Flood maps draw flood of complaints

PLYMOUTH — New floodplain maps for the city brought forth a torrent of complaints at a public meeting Monday at City Hall.

The Congressionally-mandated Federal Emergency Management Agency maps added a number of properties throughout the city to the floodplain that were not in the previous map, drawn in 1983.

“A lot of us feel this amounts to taxation without representation. That’s kind of how it feels,” stated property owner Jill Wojkiewicz, one of more than 40 people at the meeting. She explained that she now is required to pay $6,600 a year for flood insurance for her building.

“I wouldn’t mind if I was truly in a floodplain and a study had been done,” she added.

The meeting, organized by the Plymouth Chamber of Commerce, opened with a presentation by city Public Works Director William Immich on the new maps and how they came to be drawn. Among those present were Matthew Mrochinski of Sheboygan County Planning Department; state Sen. Joe Leibham, RSheboygan; state Rep. Steve Kestell, R-Elkhart Lake; and Tyler Vorpagel of U.S. Rep. Tom Petri’s office.

Mrochinski explained that, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the nearly $90 billion in property damage it caused, Congress ordered FEMA to redraw its floodplain maps nationwide to make them more exact and precise.

However, he added, the money allocated for the project was not enough for FEMA to do actual on-site studies for the entire country. Instead, in the case of Plymouth, they utilized existing maps and refined them using new computer and satellite-image technology.

Unfortunately, Immich noted, FEMA did not take into account some changes in the waterways in the area, in particular the removal of the dam in Meyer’s Scenic Park that, he said, eliminated a two-foot water drop in the Mullet River.

“The bottom line is we got short-changed by the federal government,” Gary Kramer, speaking for residents of that area of the city, said.

“They (FEMA) planned to study this correctly, but they got short-changed by the government and did an abbreviated study,” he continued, pointing out that removing the dam lowered the water level of the river in the neighborhood and thus should have lowered the elevation for the floodplain as well.

“Everybody questions the new study, but we really have a concern because the dam was taken out,” and the new maps don’t show that, Kramer concluded.

Immich and Mrochinski told property owners they can seek to have the FEMA maps redrawn by applying for a letter of map amendment using a form MT-EZ or MT-1 that is available on FEMA’s Web site (fema.gov).

That will require supporting documentation, Immich said, including a survey of the property. The supporting documentation has to meet FEMA mapping standards, he added.

Immich suggested that neighboring residents and property owners interested in filing with FEMA join together to get surveying and other supporting work done in order to save costs.

“One of the questions I’m hearing is how in the heck can I be in the floodplain when I wasn’t before,” Immich related.

He explained that the previous map, drawn in 1983, was based on 10-foot contours, while the new maps are refined down to two-foot increments. That has created a much more detailed map that now requires five panels for the city and surrounding area, where the 1983 map was on one sheet or panel.

“I’ve heard this since I’ve been in Plymouth, that people have never seen the (Mullet) river rise above the walls, and I can’t say it ever has, but we have to go on the information we have from FEMA,” Immich added.

He related anecdotes about residents in Sheboygan and Fond du Lac who never believed their properties could be flooded until major flood events in 1998 in Sheboygan and last year in Fond du Lac.

Mrochinski said floodplain determinations are based on water flow for an entire watershed and engineering determinations of water flow and levels for the heaviest projected rainfall event, which is estimated to have a one in 100 chance of occurring.

Local insurance agent Dave Hanson said he had been in contact with FEMA officials who indicated the agency is considering increasing the amount of deductible that would be allowed on flood insurance, which would in turn reduce the amount of the premium for such insurance.

“Mortgage companies are looking to cover their butt because of FEMA regulations,” he added, referring to mortgage lenders contacting property owners to obtain flood insurance where it was not required before.

“Lenders don’t like contacting you about this,” Tom Reil, president of the Waldo State Bank, added. “We’re not real excited about this either.”

He and Hanson both cautioned property owners to get insurance on their own if they are required to. Reil explained that mortgage companies must put insurance in place for the property owner, almost always at a higher cost.

“We feel FEMA ought to suspend the requirement for flood insurance until they’ve updated their records,” Carol Rittenhouse stated.

Vorpagel reported that he has been in contact with FEMA officials in Chicago, the regional office for Wisconsin, and said they are receptive to meeting with local residents and property owners to pursue the issue further, “and discuss a little more of the history of the program and why it is necessary.”

Vorpagel, a Plymouth native, said he would continue to follow up on the issue on behalf of Petri. He also explained that similar floodplain maps have been drawn for other counties in area as well and that those are in various stages of adoption and implementation.