Monday Update: Mayfield’s push-back against flood-plain expansion continues

Jan. 02--As communities across the region, state and country push back against the Federal Emergency Management Agency's expansion of flood plains into certain residential areas, residents of Mayfield hope a January meeting with the agency brings compromise.

Fearing an expanded flood plain would negatively affect property values and require homeowners to buy costly flood insurance, hundreds of Mayfield residents signed a petition urging U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-17, Moosic, and Senators Bob Casey and Pat Toomey to oppose FEMA's expansion late last summer. Mayfield officials met with representatives of the congressman and senators in December, and the parties plan to meet with FEMA and the state Department of Environmental Protection later this month.

At issue is whether an existing levee system in Mayfield, which hasn't been breached by floodwaters since its construction in the late 1960s, will qualify as an "accredited levee" by FEMA standards. Accredited levees must be 2 feet taller than the projected flood totals during a 100-year flood event, or the worst flooding expected in a 100-year period, said Tony Grizzanti of KBA Engineering, Mayfield's engineering firm.

It is unlikely the Mayfield levee would qualify as an accredited structure by these standards, meaning it won't be recognized as providing flood protection in FEMA's updated flood plain maps. These maps indicate high-risk flood areas, so Mayfield residents living in such areas may be forced to buy flood insurance despite having been protected by the levee for decades.

"Because mortgages usually require flood insurance if a house is located in a flood plain, and because of other flood insurance requirements, it is essential that FEMA's flood plain mapping be as accurate as possible," Mr. Cartwright said via email.

Mayfield officials have argued that FEMA's preliminary maps ignored the borough's levee.

Meanwhile, DEP uses different standards to determine the effectiveness of a levy system -- standards that give Mayfield's dike more credit in terms of flood protection.

Mayfield is almost to the point where its levee will qualify as an acceptable structure by DEP standards, according to Mayor Al Chelik. While DEP spokeswoman Colleen Connolly said Friday she wasn't immediately sure what steps Mayfield must take to bring the levee to DEP standards, she did say the borough has been "working very cooperatively" with the department.

Mr. Chelik said an "ideal situation" would involve FEMA accepting the dike based on DEP's standards, but noted that borough officials "don't see that happening." Nonetheless, he believes the federal government should, at the very least, fund improvements to levee systems to make them compliant with federal standards.

"If they are not going to recognize the dike, then they should come up with a way to make all these dikes and levees meet their ... calculations," Mr. Chelik said. "Trump wanted to build infrastructure. These type of projects are a good way to start."

There are about 242 properties located within the boundaries of the would-be expanded flood plain, which extends east from the Lackawanna River to Hill Street, with Oak Street as the northern border and the Jermyn line as the southern border.

"We have to go ahead and see if there's a resolution," Mr. Chelik said. "There are a lot of blue-collar, middle-class workers, and they bought houses in Mayfield knowing they were protected by a dike system."

The exact date of the meeting between FEMA, DEP and the other parties is not yet known.

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