Hazard plan tied to Boardman funds

County update essential to secure $47M in federal funding for watershed repairs

BOARDMAN -- Officials from across Mahoning County gathered Thursday afternoon at the Boardman Township Government Center to discuss necessary updates to the county's federally-mandated Hazard Mitigation Plan.

A quick turnaround on the plan is vital to Boardman's hopes of securing funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

FEMA requires every county nationwide to update their plans every five years.

Robert Guentter of RFG Associates, the certified planning company hired to manage Mahoning County's plan, said that while a good plan puts counties in position for federal funding to support it, lack of a plan potentially could lead FEMA to deny emergency funds should disaster strike.

Guentter said hazard mitigation plans usually take nine to 12 months to complete, but his objective is to complete this one in five months to help Boardman's chances of securing $47 million in flood mitigation assistance funding through FEMA for massive renovations to the Cranberry Run Watershed, the largest and most critical watershed in the township.

Township Administrator Jason Loree said the watershed, which extends north from the area around Boardman Plaza "contains some of the oldest neighborhoods and is tightly compact."

"We've had some of our most severe flooding in that area," he said. "We assessed all of our watersheds two years ago, and we determined this would be the area we would focus on first because the damage has been there the most, and because of the density of residential and commercial real estate."

Loree said at least two claims from Boardman Plaza have been filed because of flooding, each in excess of $500,000. He said the township has no way of knowing exactly what insurance claims homeowners have filed but he knows "there have been a lot."

Mahoning County Commissioner Anthony Traficanti, who was in attendance, said the county needs to get the hazard mitigation plan completed by March to avoid losing the funding. He said he also has reached out to the county's congressional delegation about a potential deadline extension in case the plan takes longer to complete.

Loree said that while there is no guarantee the township will receive the funding, Boardman has made it to the second round of consideration.

"So it's crucial that this part of the plan be adopted and ready to go," he said.

The county will work with RFG to complete both a Hazard Mitigation Plan and Threat and Hazard Identification Risk Assessment (THIRA) that will serve Mahoning County through 2028. However, only the Hazard Mitigation Plan is required for the flood mitigation assistance program, so the meeting focused on that.

Ultimately, the Hazard Mitigation Plan and THIRA will comprise a 200-page document, fifteen pages of which will be the hazard mitigation plan.

"You need a plan that is realistic and that you can make progress on in five years," Guentter said.

Guentter told attendees that FEMA now requires the plans to include identification of at-risk populations and the impact of climate change on the county, and both elements will impact what action items must be included in the plan.

For example, Guentter said, low-income housing tends to be located in low-lying areas that are more vulnerable to flooding. He said he expects that much of the focus on those at-risk populations will be directed toward the Youngstown area.

In discussing the primary threats to the county -- which included summer storms, strong winds, and extreme cold -- the group unanimously agreed that flooding has become the primary concern in recent years, although FEMA's risk index only ranked it as the county's ninth highest risk factor.

Traficanti said it has much to do with how the county's sewer systems are designed.

"Because we have a closed system, our sanitary sewers cannot take all of the storm water, which in turn causes backups in the sanitary sewer line," he said. "The problem, unfortunately, has become more pervasive in the past eight years due to these unprecedented storms with flash flooding."

Once the plan is completed, the county commissioners and governing boards of Mahoning County's cities and villages will have to vote to approve the plan.

The next meeting is set for Jan. 18 at 1 p.m. at the Boardman Township Government Center.

dpompili@vindy.com