ASSOCIATION OF STATE FLOODPLAIN MANAGERS Chapter Director Annual Report 2008 District 3 (FEMA Regions IV and VI) Harold Holmes, CFM, Chapter Director

Transcription

1 ASSOCIATION OF STATE FLOODPLAIN MANAGERS Chapter Director Annual Report 2008 District 3 (FEMA Regions IV and VI) Harold Holmes, CFM, Chapter Director Chapters in FEMA Region 4 and 6 Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas CHAPTER ACTIVITIES Arkansas Arkansas Floodplain Managers Association (AFMA) The AFMA Fall Conference was held September 2007 in Eureka Springs, AR. About 100 attended with 9 vendors supporting the conference. Attendees represented cities, counties, State, Federal, and professional organizations. The AFMA Spring Workshop was held April 2008 in Jacksonville, AR. Attendees totaled 109 representing cities, counties, State, Federal, and professional organizations. The workshop centered on the recent flooding events within the State. AFMA has five Regions within the State of Arkansas and all are active within our organization. The Regions are: Northwest, Northeast, Central, Southwest, and Southeast. The following AFMA Committees are productive: Awards, Corporate Sponsorships, Communications, PDCC, Technical and Legislative. The following actions by the AFMA Board were accomplished within this reporting period: 1. Incorporation AFMA Incorporation was obtained. 2. Federal Tax Exemption AFMA has obtained an IRS exemption from Federal Income Tax and is classified as a Public Charity under section 501 (c) (3). 3. Federal Income Tax - The 2006 Federal Income Tax was filed and preparations are underway for filing State Income Tax - As a Public Charity AFMA does not pay Arkansas State Income Tax. 5. State Sales Tax Exemption - AFMA has initiated the process of State Sales Tax Exemption. This must be passed by the State Legislation and signed by the Governor. AFMA has a State Senator who will sponsor a Bill for this action. It will be presented to the Arkansas Legislation in the Spring of Insurance We have obtained liability insurance for the AFMA Board through an Insurance Agent. The following professionals assisted AFMA within this reporting period. 1. Attorney The above actions were reviewed and approved by counsel. A Charitable Immunity opinion for the purchase of liability insurance was also obtained. Counsel also reviewed and advised our AFMA Bylaws and Constitution. Counsel researched and obtained the Incorporation status. 2. Certified Public Accountant (CPA) The CPA reviewed and recommended AFMA accounting procedures. He also recommended Checks and Balances Procedures for internal check writing. AFMA has enacted these recommendations. The CPA prepared the IRS forms for Federal Tax Exemption in obtaining the Public Charity section 501 (c) (3) status. This required considerable coordination by CPA with the IRS and AFMA officers. He also prepared the AFMA 2006 Federal Income Tax. 3. Insurance Agent Briefed the AFMA Board on the available choices of insurance. Florida: Florida Floodplain Managers Association (FMMA) No Report Submitted

2 Georgia: Georgia Association Floodplain Management (GAFM) This year Georgia Association of Floodplain Management (GAFM) has been active in training members and nonmembers. Membership currently stands at 200 and growing. September 5-7, 2007 GAFM held it first Regional Training Workshop in Augusta, GA. Initially scheduled for one day, overwhelming presenter interest dictated an extension to three days. Combined, there were over 100 presenters and attendees. During the workshop the CFM Exam was also given. GAFM s 3rd Annual Conference was held March 5-7 at the Holiday Inn Conference Center in Decatur, Georgia. Over 150 persons attended the conference with presenters and attendees from 4 different states. During the Membership Meeting it was voted to amend GAFM Constitution and Bylaws to create separate Secretary - Treasurer positions and to add three At-Large positions to the Board of Directors. In addition, to help with continuity on the Board an odd/even voting regiment that would stager the Regional Representatives tenure on the Board was established. The Board is now comprised of 13 members: four officers, six regional representatives, and three At-Large positions. Awards for Floodplain Manager of the Year as well as Project of the Year were presented. The newly elected officers for are as follows: Terri Turner, CFM Chair Tom McDonald, CFM Vice Chair Juanita Mikell Secretary Garrett Skinner, CFM - Treasurer Planning for the next three-day Regional Training Workshop to be held this September in the Coastal Region on