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#04 Emergency Evacuation Plan for 1709 Joseph Street NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES MEMORANDUM August 13, 2009 TO: City Council FROM: Jennifer Petruzzello, Neighborhood Services Director SUBJECT: Discussion and direction to staff on preparation of Emergency Evacuation Plan to facilitate reconstruction of 1709 Joseph Street. Summary The State of Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and Local Zoning Ordinances establish the requirements for building, or re-building within a flood plain. If estimated structural repairs or improvements total more than 50% of the equalized assessed value, the property is declared substantially damaged and steps must be taken to bring the property into compliance with current floodplain requirements. Requirements related to floor and fill elevations must be addressed by the individual property owner. In addition to these steps, contiguous dry land access must be provided. If dry land access cannot be provided, written assurance must be obtained from the police and fire chief that they can provide emergency services in a flood event or an emergency evacuation plan must be developed. An emergency evacuation plan would include such items as: warning systems, when evacuation would be required, responsibilities for agencies/departments (i.e. police, fire, human services, public works, public health, county emergency management, etc.), and when re-entry into an area would be allowed. In addition to Council approval, the plan would need to be reviewed and approved by the Wisconsin Department of Emergency Management and the Department of Natural Resources. An emergency evacuation plan would provide a guide for response during future flood events, however, it would also require mandatory evacuations, which is something the Council desired not to do during the 2008 flood event. An approved emergency evacuation plan is necessary if the property owner at 1709 Joseph Street is allowed to rebuild. Department Recommendation If the Council wishes to facilitate the re-development of 1709 Joseph Street, the Neighborhood Services Department recommends that the Council direct staff to prepare an emergency evacuation plan for flood events within the Mole Sadler Neighborhood and bring this plan back to the City Council within 90 days. Staff further recommends the Council direct staff to prepare a comprehensive emergency evacuation plan as staff time allows (estimated to be not sooner than 18 months). An emergency evacuation plan would provide a guide for staff during future flood events and/or other events requiring evacuation. Once prepared, the plan would be presented to Council for review and approval. 1 City Manager Recommendation I concur with the Neighborhood Services Department recommendation. Suggested Motion I move to direct staff to prepare an emergency evacuation plan for flood events within the Mole Sadler Neighborhood and bring it back to the City Council within 90 days and to prepare a comprehensive emergency evacuation plan as staff time allows. Background The State of Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and Local Zoning Ordinances establish the requirements for building, or re-building within a flood plain. When the estimated cost for structural repairs or improvements are less than 50% of the current equalized assessed value, the repairs may be made without addressing flood hazard issues. However, if property repairs or improvements total more than 50% or greater of the equalized assessed value, the property is declared substantially damaged and steps must be taken to bring the property into compliance with current floodplain requirements. Under State regulations and as adopted under local ordinance, the following steps must be taken to bring a property into compliance with flood regulations: 1. The lowest floor of the structure shall be placed on fill at or above the flood protection elevation, which is two feet above the regional flood elevation, or what is commonly called the 100 year flood. (detached garage may be at the flood level) 2. The fill elevation shall be one foot or more above the regional flood elevation and shall extend at such an elevation at least fifteen feet beyond the limits of any structure or building (this is referred to as freeboard). In addition to these steps, which must be taken by the property owner, contiguous dry land access must be provided from a structure or a building to land which is outside of the floodplain, so that any structure shall be accessible by rescue and relief vehicles during periods of regional flooding. Contiguous dry land access means a road at or above the regional flood elevation and wide enough for rescue and relief vehicles. Joseph Street, within the Mole Sadler neighborhood, is located within the floodway and therefore, before properties are allowed to be rebuilt with access by way of Joseph Street, the City must do one of three things: 1. Raise Joseph Street and Hamilton Avenue to an elevation such that dry land access can be provided. This solution is highly problematic in that it could be extremely costly to reconstruct these roads and may create drainage problems for any remaining homeowners. In addition, State approval to raise Joseph Street in the floodway is extremely unlikely. 