October 6, 2023 |
Photo – S20 Designs and Engineering Logo – Courtesy S20 Designs and Engineering
The FEMA flood map review continues in Saratoga. During Tuesday’s Saratoga town council meeting, Public Works Director Emery Penner said the representative from S2O Design and Engineering will visit the town. Penner said he still expects the final report to be finished by October 11th.
Following a five-year review process, the Federal Emergency Management Agency updated its flood plain maps for our area. The FEMA provided maps show whose property the federal agency believes is in danger of flooding if the North Platte River overflows its banks. Homes in the flood plain are required to purchase flood insurance or face backlash from mortgage companies and the federal government.
When FEMA presented the new flood plain maps to the Saratoga town council last year, the council spotted some potential errors. Then council member Jon Nelson said FEMA used outdated data and miscalculated how high the North Platte River could rise during a flood. Nelson said despite being unaffected by the 2011 flood, some homes shown on the map are considered at risk from less water than what occurred that year.
Earlier this year, Nelson brought his findings to FEMA’s attention. In July, FEMA sent letters to Saratoga and county officials saying a 90-day appeal process was underway. The federal agency demanded “scientific or technical data” that refuted the new flood plain map. The appeal was focused on areas of Saratoga and the surrounding unincorporated county. FEMA took five years to devise the new map, but the federal agency gave Carbon County only three months to produce findings that the map is inaccurate.
Since most of the disputed land is in Saratoga, the town council took up the job of investigating FEMA’s flood map. Last month, Mayor Chuck Davis authorized the expenditure of $9,500 to determine if the town should fight some findings in the flood plain map. Public Works Director Penner used the money to hire S2O Design and Engineering of Lyons, Colorado, to determine if the town has a legitimate case. If the engineering firm finds that the maps are wrong, the town can file a formal appeal.
Speaking to Bigfoot99 yesterday, Penner said S2O representatives were in town on Wednesday conducting measurements of the disputed areas. Penner said the data collected this week will be used determine if the FEMA maps can be appealed.
