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Approved 10/4/17 8 371 Michael Harvey said that it would be conceivable that it could be repaired; it depends on how it was damaged. The definition 372 between substantial damage and substantial improvement would be applied to this case. For example, if a house was built 373 before a property owner entered the floodplain program; the house is considered “pre-FIRM (Flood Insurance Rate Maps)”. 374 For purposes of example, the house is worth $100,000. There is a big storm and a flood event and the house is damaged to a 375 point that it would cost $50,001 to repair. The house would be considered to have sustained substantial damage (greater than 376 50% of the value of the structure is destroyed) and would need substantial improvement (it would take more than 50% of the 377 value of the structure to repair it). The homeowner is responsible for bringing the structure into compliance with flood 378 regulation, which could mean relocating the structure out of the floodplain, if possible. In other situations, a house may need to 379 be elevated or be flood-proofed to allow for water to pass through or under the house. Another option would be to install flood-380 venting in a house. 381 382 Tony Blake asked if flood-venting would qualify as grading. 383 384 Michael Harvey said that it would not because the process simply puts a vent into the house itself. The County’s proposed 385 amendment will impact 80 structures in the whole County. 386 387 Kim Piracci asked if the 80 structures are homes or government buildings or other structures? 388 389 Michael Harvey replied that there are some buildings within Orange County below Base Flood Elevation. There are efforts to 390 address this problem and to carry them out will be expensive. The Department of Elections is a prime example. Once a 391 structure starts to sustain repetitive damage due to flood events, the structure must be brought into compliance with the code 392 for the benefit of the owner and for the surrounding community. Orange County benefitted from long range planning efforts in 393 the ‘60s, ‘70s’, 80s’, 90s’ to today following the philosophy of not allowing development in the floodplain. 394 395 Tony Blake asked to which flood-related map Mr. Harvey was referring. 396 397 Michael Harvey answered that he is talking about the FIRM map. The FIRM map encompasses the previous discussion. 398 399 Kim Piracci asked when the new floodplain maps will available online. 400 401 Michael Harvey answered that the maps are already available on the state’s Public Safety Department - FEMA Division 402 website. 403 404 Kim Piracci said that a good deal of her property is in a flood zone. 405 406 Michael Harvey said that the areas where they are seeing massive changes are located within the northern part of the County. 407 FEMA may have been a bit off on its calculations in this area. He said that this is not a complicated amendment, just a lot to 408 get through. 409 410 Tony Blake recognized the heavy-lifting Mr. Harvey had already done to get to this point. 411 412 Michael Harvey noted that James Bryan, County Attorney’s Office, has provided helpful feedback. Mr. Harvey said that 413 because the County is following the model as closely as possible. 414 415 Randy Marshall asked Michael Harvey if he was talking about all of Orange County. Does this exclude any involvement with 416 municipalities? 417 418 Michael Harvey replied that the municipalities run their own floodplain management programs. The notable exception is for 419 farm properties located within their ETJs; those properties now fall under the County’s jurisdiction. The communities and 420 appropriate divisions coordinate together. However, there would be nothing the County could do for a resident living within t he 421 Town of Chapel Hill’s jurisdiction that was dealing with flood damage; the resident would request assistance from the 422