MARK CRESSOTTI
WESTFIELD – The federal government has submitted a revised flood plain map to the city reflecting recent municipal improvements to the city’s levee system to hold back waters of the Westfield River and Little River during flood events. The entire downtown south of the Westfield River could have been shown on the federal map as flood plain if the city had not invested millions of dollars into levee enhancements.
The City Council’s Zoning, Planning & Development Committee will discuss the Federal Emergency Management Agency flood plain map tonight.
The city took action to improve the levee system because FEMA informed the city that the downtown area would be listed as unprotected flood plain and that property owners would have to purchase commercial flood insurance which is prohibitively expense.
The Westfield River levee improvement project was substantially completed last year and was required by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to bring the city’s levee system into compliance with standards issued through the federal Corps of Army Engineers in order for the city to qualify for FEMA certification.
FEMA establishes flood zone maps under which residents and businesses can apply for low-cost federal flood insurance, as opposed to costly commercial insurance, if their property is in a flood zone and is protected by FEMA-certified flood control structures.
The majority of that work to bolster the city’s flood protection was done along the Westfield River as it passes through the downtown area. The city made improvements from Stratfield Avenue, at the west end of the levee, to the intersection of Meadow and Williams Riding Way at the east end of the levee.
The levee improvements were initiated by the Flood Control Commission which requested the City Council to approve a $2 million bond, with just under $1 million being spent to bring the levee into compliance with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers standards.
The remaining funds will be used to to upgrade facilities in that flood-prone corridor such as the flood control pumping station off Meadow Street. The City Council approved a $74,020 state grant for the pump station retrofit as part of the multimillion-dollar levee improvement project.
City Engineer Mark Cressotti said this morning that the issue before the ZP&D Committee is an amendment to an existing city ordinance, approved in the 1970s when the initial flood map was approved by the City Council.
“The federal flood maps that came out in the 1970s were done quickly and contained several errors,” Cressotti said. “This is the next iteration to make the map more accurate.
“The threat that drove us to make the levee improvements is that this map would reflect all of the downtown (as a flood-prone plain) and that property owners, both residents and businesses, would have to purchase private flood insurance,” Cressotti said.
The flood plain now being reviewed depicts that area as flood plain protected by Army Corps of Engineers approved structures.
“The (City) Council just has to amend the original ordinance,” Cressotti said.
