CENTRE — Federal officials in Montgomery recently lauded Cherokee County's efforts to enact procedures for enforcing regulations pertaining to the Federal Emergency Management Agency's 100-year-flood plain.

In an e-mail dated June 16, National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) State Coordinator James Meredith reported that “the county has established one of the best programs I have seen in Alabama.”

Chief Highway Engineer Corey Chambers, who heads the program, was glad to hear the kind words.

“We were excited to get that kind of reaction from Mr. Meredith after all of the time and effort over that last year,” Chambers told The Post. “It let us know that we have our program headed in the right direction.”

After decades of fits and starts – and several years of outright apathy – since the county joined the NFIP in 1991, FEMA officials in 2006 demanded that the County Commission begin enforcement of the flood ordinance. By 2009, commissioners had decided that Chambers and Revenue Commissioner Johnny Roberts should work together to establish a method for canvassing the entire county and eliminating any flood zone violations.

By June 2010, county officials had created an integrated system using the Revenue office's satellite imagery to determine where possible flood zone violations might exist. So far, Chambers said over 6,500 individual pieces of property have been examined.

“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. “There have been 233 letters sent informing individuals of compliance issues. Out of these, 100 individuals have made there structures compliant in one way or another.”

Chambers said failure to enforce the ordinance runs the risk that the county could become ineligible for federal funding, including disaster relief. Also, he said, all existing flood insurance policies in the county risk being revoked if the ordinance had continued to be ignored.

“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.”

Chambers said he and Assistant Engineer John Bates use 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.”

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

In the closing of his e-mail, State Coordinator Meredith reported to his superiors that he felt strongly that “Corey Chambers and John Bates have remedied” any concerns FEMA once had about lack of flood zone enforcement in Cherokee County.