By Blair Dedrick, New Era Staff Writer

More land will be designated as floodplain, according to new flood insurance rate maps from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Hopkinsville Mayor Dan Kemp said Monday.

A forum at 6 p.m. on Sept. 6 at the Lackey Municipal Building will give residents an opportunity to see the new floodplain boundaries, Kemp announced at the Surface and Stormwater Utility Board meeting.

“There are people with land not in the floodplain now that will be (in the floodplain) on the new map,” he said.

The city has to adopt the new map in order to have flood insurance.

The Utility Board took no action at the meeting but did discuss applying for a loan from the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority.

With a project list that is estimated to cost $12 million, Planning Commission Executive Director Steve Bourne advised that applying for the low-interest loan of $5.8 million might be a good start.

The loan would pay for the South Sunset/Woodmont drainage project, the Deepwood/Winsor drainage project, the Hurst Drive drainage project, the Apache Drive drainage project, the first part of an Army Corps of Engineers study on the dry dam project and flood buyouts and flood proofing.

Applying for the loan and using some of the money for the Corps of Engineers project would mean the board could begin the project without waiting more than a year for a federal allocation, Bourne said. The Corps would reimburse the board for the $520,000.

“Right now the Corps does not have enough funding …” said Board Chairman Don Langhi. “I don’t think we should stop at that; I think it’s very important that we get the engineering done and started.”

Langhi, Kemp and Bourne met with Corps representatives twice since the last meeting, and the Corps requested the officials send a letter requesting aid.

“We have to have federal funding, and we have to do it through them for federal funding,” Kemp said.

The Corps estimated the project would take a maximum of five years, Langhi said.

The board also discussed the need for two new city ordinances in order to comply with federal mandates by the end of the year.

The Stormwater Phase II requirements include ordinances addressing illicit discharge detection and elimination and erosion prevention and sediment control.

“There’s already some pretty tough laws against discharge,” Board Member Ray Diuguid said to Bourne.

“Yeah, but who’s enforcing them?” Bourne asked.

“We’re supposed to be,” Diuguid said.

“We need a mechanism to enforce,” Bourne replied.

The ordinances, which were not ready to be voted upon, will have to go before city council for two readings before they are enacted.

QuickInfo: Floodplain

You can call the Surface and Stormwater Utility at 887-4035 to find out if your property lies in the newly redrawn floodplain.

A meeting at 6 p.m. Sept. 6 at the Lackey Municipal Building will present the revised floodplain insurance rate map.

Blair Dedrick can be reached at 887-3240 or bdedrick@kentuckynewera.com.