Northlake WE P12-CS 921218 Federal Emergency Management Agency
The Honorable Mark Wolfe Case No.: 92-06-124P
Mayor of the City of Coppell Communitv~ City of Coppeil.
P.O. Box 478 Dallas and Denton
255 Parkway Boulevard Counties, Texas
Coppe!l, Texas 75019 Com~munitv No.: 480170
Dear Mavor Wolfe:
This is in reference to the Flood insurance Study (FIS) and Flood Insurance
Rate Map (FI~M) for the City of Coppeil. With a June 4, 1992, letter,
Mr. Kenneth M. Griffin. P.E., Coppell City Engineer. submitted ara appeal from
the City of Coppell for the December 18, 1991, preliminary re'.,ised City of
Coppe!l FIS and FIkM. We have completed our evaluation of this appeal and
determined that additional supporting data are necessary in order to resolve
it. These data are outlined later in this letter.
In order to address Mr. Griffin's concerns complete!v, we would first like ~o
outline the recent history of the City of Coppell FIS and FikM for you. On
September 22, 1988. the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FE>L~) issued a
preliminary revised FrS and F!kM for the City of Coppel! reflecting a restudy
of the Elm Fork Trinitv River prepared by [he U.S. Arm'; Corps of Engineers.
Fort Worth District. as well as incorporatin~ several pre-.-iouslv issued
Letters of Map Revision ~LOM~s). On January 12. 19~9. the city submitted a
comprehensive ~=~_~c,, of a:l of :..r:e si. reams w~t.r',:n ..o?pell ?repared f'or the
city by Kimley-itorn and Associates (KHA). The city also requested that FE2L~
not finalize the September 22. 1988, pre!in:inar? FiS and FIRM. but instead
issue a revised pre!iminarv FIS and FiPOI to reflect the Y~A restudy, as it
more accurately reflected existing floodplain conditions. However. the data
and analyses in the YJ~ restudy ~ere not sufficient to support a revision to
the Citv of Coppell FIS and FI~M as required bx' Par~ 65 of the ..... o~,al Flood
Insurance Program (NFIP) regulations. Therefore. FEMA forwarded letters
requesting revised and additional data to the City of Coppe!i on the follo~ing
dates: July 3, 1989; December 7, 1989; March 30. 1990: September 18. 1990:
and November 30. 1990. Because of the delay in submi:tin~ adequate data in
support of the KF~A restudy and because the then-effective ?'IP~M for the City of
Coppeil was outdated, the September 22, i988. pre!i;zinarv FIS and FlkM were
finalized and became effective on October 16, 1991. With an October 7, 1991.
letter, Ms. M. Shohre Daneshmand, P.E., Acting Coppell City Engineer.
forwarded the remaining data required to support the revision request. Thus,
on December 18. 1991, the preliminary revised F!S and FI~M were issued to
reflect the K~ restudy.
With a June 4, 1992, letter, Mr. Griffin submitted the city's appeal of the
1991 preliminary FIP~M which identified twenty separate areas of concern
regarding corporate limits changes, the addition of streets and street names,
and revised flood hazard information. The supporting data for this appeal
included "as-built" plans, legal deeds, annexation ordinances, and several
topographic maps. The requested changes to the December 18, 1991, preliminary
MacArthur Boulevard BridGe
Mr. Griffin submitted "as-built" plans for the MacArthur Boulevard
bridge that crosses Denton Creek and requested that the flood hazard
information for Denton Creek be revised to reflect this completed
project. As discussed later in this letter, additional data are
necessary to reflect the effects of the bridge at MacArthur Boulevard.
Northlake Woodlands East.~o.
Mr. Griffin submitted a floodplain study for this subdivision and
requested that the FI~M be revised as appropriate to reflect this
information. We have reviewed this information and determined that the
Northlake Woodlands East .~o. 12 subdivision is outside the lO0-vear
floodplain for Grapevine Creek as shown on the pre!iminarv revised ~I~M.
Thus, a revision to the Fi~M is not required for this subdivision.
Redelineation of Floodplain Boundaries for all Streams
In an October 23, 1992, letter, Mr. Griffin requested that the floodplains be
redelineated for each stream within the community uti!~zfng topographic
mapping provided by the City of Coppel!. With this letter. Mr. Griffin
submitted draft street and topographic ma~s. at a scale of ~"=~.~,~0~ w~~ .... a
contour interval of 10 feet. The City of Coppell submitted a final set of
topographic maps at a scale of 1"=~00° with a contour interval of 2 feet on
~ovember 25 1992 As discussed below. ~ wi~l not ~erform ~he work to
revise the floodplain delineations based on this ~o:~.ograph:c ~:~f~rmation.
This work must be performed by the city.
Additional Data Required by
Because the City of Coppe!l contracted KHA to prepare the da~a used to support
the December 18, 1991, preliminary revised FIS and Fi~M, it is inappropriate
for the City of Coppell to request that FEb[A correct the deficiencies result-
ing from the KHA analyses. In essence, the city is appealfng its own study
and is requesting that FE~ perform the necessary work at the expense of flood
insurance policyholders nationwide. >~evertheless, one of ~E~'s goals is to
assure that the most accurate flood hazard information possible is presented
on the FI~M for your community' thus, we will suspend processing of the
preliminary revised FIS and ~IP~M for 90 days in order for ','our community to
prepare the required data listed be
1. A copy of the December 18, 1991, preliminary revised FIRM
annotated to depict the revised corporate limits, added streets
and street names, and revised i00- and 500-year floodplain bound-
aries and floodwavs. All changes to floodplain boundaries must be
supported by topographic information certified by a registered
professional engineer or licensed land surveyor. This annotated
FIRM must also be certified bv a registered professional engineer.
6
We look forward to receiving the data necessary to provide the City of Coppell
with the most accurate FIRM possible. Should you have any questions regarding
this matter, please contact Matthew B. Miller of our Headquarters staff in
Washington, D.C., at (202) 646-3461. or by facsimile at (202) 646-3445.
Sincerely,
William R. Locke
Chief, Risk Studies Division
Federal Insurance Administration
Enclosures
Ms M. Shohre Daneshmand, P.E.
Mr Kenneth M. Griffin, P.E.
Mr Alan D. Ratliff, Manager of the City of Coppell
Mr Phil Deaton, P.E.. Carter & Burgess
Ms C. Jean Hansen, P.E., Albert H. l{a!ff Associates. Inc.
Mr Kevin Kendrick, P.E., Unzicker. $chnurbusch Associates
MrRobert Porter, P.E., Don /ipton
Engineers
Mr Bill Wallace, P.E.. Nathan D. Maier
State Coordinator