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Thompson, Johnny-CS 890223 P.O. Box 478 Coppell, Texas 75019 The City With A Beautiful Future 214- 462- 0022 FILE COPY MEMORANDUM DATE: February 23, 1989 TO: Alan Ratliff, City Manager FROM: Russell R.,~C~t¥ Engineer RE: I~F-~ #1 OF THE FEBRUARY 19, 1989~OHNNY THOMPSON L~R ENDORSED BY 3 COUNCILMEN Item 1 of subject letter makes the statement about "the placement of Mr. Thompson's entire property in the flood way by the City". That same letter had five attachments referred to as Documentation. My eYaluation of that letter and the accompanying documentation, is that some of the documentation relates to item 1, some does not and some only speculates about it from a distance'. That is, the documentation is inconclusive to prove or disprove the specific statement of Item 1. But in an effort to honor this request for City Council consideration and to prouide some substantive information for their consideration, I provide the following. First of all the "entire property" is not defined nor has it ever been well defined in my conversations with Mr. Thompson. I am aware of two tracts of land owned or brokered/represented by Mr. Thompson. One tract contains warehouses that I belieue are east of the easterly city limit line prior to the 1986 annexation and was annexed at that time. I don't belieue I have seen a certified surue¥ (by a licensed public surveyor) with the boundary of the tract, the buildings and the then existing nor current city limit lines. Mr. Thompson has shown me, many times, the drawing that was submftted in application for a water extension to some of his properties. That drawing contained some spot elevations and occasional contour in areas that is supposedly his property but not "near" the proposed water main alignment and proposed easement for the placement of the water main. continued../2 -2- I understand that that drawing was produced to represent the design and possible construction of a water main extension not, as I understand was it to show evidence in compliance with the regulation of our local flood plain ordinance and the United States Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) regulations and requirements to exhibit that the property in question is not in the floodway nor to prove it was ever in the floodway. I provide the above information to exhibit some of the efforts of Mr. Thompson to prove that these properties are not in the floodway. If Mr. Thompson would ever show by a survey and other information that the information used by FEMA in their Flood Insurance study is in error and that his property is not (or was ever in the floodway) then Mr. Thompson could now, or anytime through either the FEMA appeals process as defined in Mr. Thompson's documentation #2, "F.E.M.A. rules for the designation of floodways"; or though the standard process of a Letter of Map Amendments (LOMA) (such process furnished to Mr. Thompson by transmittal memo dated January 24, 1989 copy attached). This transmittal was done after many many conversations between Mr. Thompson and Shohre Daneshmand, Civil Engineer and myself, both at separate and combined sessions. Both the FEMA appeals process and the FEMA LOMA process requires much documentation to be developed and submitted by a registered professional Engineer or a licensed land surveyor for review and approval. Mr. Thompson adamantly objects to do that because he must retain such a professional to accomplish this work for him and his private property and, in fact, expects the City Engineer for the City of Coppell to certify his accusations for him to the City of Coppell and to FEMA using such items as that proposed water main drawing and such other items as the boundary survey partly copied as documentation No. 4 with his February 19, 1989 letter. As that partial boundary survey exhibits, it is a survey for a 592.9838 acre tract of land of which it appears Mr. Thompson's property is outside the boundary shown. Mr. Thompson expects that such a boundary survey covers his property which is only contiguous (not within) to the property for which the Boundary Survey was made. continued..%/3 -3- Mr. Thompson also expects the City Engineer to use the Riverchase Floodplain study to prove that his property is not in the floodway. I could discuss this further, but that is inappropriate, illegal and assumes liability to use another engineer's information gathered for another reason and to use it for something else. Likewise it is inappropriate for the Coppell City Engineer to certify using "information of sorts" in the interests of a "private individual" land owner. A City Engineer should only act on projects authorized by the City Council and those will, more than likely, be in the interest of the public at large and not for one individual land owner. While this explanation is somewhat lengthy, I must present it to exhibit what has already been coLt~,unicated to Mr. Thompson on numerous occasion and to exhibit a little (could provide a much more in depth explanation) of the complexity of the situation both in what is needed to prove a tract is not in the floodway and the difference in responsibilities