FEMA Preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Map and StudyMasterpiece on the Mississippi
Dubuque
bierd
All-America City
1
2007
TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
SUBJECT: Preliminary Copies of Flood Insurance Rate Map and Flood Insurance
Study for Dubuque County, Iowa
DATE: May 24, 2012
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has provided five new
preliminary panels of the Flood Insurance Rate Maps and Flood Insurance Study for
review by the City of Dubuque.
The revised flood maps change the designation of the City's flood wall from a
provisionally- accredited levee to an accredited levee. In addition, the maps have been
revised to reflect new 100 -year flood elevations for the City's four detention ponds
located along the flood wall. The basins detain storm water from upland areas and
pump it over the floodwall at such times when the normal gravity flow storm sewers
have to be closed due to flooding on the Mississippi River.
Within 30 days of receiving the new panels, the City of Dubuque can transmit
nontechnical corrections that would include corporate limits, road names and stream
names on the FIRM or in the FIS report. Staff's review of the preliminary map panels
has found that the State boundary between Illinois and Wisconsin is not shown, and
within the FIS Report, Maus Lake is misspelled. Planning and Engineering staff are still
reviewing the preliminary panels and FIS Report at the writing of this memo, and will
transmit any non - technical errors that are found by the June 4, 2012 deadline.
Planning Services Manager Laura Carstens recommends City Council approval for the
City of Dubuque to proceed through the review and appeal procedures as outlined in
the letter received from FEMA dated May 4, 2012.
I concur with the recommendation and respectfully request Mayor and City Council
approval.
Michael C. Van Milligen
MCVM:jh
Attachment
cc: Barry Lindahl, City Attorney
Cindy Steinhauser, Assistant City Manager
Laura Carstens, Planning Services Manager
2
Masterpiece on the Mississippi
TO: Michael Van Mil!igen, City Manager
-r�
FROM: Laura Carstens, Planning Services Manager
SUBJECT: Preliminary Copies of Flood Insurance Rate Map and Flood
Insurance Study for Dubuque County, Iowa
DATE: May 23, 2012
Dubuque
AII•AmericaCily
2007
INTRODUCTION
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has provided five new
preliminary panels of the Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) and Flood Insurance
Study (FIS) for review by the City of Dubuque. The FIRMs and FIS were revised to
change the status of Dubuque's Local Flood Protection Project Levee from
provisionally- accredited to accredited, and to revise the Special Flood Hazard Area
(SFHA) to map interior drainage ponding from the accredited levee.
In layman's terms, FEMA is providing revised flood maps to the City of Dubuque that
change the designation of the City's flood wall from a provisionally- accredited levee to
an accredited levee. In addition, the maps have been revised to reflect new 100 -year
flood elevations for the City's four detention ponds located along the flood wall. The
basins detain storm water from upland areas and pump it over the floodwall at such
times when the normal gravity flow storm sewers have to be closed due to flooding on
the Mississippi River.
DISCUSSION
FEMA has revised five panels of the City's FIRMs to reflect the fact that the City's levee
has been accredited and to reflect the interior drainage ponding that is associated with
the operation of the levee. FEMA has also provided a Summary of Map Actions that
documents previous Letters of Map Changes. This would include the Letters of Map
Amendment — Out As Shown (LOMA -OAS) that Planning staff has been assisting
citizens with since adoption of the new flood maps on October 18, 2011.
The process for reviewing these maps is similar to that which was followed as part of
the review of the new flood maps that were submitted to the City in July 2009 and
approved and adopted on October 18, 2011.
Preliminary FIRMS and FIS for Dubuque County
Page 2
Within 30 days of receiving the new panels, the City of Dubuque can transmit non-
technical corrections that would include corporate limits, road names and stream names
on the FIRM or in the FIS report. Staffs review of the preliminary map panels has found
that the State boundary between Illinois and Wisconsin is not shown, and within the FIS
Report, Maus Lake is misspelled. Planning and Engineering staff are still reviewing the
preliminary panels and FIS Report at the writing of this memo, and will transmit any
non - technical errors that are found by the June 4, 2012 deadline.