Jekyll Island is now under way. GAFM continues to provide continuing education this year by co-sponsoring a one-day training session for surveyors on May 1 st and realtors on June 19 th in Savannah, GA. GAFM s web page continues to be updated as well as links to corporate sponsors, conference and training dates, floodplain data, and internet resources. Kentucky: Kentucky Association of Mitigation Managers (KAMM) KAMM became an official ASFPM chapter on April 11, KAMM's membership has increased from 43 in 2005 to over 100 in Prior to KAMM's involvement, the number of CFMs in Kentucky was 7; there are currently 46 CFMs. KAMM always offers a CFM prep course and exam at the annual conference. The 2008 KAMM Conference theme was Building Bridges Across Disciplines. A CFM Prep and Exam were held as a pre-conference event on April 7, The conference was held April 8-10, 2008 at General Butler State Resort Park. The conference featured nearly 30 of the industry s mitigation experts who conducted plenary and concurrent sessions. Brad Loar, Mitigation Director, FEMA Region IV provided the keynote and Dr. David Simpson, University of Louisville s Center for Hazards Research, and George Riedel, ASFPM, were opening Plenary speakers the following two days. The focus of the conference was to inform attendees about the 13 natural hazards inherent to Kentucky and the types of mitigation available for every hazard. The Building Bridges Across Disciplines theme allowed the conference team to plan sessions and speakers to address the hazards, public health, and mitigation. Presenters included representatives from several state agencies, the National Weather Service, FEMA, and the Army Corp of Engineers. A 4-hour Elevation Certificate workshop also was provided by FEMA Region IV and surveyors were given CEUs through KAPS. KAMM also will be having regional meetings across the state with one regional meeting being held in each of the four KAMM regions. This new approach is an attempt to provide training and information to local officials that cannot attend the annual conference. We are aware some local officials and professionals can t leave for extended periods of time and these one or two day sessions will allow them to receive information close to home. Next year s report will show the level of success with this approach.

3 KAMM hired a webmaster in At the 2007 annual conference, a brain-storming session was held to garner new ideas from members on how to revamp the website. The website is still under construction and currently is setup to promote the annual conference. The web-address is: WKU s Floodplain Management Program A Key Addition To An Important Field KAMM Board members visited Western Kentucky University (WKU) on January 17, 2008 to present Glasgow, KY senior Aaron Wallace with a $500 scholarship. Wallace, who passed the CFM exam, also is the 2007/2008 recipient of the $2,000 Nick Winters Scholarship, a prestigious national award from the Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM). Warren Campbell joined the Department of Engineering at Western Kentucky University with a vision to create a floodplain management program. In 2006, WKU launched the nation s only floodplain management minor. In the academic year, 14 WKU students became CFMs. Louisiana: Louisiana Floodplain Management Association (LFMA) This year the Louisiana Floodplain Management Association is celebrating our 25 th Anniversary and we had a number of special events planned for this year s conference. We held our annual conference in the beautiful City of Lake Charles and Westlake, Louisiana, at the Isle of Capri Hotel and Resort. The conference was held on April 2, 3, and 4. Our first Session for Wednesday focused on the Louisiana House, Severe Repetitive Loss Program, Marsh Creation and Mitigation Banks, and Inundation Flood Mapping. We finished the evening off with a Hosted Wine and Cheese Reception on board a 92 Yacht on the Lake. Thursday was also full of exciting information concerning the New Mapping and Levee projects being completed. We have New DFIRMs for 2008, AR Flood Zones, Levee Certification, LA Mapping Project, Storm Surge Modeling and IPET, Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, Flood Insurance and NFIP, CRS Program Update, Substantial Damage Definitions, CAP Program, and Flood Requirements in the IBC and IRC. Our Keynote Awards Luncheon Speaker was Mr. Frank Pagano, FEMA Region VI. Our annual Thursday night cookout this year took place at Prien Lake Park, and it was a Cajun Cookout complete with Jambalaya and Boiled Crawfish. Friday closed out