2. Obtain written assurance from police, fire and emergency services that rescue and relief will be provided to the structure by wheeled vehicles during 2 a regional flood event. The Police and Fire Chief are unable to provide that assurance because the road is located within the floodway. Joseph Street was covered by four to five feet of water during the 2008 flood event thereby making it impossible to gain access to the adjacent properties by way of a wheeled vehicle. Rerouting access through adjoining property will not be allowable under the terms of the Hazard Mitigation Grant. 3. Obtain approval of a natural disaster emergency evacuation plan for the City by Wisconsin Emergency Management and the Department of Natural Resources. This plan would include specific guidelines and criteria that would establish protocol and direction for evacuations during natural or man-made emergencies/disasters. Fifteen properties were declared substantially damaged in the June 2008 Flood Event. Twelve of these owners have signed “statements of voluntary interest” in the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (Buy Out Program). Owners of the remaining three properties have chosen not to participate in the Hazard Mitigation Program, to demolish the properties without rebuilding, and to retain ownership of the property. Residents who participate in the Hazard Mitigation Grant program will be compensated for the purchase of their land and property (based on an appraisal and pre-flood property value). They will also be eligible for relocation benefits as provided by law. The land must be purchased and retained by the City as perpetual green space. Re-grading or building improvements cannot be made to the land. Staff updated Council regarding this information in October of last year. At that time, staff indicated that we would prepare an agenda item to seek Council’s input into your desire to pursue the development of an emergency evacuation plan (and force future evacuation) if the property owner(s) on Joseph Street submits plans to re-build at the current location. At this time, one property owner has indicated to staff that their preference is to pursue rebuilding rather than the buyout program and a second (with dry land access on Charles Street) is considering rebuilding (although their properties are included in the Hazard Mitigation Program to keep their options open). Staff has discussed the requirements for rebuilding and encouraged them to obtain cost estimates for rebuilding before making a final decision. Analysis Below is a brief analysis of advantages and disadvantages to developing an emergency evacuation plan: Advantages 1. An emergency evacuation plan provides a strategy and information for staff to use in managing an emergency situation that would require evacuation of residents. 3 2. Facilitates the re-development of 1709 Joseph Street, which maximizes the individual owner’s property rights. Disadvantages 1. During the 2008 flood event, residents were resistant to evacuate and there was a strong desire not to force evacuation, which would be required in an evacuation plan. 2. Development of a plan is expected to be a labor intensive project. Given current workloads it is anticipated that developing an emergency evacuation plan for a flood event within the Mole Sadler Neighborhood could take up to 90 days to develop, with a comprehensive plan taking an estimated eighteen months to develop. It is estimated that approximately 40 hours of staff time will be utilized to prepare this plan for flood events within the Mole Sadler Neighborhood and an additional 200 hours to develop the comprehensive plan. Individuals from the Fire Department, Police Department, Public Works Department, Community Development Department, Legal Services, and Neighborhood Services Department would be involved in plan development. 3. Facilitating the re-development in the flood plain presents a health and safety concern in that emergency responders cannot guarantee that someone will be able to reach the property in a flood event by way of a wheeled vehicle as required by the Department of Natural Resources. It also may put our first responders at risk during a future flood event, particularly if the flooding occurs rapidly or residents refuse to evacuate. 4. Development of a plan facilitates the re-development of 1709 Joseph Street. This area will likely continue to experience negative effects due to flooding. With the current trend of rainfall events, it is likely that frequent vacates will occur as the sanitary sewer line on Joseph Street will need to be blocked off from the lift station that serves this neighborhood. With no sanitary sewer, the home would not be habitable and would require the owner to vacate the home. 5. If a comprehensive evacuation plan is prepared for additional properties in the flood plain, it may encourage people to re-construct in the floodplain, which is contrary to the floodplain regulations discouraging this activity. 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