Flood Plain Change Voted Down - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

Flood Plain Change Voted Down

The one-size-fits-all program from FEMA doesn't work for Minot.

That was the leading cause for the full City Council to unanimously reject the Advisory Base Flood Elevation at a special meeting this afternoon.

The A-B-F-E would have been the starting point to expedite a new flood plain for the river valley in Minot.

It would have made Minot eligible for tens of millions of dollars for flood mitigation buyouts of homes that had four feet of water and were more than 50 percent damaged by the 2011 flood.

Those properties are shown in red on this abatement map.

However none of those homes could fall within the flood protection footprint that's being proposed.

It would also usher in new strict building codes in the valley and greatly expand the flood plain bringing with it higher flood insurance premiums and lower home values.

Alderman Dave Lehner said this is only delaying the inevitable to give home owners more time to rebuild before changes in the valley are mandated by FEMA.

(David Lehner, Minot Alderman) FEMA in its infinite wisdom will probably put this in the next two to three to five years. I would hope this would be a wake-up call to all those houses that are neighbors of ours that haven't been touched or are very slow at getting going that these people should probably do something pretty darn soon because once this does go into affect, the new building codes have to be changed and it will change how you have to build or can build houses additions or anything in the flood plain."

Lehner said it's uncertain how a new flood plain will affect the State Fair Grounds.

Part of those grounds will likely be in the new flood plain down the road.

The vote today is also a wake-up call for city leaders.

(Blake Krabseth, Minot Alderman ) "We've got three to five years to fight to make sure we save and preserve our community the way it was at the time of 2011 flood. Because it's obvious the rules and regulations that come with some of the federal money don't take into account the communities. They like to do one size fits all, and their programs don't necessarily fit the needs of our community.>

Many of the homes listed on the abatement map are spread throughout the valley.

If the city had moved forward with the voluntary acquisition using mitigation money it would have left hundreds of vacant lots in neighbors that the city would have been obligated to maintain at the cost of taxpayers.