our conference with Floodplain Management, Community Assessment Visits, New and Improved ASFPM, and our General Membership Meeting and Wrap-Up. We also offered the CFM Exam and currently have over 80 CFMs in the State of Louisiana. Attendance at the conference was 154 and current LFMA membership is 335. For the first time in 2008, LFMA has produced a calendar on Floodplain Management. The calendar was a product of a poster contest held at our 2007 Conference in Alexandria, Louisiana. School children from the area participated for Savings Bonds and a chance to have their artwork displayed on the calendar. There are 15 works of art shown on the calendar, and it was produced by and grant from FEMA with the help of the LADOTD. The theme of the contest was Sink or Swim. We also held a poster contest at the Lake Charles conference for our 2009 Calendar, and the theme was High and Dry. If anyone would like a copy, please let me know. We also have our quarterly Newsletter Floodwatch, it can be downloaded from our website. As we look forward to the rest of 2008, we have a lot on our calendar already. We will host a July Workshop that will be held in Marksville, LA on July 25, 2008 and an October Workshop that will be held in Hammond, LA on October 24, 2008, and that s just to mention a few. Keep checking our website, for all of our updates and schedules as well as copies of our newsletter. Mississippi: Association of Floodplain Managers of Mississippi (AFMM) AFMM held its Fall Conference in Philadelphia, MS in October. The agenda included very informative workshops which, as always, included brainstorming among members and guests. Officers for 2008 were elected. They are: Sandra Johnson - President Glenn Jennings - Vice President Mickey Lagasse - Secretary Jimmie Lewis - Treasurer

4 Board of Directors Matt Chrisler Ruben Woods Allison Brand Jerry Beaugez Our Spring Conference will be held in Natchez May New Mexico New Mexico Floodplain Managers Association (NMFMA) Over the past year the Chapter has held two conferences. The Fall Conference was held in Farmington and the Spring Conference was held in Santa Fe. The Spring Conference had over 150 attendees. This is the highest number of attendees at a Chapter Conference, since the start of the Chapter. Each conference provides and opportunity for CFM to obtain their Continuing Education Units and it also provides refresher training along with an opportunity to take the CFM exam. We currently have 159 CFMs in the state. Since January 2007, the state has lost 15 CFMs, but the state has gained 45 CFMs. Awards were presented at the Spring 2008 Conference. Grant Pinkerton was given a service award for being the 2 nd Vice Chair for Georgia Goad was given a service award for being the Region I Director for Michele Truby-Tillen was given a service award for being the Region II Director for Yvette was given a service award for being the Region III Director for The Floodplain Manager of the Year award for was given to Michele Truby-Tillen. One of the key issues facing the Chapter for years has been the placement of Manufactured Housing in flood hazard areas. Members of the Chapter worked with the New Mexico Manufactured Housing Division to obtain a revision to their by-laws that would require approval of the local floodplain administrator prior to the placement of a home. After multiple delays, the Chapter has drafted a model ordinance that can be adopted by a community that would require approval of the local floodplain administrator prior to the placement of a home. The Board of Directors will be reviewing the draft and making it available to local communities. Oklahoma: Oklahoma Floodplain Managers Association (OFMA) The Oklahoma Floodplain Managers Association (OFMA) has been very busy this year due to the intensive weather conditions. We have had seven (7) Federal Disaster Declarations to date, and are expecting the eighth to be declared soon. Our goal is to continue to educate local floodplain administrators and help them educate their local citizens to save lives and reduce property loss from floods. We held our Annual Board Retreat in December at which time our Strategic Plan was reviewed very critically and revised to a task oriented document. We are working toward our goals: 1. Enhance and Expand the Practice of Floodplain Management through education and dissemination of information. 