The Leominster legal affairs committee held a public hearing with Katie Pate of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Flood Hazard Management Program on FEMA’s new flood insurance rate maps and the administrative steps the city must take before the new maps become effective on July 8.

Pate said the city’s current maps are dated (effective 1989) and FEMA is delivering updated, digital flood insurance rate maps (FIRMs) and flood insurance studies for the watershed. She told the committee that as of January 30 the city had 14 National Flood Insurance Program policies totaling about $28.3 million in coverage and that the city must adopt the FEMA map date and update its local floodplain bylaw to at least meet the Massachusetts model floodplain bylaw by July 8 to remain in compliance with the NFIP.

Pate described technical changes in many panels (color-coded maps with new paneling and aerial imagery), noted where floodplain delineations increase or decrease in the preliminary maps and urged local staff and officials to review the new GIS files on FEMA’s map service center or the NFHL viewer. She also said the new maps will combine features previously shown on two separate maps (flood insurance rate and floodway boundary) into one panel, and that regulatory requirements for the 1% annual chance floodplain and the floodway will be easier to locate on the new panels.

Committee action and next steps: legal affairs confirmed it will keep the public hearing open and asked KP Law (city counsel) to convert the model bylaw language provided by DCR into ordinance form for council consideration. The committee said it will obtain a planning board referral (planning board meets April 7) and aim to return the ordinance for council action in advance of the July 8 effective date.

Why this matters: failure to adopt the new FIRMs and a compliant local bylaw could jeopardize community participation in the National Flood Insurance Program, the committee was told. That participation matters for property owners and businesses that rely on NFIP insurance and for eligibility for certain federal grants and disaster assistance.

Public participation and materials: the committee said city engineering and DPW staff downloaded preliminary map layers and have made files available for review in the city clerk’s office. Pate provided DCR contact information and the Flood Hazard Management Program’s web resources and encouraged municipal staff to forward a completed local ordinance to DCR so DCR can submit the city’s adoption package to FEMA.

Committee scheduling: the public hearing was continued; committee staff requested a draft ordinance from KP Law and a planning board referral so the matter can return to legal affairs with a proposed ordinance before July 8.