TO: Mayor and City Council
THROUGH: Steve Powers, City Manager
FROM: Peter Fernandez, PE, Public Works Director
SUBJECT:
title
Annual Evaluation of the City of Salem Floodplain Management Plan
Ward(s): All Wards
Councilor(s): All Councilors
Neighborhood(s): All Neighborhoods
end
ISSUE:
Annual evaluation of the City of Salem Floodplain Management Plan.
RECOMMENDATION:
recommendation
Information only.
body
SUMMARY AND BACKGROUND:
On January 26, 2015, Council adopted the City’s Floodplain Management Plan through Resolution 2015-4. The Floodplain Management Plan guides the City’s floodplain management programs. The Plan identifies flood hazards throughout the community, evaluates the problems caused by those hazards, reviews possible mitigation activities, and creates an action plan to mitigate those flood hazards.
The Floodplain Management Plan is integral to the City’s participation in the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Community Rating System. The Community Rating System reduces annual flood insurance premiums for property owners citywide based on actions and projects implemented by the City. By implementing the Plan’s actions, the City is eligible for additional Community Rating System credits that increases the City’s rating. The higher the City’s rating, the greater the flood insurance reduction for property owners.
In order to comply with FEMA’s requirements for the Community Rating System, the Floodplain Management Plan must be evaluated annually by a citizen committee. The annual review must include an overall evaluation of the Plan in addition to a detailed review of Appendix H (Flood Information and Outreach Plan) and Appendix I (Flood Insurance Plan). The Committee, comprised of both City staff and community stakeholders, performed its annual evaluation of the Plan on August 3, 2017. The table at the end of this staff report summarizes the status of the Plan’s action items and projects. In addition, a detailed annual evaluation report of the Flood Information and Outreach Plan is included in Attachment 1.
FACTS AND FINDINGS:
1. The Floodplain Management Plan Committee is comprised of City staff and community stakeholders who have been involved in the planning efforts for the Floodplain Management Plan and its amendments. City staff members on the committee included representatives from floodplain management, public works, planning, building and safety, and public information. Community stakeholders included: property owners, private business owners, a professional engineer, architect and land surveyor, a local lender, a local real estate broker, and a local insurance agent. The committee members evaluated the Floodplain Management Plan at their August 3, 2017, meeting and provided insight, feedback, and recommendations for future updates.
2. The Floodplain Management Plan Committee meets the FEMA requirement for a citizen review committee because at least half of its members came from a variety of community stakeholders, including lenders and insurance agents. This information staff report to Council meets the FEMA requirement for the annual report to “be submitted to the governing body, released to the media, and made available to the public.”
3. The status of the Floodplain Management Plan’s thirty action items, the Flood Information and Outreach Plan’s nineteen action items, and the Flood Insurance Plan’s five coverage improvement projects, were presented to the committee in three general categories: (a) Completed; (b) Ongoing or in process; and (c) Remaining. The status summary for each category is described in Attachment 2.
4. The Floodplain Management Plan Committee reviewed the status report described above and did not recommend any modifications to the Action Items and Coverage Improvement Projects.
Robert D. Chandler, PhD, PE
Assistant Public Works Director
Attachments:
1. Flood Information and Outreach Plan Action Items (PPI) Annual Evaluation Report
2. Floodplain Action Items