2. Provide Member Services that will develop, support, educate, and gain recognition for the Profession of Floodplain Management 3. Develop and Maintain an Organization Capable of Achieving its Mission OFMA currently has 417 full members, 22 agency members and 27 corporate members. We are trying to continue to grow those numbers. OMFA has become incorporated at the suggestion of ASFPM. We have reviewed our Constitution and Bylaws and held a Special Meeting in April at our Spring Technical Workshop to adopt the necessary changes to both documents. We have formally established the position of Executive Director for OFMA and have a volunteer to hold that position. We have active committees including: Conference Planning, Mitigation, Education, Insurance, Membership, Legislative, PDCC, and Budget. Each committee is active on very specific activities. The Legislative Committee is actively promoting Oklahoma legislative changes to not require a separate five member floodplain board for post-80 communities. This will allow about 87 communities to join the NFIP that are currently sanctioned. Our Mapping Committee prepared a White Paper that was submitted to ASFPM and FEMA concerning issues on Map Modernization. Our Mitigation Committee developed a White Paper on HMGP funding that was also submitted to ASFPM and FEMA as well as our legislators. The PDCC has reviewed the issues on certification and the national testing issue and will present its position at the Annual Conference in Reno- Sparks in May. Our Education Committee is developing new training modules to present at the Map Modernization

5 Training in conjunction with the 101 Training provided by OWRB. The Education Committee just completed the annual judging of the TADD poster contest entries and is preparing for awards to the local schools and the preparation of the 2009 OFMA Calendar. OFMA continues the training programs and events we have offered in the past. We added 31 new CFMs, bringing the total to 242. OFMA's Annual Conference It will Rain Again, It will Flood Again featured training sessions led by representatives from throughout the state and region. Following the Conference we had significant flooding in May and June 2007, and again in March and April As a result of the flooding, OFMA is now developing a new program entitled Disaster Response Team or DRT which will be a volunteer group of CFMs and Code Enforcement Officers that will assist Oklahoma community floodplain administrators in times of disaster. This will be a short term activity during a disaster response, until such time as a Federal declaration is issued and FEMA is able to mobilize its forces into a community. Our Training Cadre educates business groups, elected officials, and others in the state about floodplain management. The Spring Technical Workshop was a success with excellent presentations about oil and gas permitting in the State, Map Mod update from FEMA, Local project development presentations and the Special Meeting. Our 2008 Annual Conference in September will be focused on Climate Change and the impacts of climate change on floodplain management. OFMA also has very strong partnerships in Floodplain Management with the Tulsa District Corps of Engineers, Oklahoma Insurance Department (OID) and Oklahoma Water Resources Board. The Corps of Engineers reports at each OFMA Board meeting, the OID attends monthly Board Meetings and the OFMA ED spoke at the recent OID 2008 Severe Weather Conference at the NWS this past April. OFMA continues to be very active in the FEMA CAP program and participates in the quarterly meetings at FEMA. The State NFIP coordinator is very busy with Map Modernization education, ordinance update reviews, and flood disaster responses. OFMA assists in those activities as requested. OFMA will have three (3) presentations at the ASFPM Annual conference in 2008, and will have six (6) representatives at the conference. OFMA is hosting the 2010 ASFPM annual conference in Oklahoma City and the co-chairs have been appointed and are beginning the initial coordination efforts with ASFPM s Diane Brown. The co-chairs will shadow at the 2008 and 2009 Annual conferences as planning proceeds for the 2010 event. North Carolina: North Carolina Association of Floodplain Managers (NCAFPM) The North Carolina Association of Floodplain Managers recently held its 2008 annual conference in April 27-30, 2008 in Wrightsville Beach, NC. This year s theme was Charting the Course of Floodplain Management. We had another stellar turn out as we had over 190 people in attendance. Our Keynote Speaker this year was Mr. John Dorman, Director, North Carolina Floodplain Mapping Program. His presentation talked about what his office is doing as we move into Phase II of Map Modernization. He focused on the need and implementation of an Integrated