1. CIM
CITY COMMISSION
INFORMATION MEMORANDUM
November 21, 2016
ADMINISTRATIVE BRIEF FROM DEAN ANDREW
DEVELOPMENT SERVICES
PLANNING DIVISION
The City’s Flood Hazard Boundary (FHBM) Maps and Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM) which are used
by staff to determine which properties are subject to local floodplain regulations and used by lenders to
determine which loans require flood insurance were published in 1986 and have not been updated since
that time. Because the maps are based on the city’s 1986 boundaries, numerous subdivisions that have
been added to the city are not shown on the floodplain maps.
In 2007, FEMA embarked on a Flood Map Modernization program, a five-year effort to update the nation’s
flood hazard maps. The program’s goal was to transform the way flood maps are created and accessed by
providing flood maps and data for communities nationwide that are more accurate, easier-to-use, and
readily available. Because Salina’s maps are so outdated and because nearly 2,000 individual map
amendments have been issued for Salina, remapping the city and surrounding fringe areas was one of
FEMA’s top priorities in Kansas. Through a cooperative agreement with the Kansas Department of
Agriculture, FEMA initiated a project to update the FIRM for Saline County Kansas. The goal was that when
the study was complete, maps would be available in a countywide format that would provide seamless flood
hazard coverage for Salina and Saline County, Kansas. In addition to paper map panels the flood hazard
data would also be available in a digital format for use in a Geographic Information System.
The remapping effort proceeded much slower than originally anticipated. This is primarily because of
changes in the rules for certifying and recertifying levees made by FEMA following Hurricane Katrina.
FEMA delayed releasing any new flood plain maps for official use for any jurisdictions that had not had their
levees recertified under FEMA’s new certification process. The City of Salina received official notice from
FEMA on November 2, 2015 that its levee system has been recertified.
In December 2009, FEMA released new preliminary flood maps. A community meeting was held at the
Bicentennial Center in February 2010 to display the new maps, explain the remapping process and answer
questions from potentially affected property owners. Of particular concern was the fact that FEMA and their
mapping consultant only had a record of 600 of the nearly 2,000 map revisions and amendments that had
been made by FEMA to Salina’s original 1986 flood maps. Therefore, neither City staff nor FEMA was able
to inform property owners of the status of the property on the proposed new maps.
City staff and many citizens expressed concerns about the accuracy of the new maps. The City of Salina
decided to file a formal protest of the proposed maps and also submitted numerous appeals on behalf of
individual property owners.
FEMA eventually concurred that some of the mapping of levee protected areas was based on flawed
methodology and withdrew the proposed maps. FEMA and the Kansas Department of Agriculture agreed to
start over with a new consultant and a new mapping methodology.
In 2011, Saline County was selected for a RISKMAP project to update the studies of levee protected areas
in Saline and Saline County. AMEC, Foster Wheeler, the same firm that assisted the City with recertification
of its levee system, was selected as the mapping consultant by the Kansas Department of Agriculture,
Division of Water Resources to produce new DFIRMS for Saline and Saline County. The Kansas
Department of Agriculture worked with FEMA to develop a new scope of work for the floodplain remapping
project which included incorporating data from the Salina levee certification project and developing new “A”
zone boundaries using 2010 LIDAR data. The use of LIDAR has provided better topographic data than what
was used in the previous flood maps that were produced. Base Flood Elevations (BFEs) inside the city
limits are based on interior drainage studies relating to levee certification.
AMEC has completed its work and has produced a set of preliminary maps for Saline and Saline County
and Salina is now through the map preparation and production phase and is now entering the map adoption
phase. The preliminary maps are intended to show the flood risk throughout the community with high risk
areas (100 year floodplain) identified as Zone A on the maps, medium risk areas as shaded Zone X on the
maps and low flood risk areas as un-shaded Zone X on the maps. In areas mapped as Zone A there are
mandatory flood insurance requirements for federally backed mortgages and any new construction and
substantial improvements to existing buildings/structures must be elevated above the Base (100 year) Flood
Elevation.
Project Timeline
Map Production February 2011-September 2016
Flood Study Review Meeting November 4, 2014
Levee Certification completed November 2, 2015
Work Map Delivery / November 12, 2015
SOMA Review Meeting
FEMA has agreed to provide a full summary of Map Amendments (SOMA)
that account for the status of all of the Letters of Map Chance (LOMC)
issued by FEMA since 1986
Public Map Review Period February 2016-May 2016
Public Open House May 19, 2016
(at Bicentennial Center)
Public Comment Period June 2016-August 2016
Final map corrections made
September 30, 2016
Preliminary Maps Released
A link to the Preliminary Maps is available on the home page of the
city’s website
http://salina-ks.gov/featured/?FeedID=1512
Community Coordination October 27, 2016
Meeting
Appeal period – 90 days February-May 2016 (estimated due to FR)
Dependent upon publication in Federal Register. In order to ensure due
process FEMA has set up a formal process for local governments and
citizens to submit comments and appeals to the proposed maps. The
comments/appeal period in Saline County begins after the Proposed Flood
Hazard Determinations Notice is published in the Federal Register. The 90
day period will begin upon second publication of the notice in the Salina
Journal. Appeals must be based on technical data.
Letter of Final Determination July 2017 (estimated)
(LFD)
Upon resolution of appeals and comments, a Letter of Final Determination
(LFD) will be issued indicating final BFEs and the date the new map will go
into effect.
Prior to the new map going into effect, Salina’s floodplain regulations will
need to be updated and reviewed and approved by the Division of Water
Resources and FEMA. The City of Salina currently has an exemption from
the State of Kansas’s one (1) ft. above BFE requirement for new
construction. This exemption will terminate with the adoption of the new
maps and the one (1) ft. elevation requirement will apply to new
development in mapped floodplain areas in Salina. Currently new
construction must be elevated to or above the BFE.
New maps go into effect January 2018 (6 months from LFD)
More information about floodplain regulations and flood insurance requirements is available in the
Development Services offices, Room 201 of the City-County Building, or online at http://www.salina-
ks.gov/content/18394/18522/18536/22779/20396/default.aspx
MONDAY’S MEETING
Enclosed are other items on the agenda. If any Commissioner has questions or cannot attend the meeting,
please contact me.
Jason A. Gage, City Manager