Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

JPs Hold Off On Flood Plan Approval

If your home is one of the few in Nevada County needing flood insurance, you will have to wait at least another month before the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) plan is reviewed again by Nevada County Quorum Court.

JPs decided during its regular meeting Monday, September 13, to wait and talk with Clark County's NFIP coordinator, Jerry Burns, before going any further.

JP Adron Dobber' Hicks told the rest of the quorum court members that the program calls for a "lot of red tape," and is "too much big brother.

"The smart thing is to forget it," Hicks told JPs. "The county just does not have the money to fund the program at this time."

NFIP program requires that someone be in charge of verifying that all homes in a projected 100-year flood plain meet requirements outlined in the program.

JPs first learned about the program about three months ago when Meredith DeWoody approached the group about approving the plan. Her home on Highway 24 East sits in a flood area.

DeWoody told JPs that she and her husband, Pete, did not realized their home was in a flood plain until they looked into refinancing their home at a lower interest rate and realized they would need flood insurance before refinancing.

DeWoody has also provided JPs with other information about the plan which also provides Small Business Administration (SBA) federally assisted loans and funds if tornadoes strike the county.

It is estimated that less than five percent of the residences in the county sit in a flood plain, though thousands of acres are involved.

Further discussion of the plan was tabled until October's meeting with Burns attendance being requested.

In other business, JPs moved $2,600 from the Nevada County Sheriff's budget into the D.A.R.E. budget to purchase t-shirts for those who have graduated from the drug resistance program. The program has since been done away with.

JPs also heard a report from County Judge James Roy Brown concerning Nevada County's failing of the co-efficient ratio.

The ratio reflects the price homes are being sold for compared to what they are appraised for. Nevada County is one of 22 counties that failed, according to Brown.

Failing requires the county to go through a reassessment.