Gov't
Public Meeting Monday with FEMA
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By Dave Freneaux
Council Member Aaron Moak has called a public meeting for Monday, September 24th at 1PM at City Hall. The purpose of the meeting is to receive information relative to the proposed Floodplain study of the Beaver Bayou watershed from Civil Engineer and Region 6 CADRE Manager Shona Gibson of FEMA. The meeting is open to all interested persons.
At stake is a proposed floodplain study of an area of Central which could save up to 1,600 families millions of dollars in flood insurance premiums over the coming years. The Ordinance to fund the study was sponsored by Council Member Aaron Moak and supported by fellow Council Member Louis DeJohn. Kathi Cowen, a Central citizen and former Floodplain Manager for the City of Central, brought the idea to all Council Members in June. It is expected that the study will move many of these homes out of the highest flood insurance classification of "A" into less costly classifications of "AE" or "X". The savings may range from $400 to $1,200 annually for some or all of these homes.
Council Members Messina, Washington and LoBue, rather than approving the needed $35,000 for the study, deferred approval of the Ordinance at last week's Council meeting to give themselves more time to study the issue. All of the Council Members were made aware of the requested study three months before last week's 3-2 vote to defer the matter. In order for the over 1,600 families in the affected area to receive possible relief from high flood insurance policies, at least one of the Council Members, Messina, Washington or LoBue would have to vote to fund the study. Council Members Moak and DeJohn are already on record as favoring the funding of the study. The City of Central currently has in excess of $6 million in un-spent tax dollars in the bank which has been accumulating over the last 6 years.
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