After the 30 -day review and appeal processes have been completed, final preparation
of the FIRM and FIS report will take place. FEMA will be setting up a community
coordination meeting and may initiate a statutory 90 -day appeal period if FEMA has
added or modified a base flood elevation, base flood depth, or flood zone designations
within a community as shown on the preliminary FIRM. FEMA has estimated that the
new maps would become effective 7 -10 months after completion of the 90 -day appeal
procedure. The City of Dubuque will need to adopt a revised flood plain ordinance to
reflect the new FIRMs and FIS report.
RECOMMENDATION
I recommend that the City of Dubuque proceed through the review and appeal
procedures as outlined in the letter received from FEMA dated May 4, 2012 and signed
by Richard Leonard, Chief Risk Analysis Branch.
Thank you.
Prepared by Kyle L. Kritz, Associate Planner
Enclosures
cc: Gus Psihoyos, City Engineer
Don Vogt, Public Works Director
John Klostermann, Streets & Sewers Supervisor
Steve Brown, Project Manager
Bob Schiesl, Assistant City Engineer
Deron Muehring, Civil Engineer
Todd Shoemaker, Environmental Engineer
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Region VII
9221 Ward Parkway, Suite 300
Kansas City, Missouri 64114-3372
The Honorable Roy D. Buol
Mayor, City of Dubuque
50 West 13th Street
Dubuque, Iowa 52001
Dear Mayor Buol:
May 4, 2012
PRELIM TRANS -CEO
Community Name:
Community No.:
City of Dubuque,
Dubuque County,
Iowa
195180
We are pleased to present your community with Preliminary copies of the Flood Insurance Rate Map
(FIRM) and Flood Insurance Study (FIS) report for Dubuque County, Iowa and Incorporated Areas for
your review and comment. The FIRMS and the FIS were revised to change the status of the Dubuque
Local Flood Protection Project Levee from provisionally accredited to accredited and to revise the Special
Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) to map interior drainage ponding from the accredited levee. We have revised
only those FIRM panels with updated flood hazard information.
We are sending the Preliminary copies at this time to give your community an opportunity to review
them. Additionally, in an effort to assist you in circulating the information, FEMA has posted digital
copies of the revised FIRM and FIS report materials to the following Website: http://www.starr -
team.com/starr/Regional Workspaces /RegionVll/DubuqueCountylowa /Preliminary %20MapsfForms /AIIIt
ems.aspx. We will contact you shortly to schedule a formal community coordination meeting (a
"Consultation Coordination Officer [CCO]" Meeting) to discuss the revised flood hazard information,
ordinance adoption, and other frequently asked questions and concerns. In the meantime, we encourage
you to circulate the enclosed copies as widely as possible among elected officials, staff, and other
individuals or organizations in the community that would have an interest in the FIRM and FIS report so
that they will have the opportunity to review them thoroughly before the formal community coordination
meeting. The review period provides community officials and citizens in the affected communities with
an opportunity to identify changes or corrections to non - technical information, such as corporate limits,
road names, and stream names on the FIRM or in the FIS report. Comments may be sent to Emily
Whitehead, STARR, 11687 Lebanon Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45241 -2012. Please submit comments
(digital format such as shape files preferred) no later than 30 days from the date of this letter. All
comments and changes received during this review period will be incorporated, as appropriate, before the
FIRM and FIS report become effective.
To assist your community in maintaining the FIRM, we have enclosed a Summary of Map Actions
(SOMA) to document previous Letters of Map Change (LOMCs) (i.e., Letters of Map Amendment
[LOMAs], Letters of Map Revision [ LOMRs]) that will be superseded when the FIRM becomes effective.
