaBrie, the housing coordinator with Community Action Program who is working with the park said that his agency does relocation, not remediation.

“We move families affected into different mobile homes using some of their FEMA money and other funds if necessary. Then we remove their damaged home,” said LaBrie.

Community Action Program is in the process of relocating 18 families in the area in similar situations. Once the flood-damaged mobile home is removed, a deed restriction is put on the lot and it becomes green space.

“What they will do is come in here and take all of these home out of here. Gone. Then they will remove septic and water and grow grass. Nothing will ever be built here again,” said Payne.

This is bittersweet because the residents of the mobile home park are all on fixed incomes, said Payne.

“We are not wealthy people here. We all are on fixed incomes and money is tight,” he said.

For the owners of these condemned homes, working with Community Action program means they would not have to pay the $5,000 it would cost to remove their home, but they must sign over the deed, walk away and take a financial loss.

Also, according to Payne, the entire mobile home park must agree to allow Community Action Program to relocate mobile homes because of the financial stake.

“Each of the 20 residents owns one share, so the vote must be unanimous,” said Payne.

Payne knows each of the condemned homes personally. He points to reminders of the floods that still remain and tells stories of the owners, now all scattered and staying with family and friends.

One home has a Harley Davidson parked out front. The motorcycle sat completely submerged in rushing water and is now ruined.

Another mobile home, expansive and modern, shifted off its foundation. Payne said when the owner tried to repair the foundation, he slipped and broke his leg. The couple had lived in the home less than four months when the flood hit. His wife is blind and was unable to assist, said Payne.

The floodwater sat in their home too long, and standing in the overgrown front yard you can smell mold and mildew. The home is now twisted and out of line, the forceful river water wreaking havoc on the metal frame.

“All this is now is scrap. Junk. It’s a darn shame,” said Payne.

Another mobile home’s oil tank detached and spilled heating oil into the river and ground. Payne said FEMA came and treated the area like a hazardous waste site and cleaned the area.

The owners of the condemned homes have not been able to return to gather their possessions because their homes are structurally unstable. Payne doubts there is anything worth taking anyway.

Payne said the next step is a full neighborhood meeting where he will lay out all of the options and what it means to those who were forced to leave and to those who still live at Brookside Terrace.

“We are going to call a meeting of all of the co-operative and put a vote out to everyone. If we get unanimous, we will move forward and get this neighborhood cleaned up and get these people into homes again,” said Payne.