Athens County planner to help Chauncey rejoin National Flood Insurance Program

Athens County Planner's Office will help the Village of Chauncey work on getting reinstated for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

Mayor Amy Renner talked to the Board of Commissioners about getting the Planner Laura Olbers' help during their meeting Tuesday in the conference room on the second floor of the courthouse annex.

Earlier this year, Renner named joining the program as one of her top priorities because "it's really one of the biggest things that holds back any economic development here."

Joining the Federal Emergency Management Agency program will reduce flood insurance rates for village residents and businesses, while making it easier to secure funds for mitigation projects, Renner said.

The village first learned of compliance issues in 1999, Renner said. In 2010, Chauncey was removed from the program, which is run by Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Chauncey officials have been going through every floodplain permit the village has ever issued. They have talked with property owners to address the issues.

"I'm at the point now, where I'm down to around 10 to 15 properties that have various issues," Renner said. "Some of them will be easily addressed and some, not so much."

While the commissioners thought they gave Olbers permissions to work with the village during a previous meeting, Olbers said nothing was put on the record.

Among the planner's offices tasks will be to type out all of the processes the village must follow when reviewing a floodplain permit. The processes will be for any type of construction someone might have, Renner said.

"I think it will be beneficial for me to be doing that for my office as well," Olbers said. "Then I could also just distribute it to the different villages."

While most of the processes already exist, the challenge had been compiling them and ensuring they are complaint with the federal program.

"I've reviewed the handbook that's available and there are so many holes in it," Renner said. "Even when we have tried seeking answers, it's hard. We've had to go back and forth with ODNR about a lot of permits that we have coming in because there's just a lot of gray area."

The other challenge the village has is that most officials play more than one role in the government operations.

Village Administrator Chris Russell also serves as floodplain manager, "public works manager, code enforcement officer ... who wears all these hats," Renner said. "So to expect them to be an expert at all of the above, I think it just unrealistic."

Olbers also will help get the last few properties to either be complaint with regulations or help the village take legal action to get the property exempt from the insurance program.

"We just need a helping hand to tell us what's the next steps we need to take," Renner said. "Just basically spell out to us what we need to do next. It would be really helpful to have someone else there to help."

Another way the county will help Chauncey join the National Flood Insurance Program is by including the village in its 2025 mitigation plan. The plan is a way to reduce the loss of life and property by taking action now to lessen the impact of natural disasters.

Earlier during the commissioners' meeting, Athens County Emergency Management Agency Director Don Gossel brought up that the plan must be maintained in order for the county and its communities to be complaint with the insurance program.

"Any projects that would request FEMA funding for mitigation have to be defined within this plan," he said. "Every township, village, city and the county should have their portion in it. So if we have any projects that are mitigation based, we need to get them labeled and get them integrated into the plan."

When Gossel last visited Chauncey village council in 2019 to discuss the mitigation plan and the insurance program, it did not want the village to be included. Other places within the county, also opt out, he noted.

"A lot of that comes down to the mentality of the community itself," Gossel said. "They can be an island, out of NFIP compliance. They can be independent. … To get there though, requires proper litigation and everything else."

If an Athens County community or property is not part of the mitigation plan, they cannot be included in any grants or funding that goes toward mitigation.

"That's the downfall of the choice (not to join)," Gossel said. "You can't get dollars that are supposed to be for mitigation projects if you're not (NFIP) complaint or in the (mitigation) plan. So, there are a lot of good reasons to participate."

Gossel plans to write a letter and then later visit every community and township to discuss the hazard mitigation plan. The county has until March 2025 to complete the plan.

The commissioners were scheduled to reconvene their meeting at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday to approve a temporary budget for Athens County. Coverage of that will be in a future edition of The Athens Messenger.