CENTRE — Cherokee County is practically inundated with water, either from Weiss Lake or some contributing river or stream. And for the past few months, the county highway engineer has been knee-deep in it, trying to solve a problem that has been around – though largely ignored – for the past 20 years.

Corey Chambers last week told a group of local real estate agents that his recently acquired second job, that of overseeing implementation of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) flood plain restrictions, has been ongoing since last June.

“We're working steadily,” Chambers told a packed house Wednesday morning. “We've looked at around 6,000 pieces of property. The good news is we've only had to send out 188 letters of non-compliance.”

But Assistant Engineer John Bates said he expects that number to rise as the canvass moves into central areas of the county predominated by Weiss Lake shoreline.

“We might get into a quarter-mile area around the lake and it has 75 parcels,” Bates said. “Over in Forney or somewhere, you might have one landowner with 500 acres. So it makes a big difference with campgrounds, recreation lots, things like that.”

Earlier, Chambers had kicked off the meeting by explaining the need for all the extra work he and Bates have been doing.

“Cherokee County had to go into the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) in June 1991,” he said. “The purpose was because FEMA backs all flood insurance in the county and for those policies to be issued we had to be a member of the NFIP. The ordinance that the County Commission has approved is a model ordinance provided to us by FEMA.”

Chambers said failure to enforce the ordinance runs the risk that the county could become ineligible for federal funding, including disaster relief, and for all existing flood insurance policies in the county being revoked.

“In that case, if you had a mortgage and a flood insurance policy which is required by the lender, then there is the possibility that if the policy is revoked the mortgage could come due,” Chambers said. “That's one thing we want to make sure never happens.”

The FEMA ordinance went largely ignored by the county government for decades. Finally a few years ago, FEMA became aware of the lax enforcement and instructed the county to get to work.

But Chambers said it is only recently that technological advances have made thorough enforcement possible.

“We have been able to overlay the flood map provided to us by FEMA with some very nice software that Johnny Roberts uses,” Chambers said. “It was really impossible for us to do this job until we got access to that software.”

Chambers said Bates uses the tax assessor's parcel system to locate and identify structures that may lie in the flood plain. He said the structures range in variety from storage sheds to stationary recreational vehicles to enclosed full-time dwellings.

“First, John tries to determine if it was built before June 17, 1991. If it was, then it is a grandfathered structure” and is not held to FEMA requirements, Chambers said. “Unless it has 'substantial improvements' then it does not have to comply.”

Chambers explained that FEMA considers “substantial improvements” to be construction worth 50 percent or more of the value of the property.

If a structure built after 1991 is suspected of lying inside the flood plain, Chambers and Bates then begin their investigation in earnest.

“We send out a series of certified letters so that we have documentation that we have contacted each property owner,” Chambers said. “FEMA requires that we keep on file an elevation certificate, so we're asking for that.”

Chambers said the certificates must be obtained from a licensed surveyor and typically cost around $300.

“When we get that certificate we're going to look at it and that may be all we need," Chambers said. "So we'll send a letter back to the property owner thanking them for getting us that information and there will be no further action.”

However, if the survey turns up a problem, the county must take additional steps to satisfy whatever requirement FEMA determines should apply to that particular structure.

“We have to take every structure as it comes because FEMA has different things that it will allow a property owner to do,” he said. “If you're using a storage area for your lawnmower, FEMA will look at that differently than if it's a living room with a couch, a TV and appliances.”

Several minimal violations have already been resolved, Chambers said, with solutions as simple as adding vents in foundations to allow water to flow through, or by raising air conditioning units.

“But a lot of the structures we're coming to now, it's not as easy because the finished floor of the structure is below the flood plain,” he said. “There's not much as you can do.”

When one real estate agent asked Chambers what would happen if a property owner refused all attempts by the county and FEMA to bring a structure into compliance with the NFIP, he said the final word will ultimately come from Washington, D.C.

“Basically, when every attempt has been made to work with you, then your flood insurance will be revoked,” he said. “Even if you don't have a mortgage, if you ever wanted to sell, then the new buyer would not be able to borrow money against the property until the issue gets resolved.”