AUSTELL - Hundreds of Austell homeowners packed into a meeting room at the city's Threadmill Complex on Saturday afternoon to receive information about a proposed Federal Emergency Management Agency buyout program.

The crowd was so large that the meeting was delayed half an hour to accommodate a long line of people who waited to sign in. A second meeting has been arranged for 2:30 p.m. today at the Threadmill Complex, 5000 Austell Powder Springs Road, Austell. The meeting is for city of Austell residents only, not residents in unincorporated Cobb County.

The meetings apply only to those homes flooded in September.

Buyouts are an important way to reduce the risk of future disasters, according to FEMA. Since 1993, the federal agency has purchased more than 20,000 properties. The buyouts are 75 percent funded by FEMA. However, they're administered by state and local governments that identify the areas where buyouts make the most sense and then "sponsor" applicants.

In the proposed buyout, the city of Austell would buy private property, acquire title to it and clear the land. By law, the property - which becomes public - must forever remain open space. The city can, however, use it to build public parks or for other open space uses, but can neither sell it to private individuals nor develop it.

Homeowners who voluntarily participate in selling their property are given up to the fair market value of the home before the disaster, according to FEMA. A licensed appraiser hired by the city determines the fair market value. Homeowners are responsible for relocation costs.

The city of Austell has until Jan. 19, 2010, to submit buyout applications to the Georgia Emergency Management Association. Homeowners apply to the city. By April 12, GEMA will review the city's package and notify the city of Austell to submit the so-called Hazard Mitigation Assistance Project application. The full application is due to GEMA by June 14. And Sept. 23 is the deadline that the full application should be submitted to FEMA.

On the Hazard Mitigation application, homeowners also have the option of having their home elevated in its present location as opposed to participating in the buyout.

"What we're trying to do here is to put together applications for those who want to participate in the buyout or acquisition program. Once we get an application together, we will submit it to GEMA, they will review them and get it submitted to FEMA for final approval," said Treasure H. Rogers, a private contractor who spoke Saturday to homeowners.

"(GEMA) in turn administers the money as it is awarded to communities."

Each person who attended the meeting had his or her own reason for being interested in the buyout.

The home of Willie Smith in the Mulberry Creek subdivision received up to 12-inches of water on the second floor from the flood. Property insurance covered the damage, but Smith said he's interested in a buyout because it was the second time that the neighborhood flooded since he moved there with his daughter.

Of the 25 homes in the community, said Smith, 19 of them were flooded in September and nine the previous time.

"Based on where the house sits it's going to continue to flood," said Smith, 42, an information and automation specialist. "This is the second time in fours years. I don't want to have to go through this again."

Larry and Denise Mosley came because they said the $16,000 in assistance they received from FEMA wasn't enough to repair their home after the flood. The first floor was destroyed as well as their vehicles, said Larry, 52, a nursing care associate.

"The amount is not enough to redo your house," he said. He and his wife said they haven't decided whether to participate in the buyout.

For more information about the FEMA buyout meeting, visit www.austell.gov.