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CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION June 6, 2016 <br />APPROVED <br />179 6. FEMA Floodplain Update — City Engineer Hankee and Katy Thompson of WSB and <br />180 Associates reported. Ms. Hankee noted that staff had previously been directed by the <br />181 council to provide additional information to impacted residents. They are proposing a <br />182 newsletter update and a website that could be linked to the city's website. (The proposed <br />183 website and features included was reviewed.) <br />184 <br />185 Mayor Reinert noted that city resident Brian Fossey is present and he's been involved in <br />186 some research on the subject. Mr. Fossey suggested that the process for the update has <br />187 been ambiguous and the overlay used is not definitive and he has found that the resulting <br />188 maps are not very precise. It's got a plus or minus of two feet and then you bring in the <br />189 contures. It's an especially difficult process and in a low lying area such as Lino Lakes <br />190 and there is great impact. He received notice from his mortgage company that they will <br />191 need flood insurance even though they built their home with original knowledge of the <br />192 elevation and now that's not enough. He mentioned that there is a website noted by city <br />193 staff that provides additional insight. From that he learned that to qualify for a reduced <br />194 insurance cost, he needs a certain certificate. He's concerned that FEMA should be <br />195 notifying property owners and not mortgage companies. He is also concerned that <br />196 people who don't have a mortgage don't find out about the situation and may pass on a <br />197 property without proper knowledge. He also touched on the process of going through <br />198 FEMA for a map change. He has discovered that FEMA seems to be rolling this out <br />199 nationwide and he's actually spoken with people from other states. The most recent <br />200 development is that the City of Anoka has residents impacted and they are taking an <br />201 aggressive stand in fighting this (helping property owners to get an exclusion). There are <br />202 questions arising about whether or not FEMA should have rolled this out with the data <br />203 they have used. <br />204 <br />205 Ms. Thompson explained the large scale review that the FEMA takes and how <br />206 discrepancies can occur. <br />207 <br />208 Mr. Fossey noted that there are exceptions on record based on past information. Ms. <br />209 Thompson explained that the system can be unfair but currently it is based on certain <br />210 rules. <br />211 <br />212 Mayor Reinert suggested that he would like to see a different track. This is based on <br />213 erroneous data and FEMA will continue to practice this unless they are challenged. Ms. <br />214 Thompson noted that there are cities on the west coast who have been fighting it for ten <br />215 years. She added that FEMA doesn't actually create the data but are provided with it and <br />216 will continue to use that until it is corrected if need be. Mayor Reinert remarked that it <br />217 is a mess and it can't be allowed to proceed unchecked; Ms. Hankee added that Anoka <br />218 County has put this on their radar screen also and may be asking more questions. <br />219 <br />220 Mayor Reinert asked how the city can back away from its involvement and Mr. Grochala <br />221 suggested the city would have to remove its flood plain ordinance and would then no <br />222 longer quality for flood insurance. Mr. Grochala suggested that "the chain" is mostly <br />223 involved and that is something that could be restudied. Mayor Reinert suggested that <br />5 <br />