Flood Risk Identification, Communication, and Mitigation Strategy. We also had over 30 technical presentations including presentations on professional ethics, technical mapping issues, and 2 specialized workshops dealing with NFIP Insurance and advanced floodplain management topics. We also offered the CFM exam, conducted our regular business meeting, held a field trip on hydrographic surveying aboard the Corp of Engineers survey vessel Gillette, and held 2 networking social events during our 4 day conference. We have also already begun planning for next year s conference which will likely be held on the Crystal Coast of North Carolina. Our membership continues to grow and is currently around 280 members according to our latest membership roster. We also have 7 corporate memberships and 6 agency memberships. We currently have 181 CFMs and another 28 that took the exam at this years conference. During the past year (May 07 to April 08) NCAFPM in cooperation with North Carolina Emergency Management provided the following training and exam opportunities to our members: 3 NC Floodplain Management Summer Workshops for Local Officials, One E-273 deployment - Managing Floodplain Development through the NFIP, 2 exam review courses, offered the CFM exam 3 times, offered the Certified Floodplain Surveyor (CFS) exam once, and offered 2 Insurance Agent seminars. NCAFPM donated $ to the ASFPM Foundation again this year. North Carolina Emergency Management completed work on a Quick Guide and with funding support from NCAFPM for the printing of the document; each community in North Carolina will receive a copy.

6 Our 3 rd annual Fall Floodplain Institute will be held in Boone, NC at the Broyhill Inn which is located on the campus of Appalachian State University. This will be held October 15-17, 2008 At the conference, new officers were elected. They are as follows: Chair Stephen Smith, Pitt County Vice Chair Robert Billings, Mecklenburg County Secretary Neal Banerjee, Baker Treasurer Cynthia Fox Barcklow, Buncombe County Executive Director Bill Tingle, Mecklenburg County Regional Representatives Region A Billy Merrill, City of Greenville, Pitt County Region B Heather Keefer, Town of Holly Springs, Wake County Region C John Fullerton, Wilmington, New Hanover County Region D Warren Simmons, Guilford County Region E Mike Byrd, Cabarrus County Region F Susan Frady, City of Hendersonville The following Board committees have been very active: Conference Committee chaired by the Region C Representative Professional Development Committee chaired by the Region D Representative Education Committee chaired by the Region E Representative Scholarship Committee chaired by the Region C Representative Website/Newsletter Committee chaired by the Secretary The Association will be sending two representatives to the ASFPM Annual Conference in Reno, NV. Several other members of our association will also be in attendance. South Carolina: South Carolina Association for Hazard Mitigation (SCAHM) The South Carolina Association for Hazard Mitigation recently held its annual conference at the Ocean Drive Resort in North Myrtle Beach, SC, March 11 th -14 th. This was the 11 th annual conference for the Association and the largest non-joint conference to date. We had over 100 attendees and 6 vendors present. We kicked off the week with a golf tournament and the CFM exam administered by Maria Cox from the SC Department of Natural Resources on Wednesday, March 11 th and continued with two and a half days of sessions, workshops, and networking opportunities. Al Goodman, ASFPM Chair was our keynote speaker and Mary Rountree represented FEMA Region IV as the featured speaker. We had 2 receptions at the end of each full day sponsored by the vendors and the SCAHM Chapter. Board Elections were held at the Conference and they are as follows: Chair: Christopher Stone, Lexington County Vice Chair: Terri Hancock, Berkeley County Secretary: Alesia Hunter, Anderson County Treasurer: Angela Mcjunkin, City of North Charleston Regional Representatives: Region I: Tommy Holcombe, City of Easley Region II: Ward Braswell, City of Newberry Region III: Vacant Region IV: Charles Brooks, Darlington County Region V: Daniel Ben-Yisrael, City of Goose Creek Executive Director: Shawn Putnam, City of Camden With the help of the SCDNR, we are currently trying to locate someone to represent Region III. There was no one at the conference from that region to elect. SCAHM will send 2 representatives to this year s National Conference in RENO, NV. Christopher Stone, Chair and Alesia Hunter, Secretary will attend.

