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Perry City staff seek $33,000 hazard-mitigation study to clarify Frank Satderfield flood maps
Summary
City staff will seek a state hazard-mitigation grant to fund a $33,000 restudy of flood conditions along Frank Satderfield after finding apparent discrepancies in FEMA maps; council agreed to add the grant application as a supplemental item for a formal vote.
Perry City staff told the council on March 16 that they will apply for a hazard-mitigation grant to pay for a restudy of flood conditions along Frank Satderfield and nearby Tucker Road, saying current FEMA mapping and the state’s baseline engineering do not reflect on-the-ground changes.
“There's something greatly off with those maps,” said Mr. Gore of the community development department, who outlined the proposed work and the mapping mismatch with an older 1977 study. He described a developer-dug drainage swale and a piped storm system that no longer align with the stream channel depicted on FEMA maps and said the study would test options including relocating the culvert under Frank Satderfield Road and reworking local topography.
Why it matters: staff warned that if the state’s remapping is adopted using inaccurate data, existing homes along Frank Satderfield could be newly placed inside the 100-year (base) flood elevation and, for homeowners with federally backed mortgages, required to carry flood insurance. Mr. Gore said a local restudy could also support a letter of map revision to FEMA to correct the map for this segment sooner than the statewide process.
Staff provided an estimate from Deubberry Engineering of $33,000 for the study. Mr. Gore said the project carries a 25% local match and that the city’s share was currently estimated at about $10,000; staff added the state may provide up to a 15% match, which would reduce the city’s net share. He said the consultant estimates about 90 days to complete the study and that any physical mitigation work (for example, replacing or re-siting a culvert) would require separate funding and permitting.
Councilors asked technical questions about the map orientation and what “undersized and failing infrastructure” meant. Mr. Gore identified two 36-inch pipes under Frank Satderfield and eroded headwalls at the culvert, saying those conditions can cause water to back up and flood the road and adjacent properties.
A council member noted having been contacted by several residents about flooding under homes’ crawl spaces. Mr. Gore acknowledged those reports and emphasized that current FEMA maps do not show many of the affected homes within the base flood elevation, so an inaccurate remapping could materially change residents’ insurance and permitting obligations.
On the schedule for broader remapping, staff said the state’s effort is a multi-year process and estimated about five years for completion and FEMA review; that timeline is separate from the proposed local study. Councilors expressed support for pursuing the grant application and asked staff to place the application on the next night’s supplemental agenda for a formal council vote.
Next steps: staff will prepare the hazard-mitigation grant application and present it as a supplemental item on the March 17 agenda for formal approval.
