Village of Fleischmanns

East Branch Flood Commission Meeting

May 19, 2014
The first p!lic meeting for the Village of Fleischmanns "F# $as held on Monday, May
19, 2014 at %&00 p'm' at the ()ene Memorial "i!rary $ith the East Branch Flood
Commission' The prpose of the meeting $as to present an otline of the pro*ect, gather
p!lic inpt a!ot flooding, and collect ideas for flood ha+ard mitigation options $ith
emphasis on those that can !e e,alated in -EC./#( sing the FEM# hydralic model'
Tropical storms 0rene 1 "ee cased massi,e damage in 2012' 2r challenge is to
manage and redce the ris) of flooding and erosion in Fleischmanns'
3resenters from Milone 1 MacBroom, 0nc' 4MM05 $ere 6a,id Mrphy, 3'E', CFM
7Certified Floodplain Manager8 and Mar) Cara!etta, CFM, 39( 73rofessional 9etland
(cientist8' 3resent $ere& Mayor Todd 3ascarella, 6epty Mayor Ben*amin Fenton,
Village Trstee -arriet "' :rossman, and :raydon 6tcher and /ic) 9eiden!ach from
6ela$are Conty (oil 1 9ater' The 3!lic inclded Bd (ife, Bo! Ma)ara, -er! Finch,
(sanna Finch, Fred 9oller, Bill Birns, /oy Todd, /oman ;ossa), 0rene <ola, -' -enry
-ermann, :loria <ola.Mlloy, and others'
2ne approach is to maintain the a!ility of streams to mo,e $ater, sediment, and de!ris
throgh poplated areas $hile sing the natral capacity of floodplains to store $ater and
redce ha+ards in the stream system' There may !e potential to e=ca,ate certain areas of
floodplain in order to increase their a!ility to con,ey high flo$s, there!y redcing
flooding in flood prone areas of the ,illage' Bridges that are acting as hydralic
constrictions and contri!ting to flooding $ill !e identified'
6iscssion $as held a!ot mitigation strategies to redce potential e=posre and losses,
the mitigation planning approach, area mitigation goals and o!*ecti,es'
(!*ects discssed $ere modeling concepts, "F# process, flooding 1 damage, flood
meeting measres and an e,alation of the costs and !enefits of ,arios flood mitigation
scenarios'
Comments and ideas from the adience inclded the follo$ing&
Comment that there is a plan in place for a ne$ pedestrian !ridge at Bridge (treet
o,er Bsh ;ill' :raydon 6tcher stated that he $ill pro,ide MM0 $ith the plans for
the ne$ !ridge' #ttendees as)ed if the !ridge $ill !e a!o,e flood le,els'
(tatement that recently constrcted E93 pro*ects $ill remain in place' #ttendees
as)ed if any of the alternati,es $ill e,alate remo,ing or modifying E93 pro*ects'
(tatement that the Main (treet !ridge o,er Emory Broo) is ndersi+ed and cases
flooding'
3otential to ma)e se of old "a)e ($it+erland to slo$ flo$s, store $ater or
sediments' 0f the la)e $ere al$ays fll, it $old not help redce flooding' -o$e,er,
it sed to control sediment migration and de!ris transport' 0t>s possi!le the former
la)e can !e sed to catch flood!orne de!ris !efore it reaches the ,illage' -o$e,er if
this option $ere prsed, the la)e $old need ongoing maintenance $hich $old
ha,e costs going for$ard'
6epot (treet !ridge creates flooding pro!lems e,en dring smaller storm e,ents' The
!ridge opening may need to !e increased in si+e?capacity'
3otential to create !ypass channel from Vly Cree) to Emory Broo)'
3otential to pt "ittle /ed ;ill !ac) to its former location 4it sed to flo$ straight
$here it no$ ta)es a sharp !end at Bridge (treet5'
3otential to manage floodplains $ith a goal of more open 4less treed5 ,egetation to
redce roghness'
3otential to mo,e fire station 4$hich $as flooded !y 0rene5 and 639 garage to ne$
location near $ater treatment plant and se the area as restored floodplain' The 199%
flood did not reach the fire hose'
#side from the fire station, there are no specific areas that $ere mentioned for
relocations or remo,al of !ildings' -o$e,er, the e,alation may consider&
o 3otential for remo,al of other strctres from floodplain'
o 3otential to ele,ate floodprone strctres'
o There is concern that remo,al of other strctres $old reslt in loss of ta= !ase'
3otential floodplain creation across from E,ergreen /estarant $here there is ,illage
infrastrctre for $ater system'
0n general, attendees prefer to ma)e floodplains and floodplain !enches $ithot
mo,ing !ildings'
For e=ample, the floodplain can !e lo$ered !et$een Vly Cree) and Emory Broo)
!ehind the school $here the land is relati,ely ,acant'
Flood channels throgh the lm!er company yard may allo$ the company and its
!ildings to remain in that location'
#ttendees $old li)e the modeling to demonstrate ho$ far 4pstream5 the
constrictions ha,e typically cased flooding' For e=ample, the !ac)$ater from the
/ote 2@ !ridge seems to !e se,ere !t may only !e a!ot 1,000 feet'
Consider temporary and other types of non.traditional !ridges'
Consider additional cross ,anes to control flo$'
#dditional ideas can !e for$arded to Todd'
#ttendees as)ed ho$ many homes are in the crrent !yot program' (e,en homes may
!e inclded' The 6ela$are Conty 3lanning 6epartment can pro,ide addresses' Those
areas $old pro,ide immediate locations for lo$er floodplains'
3rior e,alations ha,e demonstrated that remo,ing the Mill (treet !ridge and lo$ering
the floodplain there cold redce the 10.year flood $ater srface ele,ation !y three feet'
0t is possi!le that there may !e nota!le redctions in the $ater srface ele,ation for some
flood e,ents and not others'
MM0 sho$ed e=amples of the ne$ FEM# mapping of the stream channels throgh
Fleishmanns, $hich $ill !e sed for the hydralic modeling analysis'
:raydon 6tcher sho$ed a ,ideo of a sccessfl floodplain enhancement pro*ect that
helps mitigate flooding from a 10.year storm'
/ic) e=plained that programs li)e the C9C and the !yot program can help, and ne$
programs sch as the one that )eeps a property o$ner in the commnity $ill maintain the
ta= !ase'
#ttendees $ere concerned a!ot the time that the "F# and the recommended pro*ects
cold ta)e' 9hat is a 10.year storm $ere to occr soonA :raydon e=plained that some
pro*ects cold li)ely !e done soon, li)e reconnecting some floodplains to the streams'
Bridge replacements $ill ta)e longer'
3hil noted that depth mapping can !e sed to analy+e ho$ flood depths ,ary across the
!ilding stoc)' This cold !e sed to sho$ ho$ homeo$ners can !e helped !y different
pro*ects'
The 199% flood srronded the home at 4B Bridge (treet !t the strctre $as not
flooded' 0rene cased more damage in that area'
:raydon noted that climate change is affecting flood discharges' The flood discharge of
Vly Cree) is p %CD' 3hil e=plained that FEM#>s analysis mst se the hydrologic
record of past pea) discharges'
There $ill !e a follo$.p p!lic meeting $here the reslts of MM0>s analysis $ill !e
presented' 6ate of the meeting is TB6'
#ll $ere encoraged to attend the open hose on May 2C in the Middleto$n To$n -all
to re,ie$ the ne$ F0/M that $ill !e adopted in 2014 or 201B' 3hil indicated that the
ne$ FEM# modeling $as ,alidated $ith the pea) flood from 0rene'