WINSLOW -- Six homeowners on Dallaire Street could soon have their properties bought out and the buildings burned to the ground.

Late Monday night, the Town Council voted unanimously to authorize Town Manager Michael Heavener to apply for a hazard-mitigation grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, seeking $678,825 to purchase and demolish the six properties. Residents would be reimbursed and relocated elsewhere.

Under the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, FEMA would cover 75 percent of the cost while the town's share would be the remaining 25 percent, or $169,706.

The fire department would burn the buildings down as part of a controlled-burn exercise for firefighters. About $39,000 of the town's share would be considered an "in-kind" contribution from the fire department, Heavener said, so the town's, and taxpayers', total bill would be $130,706.

Town officials are concerned for the safety of people living in the houses, which are on a slope overlooking the Sebasticook River. Last summer's breaching of the Fort Halifax Dam has accelerated soil movement in the slope, town officials said.

If the grant application is successful, "this problem goes away and nobody's life is in danger and homes do not slide down the bank," said Council Chairman Steve Russell.

Of the total grant, about $609,000 would pay the six homeowners for their houses; each property was appraised and given a fair market value, town officials said.

The remaining $69,000 includes the cost of burning the homes, removing debris and converting the slope area into a grassy space.

The competitive grant program has numerous requirements and an application must be filed by May 29.

Even if the grant were approved, it could take a year or more for the project to happen.

The idea of removing the homes has been challenging and emotional for both the affected Dallaire Street residents and members of the Town Council. Heavener said Monday that all six property owners had agreed to "opt in" to the grant application.

Last month, the Town Council met with residents and state and federal emergency officials to discuss the grant program. At the end of that meeting, only three of the six property owners had committed to the applying for the grant, while one -- Donald Hermey -- had angrily stormed out before the presentation finished.

Hermey said this week that he was upset by the "patronizing" grant presentation and how much money he may receive for his house, but he has no other choice.

"The property's shifting; I have no value to my home anymore," Hermey said.

District 3 Councilman Roland Michaud said at Monday's meeting that he initially looked at the Dallaire Street situation this way: "their liability, their problem." But, he said, the town is doing the right thing by applying for the grant on the homeowners' behalf.

"This is helping Winslow maintain its stability. Winslow is known for its gratitude and goodness," Michaud said. "We are the envy of communities our size. Why? Because we do things like this."

District 1 Councilwoman Catherine Nadeau said she strongly objected to the notion that the problem belongs only to the six property owners; it's the whole community's problem, she said.

"These are our people," Nadeau said.

But, Nadeau also questioned whether the residents were receiving a fair price for their homes. "I don't think it's enough," she said of the $609,000 reimbursement costs. "We're putting them out of their homes."

Scott Monroe -- 861-9253

smonroe@centralmaine.com