06-27-2016 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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