between a private practicing registered engineer (which Mr. Thompson refuses to retain as required by City ordinances and F.E.M.A. regulations) and a practicing public registered engineer employed by the City of Coppell to practice in the interests of the public good as a whole and not to serve in the sole interest of an individual land owner(s).It is a conflict of interest for me to do engineering work for a private citizen in Coppell and be the City Engineer. A couple of comments regarding the statement in item 1. To address specific occurrences as to when Mr. Thompson "entire property" was "placed" in the floodway may take much research and resources and may even be indeterminate especially to the satisfaction of all parties. Suffice it to say that per the attached excerpt (too voluminous to attach here) from The Texas Water Commission response letter to Mayor Lou Duggan dated January 6, 1988 on the TWC's Come, unity Assistance visit= On November 17, 1988, the City of Coppell entered the Emergency National Flood Inusurance Program on 6-11-85 and converted to the regular National Flood Insurance Program on August 10, 1988. continued.../4 -4- The August 1, 1980 Flood Boundary and Floodway map shows that the entire area in and around Mr. Thompson's property was in the floodway from the initiation of the Flood Insurance Program. Engineering hydraulics and physical requirements produce the Floodway. By definition in the City's Floodplain Management Ordinance, "Regulatory Floodway" is the channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent land areas that must be reserved (not be filled in or built upon) in order to discharge (convey or carry) the base flood. The Base Flood is the flood or water surface caused by a one hundred year runoff event produced by a 100 year rainfall. Therefore, the City nor FEMAplaced the Johnny Thomson property in the floodway. It has been in the floodway since it was identified (flooding) in 1980 and probably for time immemorial. When one buys floodway property, that's what one owns unless, or until one, by definition, takes action to remove it from the floodway. Chances are that floodway land or tracts are not sold or bought at developable prices because a prudent buyer will realize what is the cost to remove property from the floodway to allow development. It appears that the water level for a 100 year event could have increased since 1980, thereby Thompson's property is maybe deeper water but appears to have always been in the floodway. One last com~ent, the City Attorney is better qualified to provide an opinion on the news article attached as documentation; but, the court only gave warning not to go too far and that is true in any part of life. I believe the onus is on Mr. Thompson to show by facts, verified by a licensed Engineer, that his property was not or is not in the floodway or some one placed it in the Floodway. I am sure such court cases occurred in the mid to late seventies and Larry Jackson can best provide advice to the City Council in Executive sessions because it deals with possible litigation. My memory and recall estimates that I alone have spent more than 25 hours on Mr. Thompson's problem(s), and in the seven months I have been here the time is greater than that. Ms. Daneshmand and our secretaries have spent much time with him and in researching information in response to his requests. aD/kg/ xc: Shohre Daneshmand, Civil Engineer C/JOhNNY Entered Emergency Program - 06/11/75 Conversion to Regular Program - 08/10/80 SUMMARY OF INSURANCE COVERAGEANDCLAI~S / Number of NFIP - Direct Policies in Force - 7 Number of WYO - Policies in Force - 17 Total Policies in Force 2~ Amount of NFIP - Direct Coverage -$ 584,100 Amount of WYO Coverage - 2,0200400 Total Coverage $2,604,500 Number of Claims Paid - -0- Amount Paid -$ -0- A driving tour of the City's floodplains was conducted on Novem- ber 16, 1988, using the new Preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) dated 09/22,88. The tour was to identify any new develop- ment in the redefined floodplain, and to review problems identi- fied in the Community Assistance Visit (CAV) performed by Maryetta Cunningham (FEMA) in June 1987. The following observations of development in the Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA) were noted: ~. 1. Cottonwood Branch at Sandy Lake Road is overgrown with vegetation. 2. All houses along east side of Winding Hollow Lane are i~..9~ ~ on lots that extend into floodway. Determine if building sites are out of floodway. 3. Mobile home park on south side of Denton Creek at U.S. ~ Highway 121 has several units located in floodplain and ' floodway. (June 1987 CAV) 4. Junk yard on north side of Denton Creek at U.S. Highway ~ 121 has structures and junk in floodplain and floodway. ~C~,,.~ (June 1987 CAV) ~ · 5. 348 Parkview Place is a new home bordering the Denton ~-) Creek floodplain. Check SFHA determination and lowest floor elevation. 6. City Service Center on Deforest Road appears to be ? w-~,'=~ located in floodplain of Denton Creek. (June 1987 CAV) ~)w. 7. Multiple piles of fill material located on east side of om.~L Allen Road just south of dead-end.