7 The SCAHM board met numerous times over the past year and had a full day training session on Hazard Mitigation Grants in June of SCAHM s 2008 conference and training sessions were creditable for CFM certification and maintenance. The SCAHM board voted to donate $1000 to the ASFPM Foundation for The 2009 annual Conference will be held March 10 th -13 th at the Ocean Drive Beach and Golf Resort in North Myrtle Beach, SC. Texas: Texas Association Floodplain Managers (TFMA) No Report Submitted ORGANIZING CHAPTERS Alabama: At this time last year many Alabama floodplain managers were excited because they had just returned from the AFMM Spring Conference at Bay St. Louis, MS, where a very encouraging meeting among the Alabamians, the AAFM Board of directors and several interested AFMM members about forming a two state chapter of the ASFPM. Several assignments were made to move the effort forward so that the proposal could be acted upon by the AFMM membership at its October Conference. Over the next several months, considerable discussion was held about how governance of the proposed organization would be structured to preserve the integrity of members from both states. The final decision called for equal representation at all levels i.e.,1) principal officers would be equally divided among the states; 2) committees would have equal representation from each state and principals would rotate annually between the states. It was determined that the AFMM bylaws did not address these concerns and that new by laws would be required. The by laws were drafted and submitted to ASFPM, AFMM Board and interested parties in Alabama for review. After approval or acceptance by all parties, the decision was made to proceed with presentation of the proposal to AFMM membership at the Annual Membership meeting in October incompliance with the existing by laws. Planning and preparation for the annual meeting was quite extensive and time consuming, the by laws were distributed to all members, procedure and process were discussed thoroughly and scripts were prepared for those involved. Most of this work was done by a few AFMM Officers and Alabamians convinced that the two-state chapter was a good idea beneficial both states. At the conference a small group consisting of AFMM Past Presidents, and an Alabamian revised the by laws to meet some concerns raised at the last minute. Unbeknown to this group, another group of AFMM members opposed to the new organization had waited until the conference to express their concerns. The president of AFMM called an informal meeting to discuss the matter more fully and determine whether the proposal should be withdrawn from the Annual meeting agenda. When the Alabamians attending the Conference learned of the AFMM meeting they decided to also meet to discuss the possible outcome and how it would affect them. This 24 person group decided that the Alabamians present at the conference provided a sufficient core of interested floodplain managers to establish an ASFPM chapter in Alabama. They voted to decide their own destiny and proceed with that establishing an Alabama Chapter of ASFPM rather than wait for the outcome of the discussion by AFMM. A representative who indecently was also an AFMM member as many of the Alabamians were, informed the participants in the AFMM meeting of the decision much to the relief of many of the Mississippians. The organizational meeting of the Alabama Association of Floodplain Managers took place in Montgomery, AL, on January 24, 2008, with 50 interested floodplain managers attending. The group voted to form a floodplain managers organization and apply to ASFPM for status as a state chapter, chose a name, reviewed by laws and elected a board of directors at that meeting. The board held its first meeting that day, set dues, and initiated a membership drive, selected a date for its first conference and assigned duties and responsibilities to various board members. Since that time, membership has grown to approximately 100, the by laws have been reviewed and

8 revise by an attorney, the association has been incorporated in the State of Alabama and steps are underway to apply to the IRS for tax exempt status. All of this of course was in preparation for the ultimate goal of application to the Association of State Floodplain Managers for designation as a Chapter. In furtherance of this goal, AAFM has submitted the ASFPM Chapter Evaluation Application, Revised By Laws, Articles of Incorporation which in Alabama serves as a Constitution and the required $200 Membership dues. We anxiously await the decision of the ASFPM Board of Directors. Six of our board members and an unknown number of members also look forward to visiting with you at the ASFPM Conference in Reno. Prepared and submitted by: Harold L. Holmes, CFM District 3, Chapter Director May 5, 2008