Madison County Flood Map Revision

Madison County, MS 03/16/09
Flood risk maps appeal deadline

Posted: March 16, 2009 05:22 PM

Updated: March 16, 2009 07:53 PM

Flood risk maps appeal deadline

By David Kenney - bio | email

MADISON COUNTY, MS (WLBT) - Some Madison county homeowners could face big bills protecting their homes from floods in the future.

New flood risk maps for the county are placing homes in a flood area, when they never were before.

Residents in those areas could be forced to buy flood insurance by F.E.M.A..

Harvey Crossing Homeowners Association President Frank Halford is racing against the clock to get his subdivision exempt from the recently flood risk maps.

A large portion of the neighborhood is for the first time listed in a flood area, which would mean mandatory flood insurance for residents.

"They could find themselves all of a sudden be paying $100.00 a month extra for flood insurance they probably don't need," says Halford.

Halford is working with Harvey Crossing developers to provide F.E.M.A. with information proving all the homes sit above the flood plain.

He and other residents have until April 22nd to appeal the new flood maps.

Across the county residents are being urged to challenge their flood risk.

If they don't or can't they'll have to pay flood insurance, which they can save a great deal on if they get it before the April deadline.

"On a $200,000.00 house with $80,000.00 in coverage it could be around $326.00 a year if they get it today before the maps go into effect if they have it then they're grandfathered when the maps go into effect and they will be able to get it at about half of the $2,000.00," says District 3 Supervisor D.I. Smith.

Homebuyers are also being urged to inquire about the new flood risk.

The added flood insurance could drastically increase house payments depending on where people live.

One good thing about the new maps.

Some residents have been removed from flood areas, which will mean a savings for them.

"Based on what I've been told by the engineers, we should be able to overcome this."

Madison county residents are being urged to contact their city flood plain manager, or the county planning and zoning department, to find out if their home will be affected.

NACo Press Release: D.I. Smith: Nation’s counties committed to working toward economic recovery

D.I. SMITH, Madison County Supervisor, District 3, recently returned from the nation’s capital with a new sense of optimism about Restoring the Partnership between counties and the federal government, but remained concerned about the tough economic times and difficult decisions that await county officials in the months ahead.

Supervisor D.I. Smith participated in the National Association of Counties (NACo) 2009 Legislative Conference, March 7-11, in Washington, D.C., which featured remarks from four U.S. cabinet secretaries. One of the main objectives of the Legislative Conference is to bring county and federal government officials together to discuss key priorities and specific legislation, regulations and funding levels affecting local government services and programs.

Click here for entire press release.

Garbage Pickup Changes Mulled

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT MADISON COUNTY TRASH PICKUP? Scroll down and complete poll in right column. ALSO, PROVIDE YOUR COMMENTS BY CLICKING "Comments" below.
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February 19, 2009

Supervisors tackle trash pick-up issue

By Lucy Weber
lweber@mcherald.com

Madison County officials are starting to consider how garbage will be picked up starting Oct. 1.

The Board of Supervisors is looking at staying with current contractor Red River, switching providers or putting the county back in the trash business.

"We're in the process of deciding," board president Paul Griffin said at the supervisors' meeting Tuesday.

"I'd like to save money, but my deal on garbage is service," Griffin said. "We're missing some service when it's privatized. Who can serve best? Those out to make money or those to serve the people? Madison County employees are out to serve the people."

The county's four-year contract with Red River expires Sept. 30. Two weeks ago, supervisors voted to give the company six-months notice they planned to terminate the contract for once-a-week garbage pickup. However, the county can still renew the two-year option on Red River's contract.

"They haven't ruled anything in or out," board attorney Eric Hamer said.

District 1 Supervisor John Bell Crosby asked the board to consider all options for garbage disposal by seeking information from companies that could be interested in the job and input from the county's road department on how it would handle the trash pickup.

"I realize that doing it ourselves is an option but we need to look at all our options," Crosby said.

Crosby's motion failed. District 3 Supervisor D.I. Smith voted with Crosby while Griffin, Tim Johnson of District 2 and Karl Banks of District 4 voted against seeking requests for proposals (RFPs).

"At some point we can decide. We don't want to lock ourself into RFPs," Johnson said.

The county sold its aging garbage trucks when it turned over garbage pickup to Red River. Getting new trucks will take several months so the process would need to start by early April if that's the direction the county chooses, purchasing clerk Hardy Crunk told the board.

Chip Barton of Red River and Buford Clark of Waste Management asked the supervisors to consider their services.

"We'd like to talk about renewing for two more years," Barton said.

"We want to be one of your options," Clark said. "We think we can save you some money."

County administrator Donnie Caughman said initial estimates are that it would cost the county $1.8 million to resume garbage collection services while the cost to say with Red River is $2 million annually.

If the county does not contract with an outside company for pickup, then the county has a choice for doing the job in-house.

The supervisors agreed to hire an outside consultant to conduct a feasibility study of creating a Madison County solid waste collection authority.

"This lets the county operate solid waste collection like a business," consultant Jim McNaughton said. "It's more professional."

The authority would be a separate entity under county government and allows for more accountability in garbage pickup, McNaughton said. "I would encourage you to do this on an enterprise basis," he said. "If the county wants to get into the garbage collection business, now is an opportune time."

The county could establish an authority and then invite other cities or counties to join in the enterprise and share the cost or pick up trash in other locales under contracts. The advantages of an authority are to control the level of service and to control long-term costs, McNaughton said.

The feasibility study will determine what the county's cost will be to begin the service compared to private companies, he said. "We can put the numbers to it to see if it makes sense."

The county will pay McNaughton $150 per hour for the feasibility study that is expected to be completed in 40-60 hours.

Johnson said he's leery of establishing a Madison County authority. Instead, he said he would rather see the Central Mississippi Planning and Development District set up the authority and allow Madison County to participate through it.