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HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution 2007-145 FEMA flood risk assessment change in policy2007-145* MARANA RESOLUTION NO. 4W481r RELATING TO LAND DEVELOPMENT; AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO SEND A LETTER ON BEHALF OF THE COUNCIL AND THE CITIZENS OF MARANA RESPONDING TO THE FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY'S CHANGE IN POLICY RELATING TO FLOOD RISK ASSESSMENT; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. WHEREAS the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has recently changed their policy regarding the assessment of flood risk associated with protection by levees; and WHEREAS this change effects not only those levees that failed or were overtopped along the gulf coast due to the oceanic storm surge from hurricane Katrina but also is similarly applied to the features not previously identified as levees in the and southwest, and the Town of Marana; and WHEREAS the result of this broad approach will be to bring an unfathomable number of Arizona citizens into a floodplain zone long after their homes have already been constructed result- ing in the need to obtain flood insurance for their now noncompliant homes at much higher premi- ums than they would ordinarily have to pay; and WHEREAS the appropriate means to properly exert pressure on the federal government to require FEMA to rethink their decision is through Arizona's governmental representatives; and WHEREAS the Town Council finds that adoption of this resolution is in the best interests of the Town and its citizens. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF MARANA, that the Mayor is hereby authorized to sign a letter in substantially the form attached to and incorporated by this reference in this resolution as Exhibit A for and on behalf of the Town of Marana and send this letter to the governmental representatives who are determined to be best able to voice the Town's position. IT IS FURTHER RESOLVED THAT since it is necessary for the preservation of the peace, health and safety of the Town of Marana that this resolution become immediately effective, an emer- gency is hereby, declared to exist, and this resolution shall be effective immediately upon its passage and adoption. {00005860.DOC /) 7/9/2007 2:14 PM PASSED and ADOPTED by the Mayor and Council of the Town of Marana, Arizona, this 21 " day of August, 2007. ATTEST: ocelyn Bronson, Town Clerk ? -Z?? *2 Clerk APPROVED AS TO FORM: Y, Town?)4ey Maybr Ed Honea OF N - INN 0-0 tORPOWF 000 %.SEAL!, ,fill *This is a scrivenor's error. The document was approved by Council as No. 2007-139 and has been changed to conform to the correct numbering sequence. (00005860.DOC /) 7/9/2007 2:14 PM Date xxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx Re: Proposed changes to FEMA policies regarding levees Dear xxxxxxxxx, Recently, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has brought to our attention a nationwide policy change regarding the assessment of flood risk associated with protection by levees. In the wake of the widespread devastation that Hurricane Katrina wrought over the gulf coast, FEMA has mandated that all areas across the country that are protected by levees have those levees certified to their standards in order to maintain their protection status. FEMA has also taken this mandate further in that any mamnade feature which in their opinion functions like a levee must also be certified. FEMA has stated that the time allotted to certify these features with be two years from letter of notification date of August 18, 2007. Any of these pseudo levees that cannot be certified will be removed from floodplain mapping calculations and all downstream properties will be placed in the floodplain. The Town of Marana strongly objects to this methodology and what it will do to not only our community, but all and southwest states. Hurricane Katrina was a devastating disaster; however, the overreaching approach FEMA has taken has little to do with the types of flooding that is experienced outside the coastal regions in general and the and southwest in particular. The levees that failed or were overtopped along the gulf coast experienced a storm surge due to the hurricane. None of the niverine levees in the and southwest need worry about storm surge. FEMA in fact already has specific coastal floodplain designations to account for oceanic flooding due to hurricanes. If those procedures are inadequate, then they should be revised. FEMA is proposing to overwrite previously unmapped areas and areas that they themselves removed from the floodplain into the floodplain. The result of this broad approach will be to bring an unfathomable number of Arizonans (Americans) into a floodplain zone long after their home was constructed. As a result, they will have noncompliant structures that will not only have to obtain flood insurance, but will have to buy noncompliant flood insurance at higher premiums. FEMA requires any applicant to provide a detailed hydrologic study in order to remove an area from an existing floodplain. This procedure regarding levee certification will not comply with the same requirements. FEMA has no intention of doing in depth studies to assess what the real risk is to an area. They simply intend to remove impoundment structures that they consider levees and see where the water goes. It will be up to local jurisdictions to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars and years to get FEMA to evaluate floodplain changes after their broad stroke simply pulls them in. The Town of Marana implores xxxxxxxx to exert pressure on the federal government to require FEMA to address the concerns regarding levees appropriately and to not burden the and southwest states with requirements that have little bearing on the real problem of inadequate levee protection for coastal areas. Sincerely, The Honorable Ed Honea Mayor of Marana, Arizona cc: xxxxxxxx