CENTER TWP — Larry Vicario has recently reached a breakthrough with his “doomed” home.

Vicario, who has lived on Oneida Valley Road with his wife, Charlene, for 13 years, received the release of the oil and gas lease for his property from Rex Energy.

“We just did the impossible,” he said. “We did the impossible and it only cost a few thousand (dollars), not my first born.”

Vicario, who sold the oil and gas rights to Rex for $9,075, can now apply for a federal grant program to have his house bought.

The Vicarios have been struggling with increased flood insurance rates after their home was deemed a severe repetitive loss property by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Mary Ann Fox, Rex Energy vice president, said in a letter to the Vicarios the company “understands that no oil and gas lease must be active on the property” for the home to qualify for FEMA’s repetitive loss program.

Their property is next to the Connoquenessing Creek and has suffered through five floods since they moved in.

About 11,900 properties in the U.S. have the severe repetitive loss designation from FEMA.

The Vicarios’ flood insurance rates have increased from about $250 in 2002 to more than $5,000 last year. That amount is expected to increase by “25 percent each year until it reaches the full-risk rate,” according to a letter from FEMA.

The house was appraised at $200,000 in July. However, the “marketability and value would be diminished” because of its location in a flood hazard area, according to the appraisal.

Vicario has tried selling the property, but to no avail.

With the release from Rex Energy, Vicario said he will reapply for FEMA’s repetitive loss program.

“They said that if I get the lease back, I should be approved because that is all that was holding us back. We will see,” he said.

Vicario applied for the program in the past, but was denied because he had the oil and gas lease. He has tried getting released from the lease since August.

Properties with gas, oil and mineral rights that allow extraction by hydraulic fracking or horizontal directional drilling are ineligible for the grant program under FEMA’s mineral policy. This is because of new emerging technologies being used for drilling and extraction.

“FEMA must evaluate whether hydraulic fracturing/HDD is an allowable subsurface use of open space,” the policy states. “Based on available scientific information, FEMA is currently unable to determine the compatibility of hydraulic fracturing or horizontal directional drilling with open space requirements.”

Vicario has been working with the township to apply for the program. If successful, the township would buy his property and then be reimbursed by FEMA.

The couple will relocate to another house if all goes well with the repetitive loss program. Larry Vicario said the release is “the biggest accomplishment” so far from this dilemma.

“If it wasn’t for them (Rex Energy) selling me the lease back, I don’t know where I would go,” he said. “I know I would lose everything.”