Information on LOMCs is presented in the following four categories: (1) LOMCs for which results have
been included on the FIRM; (2) LOMCs for which results could not be shown on the FIRM because of
www.fema.gov
2
scale limitations or because the LOMC issued had determined that the lots or structures involved were
outside the SFHA as shown on the FIRM; (3) LOMCs for which results have not been included on the
FIRM because the flood hazard information on which the original determinations were based is being
superseded by new flood hazard information; and (4) LOMCs issued for multiple lots or structures where
the determination for one or more of the lots or structures cannot be revalidated through an administrative
process like the LOMCs in Category 2 above.
LOMCs in Category 2 will be revalidated through a single letter that reaffirms the validity of a previously
issued LOMC; the letter will be sent to your community shortly before the effective date of the FIRM and
will become effective one day after the FIRM becomes effective.
For the LOMCs listed in Category 4, we will review the data previously submitted for the LOMA or
LOMR request and issue a new determination for the affected properties after the FIRM becomes
effective upon request.
Your community should be aware that recently approved LOMCs, specifically LOMRs, may have been
issued for your community. The LOMR process is dynamic and FEMA is reviewing LOMR applications
regularly. To complete production of the Preliminary FIRMs which includes incorporating the effects of
"mappable" LOMRs issued since the last snap effective date, a specific cutoff was established. FEMA
will address any approved LOMRs issued after the cutoff date when the final SOMA is distributed. If
your community has concerns regarding a specific case, please submit the LOMR case number, as well as
any appropriate documentation, to our FEMA Regional Office at 9221 Ward Parkway, Suite 300, Kansas
City, Missouri 64114 -3372 before the end of the comment or appeal periods discussed below to assist us
in keeping the map up to date.
After the CCO Meeting, we will initiate a statutory 90 -day appeal period for certain communities within
Dubuque County. A statutory 90 -day appeal period is required when FEMA adds or modifies Base (1-
percent- annual- chance) Flood Elevations (BFEs), base flood depths, SFHAs, flood zone designations, or
regulatory floodways within a community, as shown on the Preliminary FIRM. If your community is
identified as requiring an appeal period, we will send you a letter approximately 2 weeks before the start
of the 90 -day appeal period to detail the appeal process. The letter will forward information regarding
notifications to be published in the FEDERAL REGISTER and local newspaper(s) and will provide the first
and second publication dates. The appeal period will start on the second publication date Additional
information concerning the 90 -day appeal period will be provided during the CCO Meeting.
After the 30 -day review and appeal periods have ended and we have addressed all comments /appeals, we
will initiate final preparation of the FIRM and FIS report. The new FIRM and FIS report for your
community will become effective approximately 7 to 10 months later. Before the effective date, you will
be notified in writing of the official FIRM and FIS report effective date and asked to adopt floodplain
ordinances or modify existing ordinances as necessary that correspond with the new FIRM or FIS report.
If you or other community officials have any questions regarding floodplain ordinances, you may raise
them with our FEMA Regional Office or you may discuss those issues with your State NEW Coordinator.
Several months before the effective date, we will mail one set of printed copies of the finalized FIRM and
FIS report and digital copies of the map and report products.
Your community's comments on the Preliminary FIRM panels and FIS report are an important part of
our review process, and we will consider them carefully before we publish the FIRM and FIS report in
www fema.gov
3
their final form. If you have any questions regarding the Preliminary copies of the FIRM and FIS report,
please contact Emily Whitehead, STARR, at (513) 842 -8200. If you have general questions about
mapping issues, please call our FEMA Map Information eXchange (FMIX), toll free, at (877) 336 -2627
(877 -FEMA MAP) or e -mail our FMIX staff at ItMAMapSpecialist @riskmapcds.com.
