By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
The final steps in a four-year project to update flood plain maps for Hays were taken Thursday night by city commissioners. The new digital maps will be available online Wednesday.
The project dates back to 2017 when Ellis County was selected for a Paper Inventory Reduction (PIR) project funded by FEMA.
In early 2018, Ellis County was then selected for a FEMA Risk MAP (Mapping, Assessment, and Planning) project to update floodplain mapping within the county.
The city of Hays was still relying on paper maps created in 1986.
The new maps utilize contemporary Light Detecting and Ranging (LIDAR) technology which is considered ten times more accurate than the data used for the current maps, Public Works Director Jesse Rohr told commissioners.
Using the modern technology, federal and state agencies conducted countywide surveys of the flood plain, including towns and rural areas.
"All in all, for the city of Hays properties, we'll have about 258 fewer properties that are in the flood plain than we have currently. There were about 332 (properties) removed and about 74 (properties) added."
Rohr said the new maps are a good change.
"It still leaves us with about 1,200 parcels in the flood plain. I think we ranked first or second in the state of Kansas as far as the actual number of parcels in the flood plain. We have a lot."
The flood plain parcels are a mix of residential and commercial properties, with the majority being in residential areas.
Some of the significant residential areas that were added are not densely populated, including 12th Street behind O'Loughlin Elementary School and near the TMP-Marian school ball fields.
Conversely, about half of the Countryside Estates mobile home park in south-central Hays was removed from the flood plain map.
Most of Hays' flood plain is in the downtown area.
A more accurate measurement of ground elevation was the key to many of the parcel changes.
"The technology they used and the modeling they use now versus 36 years ago when they studied the current maps is much more effective and should be much more accurate," Rohr said. "With the baseline elevations, some are higher, some are lower. That data is available to us now as well."
Several review meetings were held for key stakeholders and the public, along with state engineers and officials from FEMA and the Kansas Dept. of Agriculture, during the four-year revision process.
The updated maps permit Hays and Ellis County to remain part of the National Insurance Flood Program.
"Without participation in the National Insurance Flood Program, residents here would not be able to get federally backed mortgages if they're in the flood plain," Rohr explained, "so this is important."
The commission unanimously adopted the modified flood regulations and new flood insurance rate maps.
Commissioners also approved a contract with a new city attorney.
Don Hoffman with the firm Dreiling, Bieker & Hoffman, was sworn into office by Brenda Kitchen, city clerk.
The city previously had solicited requests for qualifications for city attorney services. Hoffman's proposal was the only one received.
"It is a one-year contract with a one-year auto-renew that can be terminated by either party," City Manager Toby Dougherty explained. "It does have a two-year firm end date."
In other business, commissioners approved a resolution to abate nuisance items on property at 313 E. 23rd Street within 10 days.