FEMA Revises Concord River Floodplain Map, Affecting 100 Properties

By Kim Siebert MacPhail

Property owners affected by FEMA’s recent revisions to the Concord River floodplain map will soon receive an information packet from the Department of Public Works describing the changes. According to Acting DPW Director Adrienne St. John, FEMA has posted news of its latest floodplain map revisions in the Lowell Sun, but Director St. John is concerned that Bedford residents will not necessarily see that announcement. St. John therefore requested permission from the Selectmen on June 17 to send an informational mailing from her office to the approximately 100 affected property owners. Otherwise, St. John said, homeowners might not hear about the changes until they are notified by mortgage lenders that they need to increase their flood insurance.

“FEMA is not actively notifying individual property owners,” St. John said in a memo to the Selectmen that described the situation. She added that DPW staff members reviewed the maps and subsequently proposed that the Town reach out to the affected residents.

Included in the mailing will be neighborhood maps with color-coded dots that indicate the likelihood of flooding and changes in flood status. St. John noted that the term “100-year floodplain” has been replaced by “1 percent annual chance flood” because calculations of flooding frequency have been revised in recent years.

St. John said that affected home owners can appeal the new mapping if they feel that FEMA’s “hydraulic model, inputs, assumptions or parameters are incorrect.” If, for example, residents believe the elevation statistics of their property are not accurate on the map, they can file a letter of request to amend. Details and procedures are spelled out in the DPW’s mailing; St John said that it is unlikely that the Town itself will file an appeal of the new mapping specifications.

St. John said that the DPW, Conservation Department, and Assessors Office are all prepared to answer questions on how to read the information on the neighborhood maps. If there are questions that center around regulatory aspects or about the revision process itself, residents are urged to contact FEMA at 1-877-FEMA-MAP (1-887-3362-627).