LACKAWANNA
Removal from flood map debated
Lackawanna lawmakers Monday debated the most efficient means for property near Smokes Creek to be removed from the revised Federal Emergency Management Agency flood map.
The creek, which runs through a portion of the city, has not flooded in more than 50 years, according to residents and city officials, yet FEMA requires those with property in the federally designated flood zone to carry expensive flood insurance, in addition to the homeowners’ and property insurance they already carry.
First Ward Councilwoman Andrea Haxton recommended the Council hold a public hearing for residents to voice their complaints about being included in the flood zone and invite officials from FEMA, the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers and other state and federal officials who may be able to advise the city on how best to get areas surrounding Smokes Creek removed from the federal flood zone map.
The rest of the Council declined to consider holding such a hearing. Second Ward Councilman Geoffrey Szymanski i suggested that a meeting with members from all the pertinent agencies, as well as Rep. Brian Higgins, and Sens. Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand might yield better results.
The Council’s decision to not hold a public hearing did not set well with Kevin Lapis, a 2nd Ward resident who lives on Kirby Avenue. While other property owners in the Smokes Creek area are paying anywhere from $300 to $700 a year for federal flood insurance, Lapis said he pays nearly $1,400.
“Every year my flood insurance keeps on going up, [and] I’m writing a check for an escrow shortage,” Lapis said. “I want to know that you are fighting for us,” he told lawmakers.
Lawmakers and Mayor Norman Polanski — who attended the Council’s work session, left during the regular meeting and returned after the meeting ended — expressed frustration that the city was not being guided on how to get the Smokes Creek area removed from the flood map in the same way that nearly 2,400 property owners near Cazenovia Creek in South Buffalo were assisted in having their area removed from the federal flood zone map last September.
“I think the next step is to actually call a meeting with the [state Department of Environmental Conservation] and a few others,” said Szymanski.
Smokes Creek was last dredged in 1986, City Clerk Jacqueline Caferro said. Polanski said the Army Corps of Engineers is required to seek a permit from the DEC to conduct a dredging which, the mayor said, the corps has so far not obtained.
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