Sincerely,
Richard Leonard, Chief
Risk Analysis Branch
Enclosures:
Preliminary FIRMS
Preliminary FIS report
Preliminary SOMA
cc: Bill Cappuccio, State NFIP Coordinator
Laura Carstens, Planning Services Manager, City of Dubuque
■ww.Ccma gov
SOMA -1
PRELIMINARY SUMMARY OF MAP ACTIONS
Community: DUBUQUE, CITY OF Community No: 195180
To assist your community in maintaining the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM), we have
summarized below the previously issued Letter of Map Change (LOMC) actions (i.e., Letters of
Map Revision (LOMRs) and Letters of Map Amendment (LOMAs)) that will be affected by the
preparation of the enclosed revised FIRM panel(s).
1. LOMCs Incorporated
The modifications effected by the LOMCs listed below have been reflected on the Preliminary
copies of the revised FIRM panels. In addition, these LOMCs will remain in effect until the
revised FIRM becomes effective.
LOMC
Case No.
Date
Issued
Project Identifier
Old
Panel
New
Panel
LOMA
11- 07 -3089A
10/20/2011
NO CASES RECORDED
1906100243E
19061 CO243F
2. LOMCs Not Incorporated
The modifications effected by the LOMCs listed below have not been reflected on the
Preliminary copies of the revised FIRM panels because of scale limitations or because the
LOMC issued had determined that the lot(s) or structure(s) involved were outside the Special
Flood Hazard Area, as shown on the FIRM. These LOMCs will be revalidated free of charge 1
day after the revised FIRM becomes effective through a single revalidation letter that reaffirms
the validity of the previous LOMCs.
LOMC
Case No
Date
Issued
Project Identifier
Old
Panel
New
Panel
LOMA
11- 07 -3089A
10/20/2011
L. H LANGS WORTHY'S ADDITION, LOTS
2-3-168 s 2 -4- 168 - 808 KAUFMANN AVENUE
1906100243E
19061 CO243F
LOMA
11- 07 -3131A
10/25/2011
ARSH'S ADDITION, LOT 1 -38 - -- 2155
ORTH MAIN STREET
1906100243E
1906100243E
LOMA
11- 07 -3183A
10/25/2011
_ANGWORTHYS ADDITION, LOT 1 -1 -2 -166 L
4 -- 715 KAUFMANN AVENUE
19061 CO243E
19061 CO243F
LOMA
11- 07 -3202A
10/25/2011
H. LANGWORTHYS ADDITION, LOT
-1-153A -- 530 -532 KAUFMAN AVENUE
19061CO243E
19061CO243F
LOMA
11- 07 -3371A
10/27/2011
OT 47 - -- 2556 AND 25561/2 WASHINGTON
TREET
1906100243E
1906100243E
LOMA
11- 07 -3385A
11/01/2011
H LANGWORTHV'S ADDITION, LOT 6-
95 KAUFMANN AVENUE
1906100243E
19061CO243F
LOMA
11- 07 -3420A
11/01/2011
_H LANGS ADDITION, LOT 154 -600
KAUFMANN AVENUE
1906100243E
19061CO243F
LOMA
11- 07 -3309A
11/08/2011
APLE LEAF ADDITIONS 2 8, 3, LOTS 1, 40 8,
1- 659L0UELLA LANE
19061CO243E
19061CO243F
5/3/2012
Page 1 of 3
PRELIMINARY SUMMARY OF MAP ACTIONS
Community: DUBUQUE, CITY OF
4. LOMCs To Be Redetermined
SOMA -1
Community No: 195180
The LOMCs in Category 2 above will be revalidated through a single revalidation letter that
reaffirms the validity of the determination in the previously issued LOMC. For LOMCs issued for
multiple lots or structures where the determination for one or more of the lots or structures has
changed, the LOMC cannot be revalidated through this administrative process. Therefore, we
will review the data previously submitted for the LOMC requests listed below and issue a new
determination for the affec ed properties after the effective date of the revised FIRM.
LOMC
Case No.
Date
Issued
Project Identifier
Old
panel
New
Panel
NO CASES RECORDED
5/3/2012 Page 3 of 3