§ 34-33. Duties and responsibilities of the engineering department.

Duties of the engineering department shall include, but not be limited to:

(1)

Review of all development permits to assure that the requirements of this chapter have been satisfied, and that proposed building sites will be reasonably safe from flooding.

(2)

Advice to permittee that additional federal or state permits may be required, and if specific federal or state permit requirements are known, require that copies of such permits be provided and maintained on file with the development permit. This shall include Section 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, 33 U.S.C. 1334.

(3)

Notification to adjacent communities and the state department of economic and community development, local planning office, prior to any alteration or relocation of a watercourse, and submission of evidence of such notification to the federal emergency management agency.

(4)

For any altered or relocated watercourse, submit engineering data/analysis within six months to the Federal Emergency Management Agency to ensure accuracy of community flood maps through the letter of map revision process. Assure that the flood carrying capacity within an altered or relocated portion of any watercourse is maintained.

(5)

Record the actual elevation (in relation to mean sea level or highest adjacent grade, whichever is applicable) of the lowest floor (including basement) of all new or substantially improved buildings, in accordance with subsection 34-32(2).

(6)

Record the actual elevation (in relation to mean sea level or highest adjacent grade, whichever is applicable) to which the new or substantially improved buildings have been floodproofed, in accordance with subsection 34-32(2).

(7)

When floodproofing is utilized for a structure, the engineering department shall obtain certification of design criteria from a registered professional engineer or architect, in accordance with subsection 34-32(2).

(8)

Where interpretation is needed as to the exact location of boundaries of the areas of special flood hazard (for example, where there appears to be a conflict between a mapped boundary and actual field conditions) the engineering department shall make the necessary interpretation. The person contesting the location of the boundary shall be given a reasonable opportunity to appeal the interpretation as provided in section 34-34.

(9)

When base flood elevation data or floodway data have not been provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, then the engineering department shall obtain, review and reasonably utilize any base flood elevation and floodway data available from a federal, state or other source, including data developed as a result of these regulations, as criteria for requiring that new construction, substantial improvements, or other development in zone A on the community FHBM or FIRM meet the requirements of this chapter.

Within unnumbered A zones, where base flood elevations have not been established and where alternative data is not available, the engineering department shall require the lowest floor building to be elevated or floodproofed to a level of at least three feet above the highest adjacent grade (lowest floor and highest adjacent grade being defined in section 34-12). All applicable data including elevations or flood proofing certifications shall be recorded as set forth in section 34-32.

(10)

All records pertaining to the provisions of this chapter shall be maintained in the office of the engineering department and shall be open for public inspection. Permits issued under the provisions of this chapter shall be maintained in a separate file or marked for expedited retrieval within combined files.

(Ord. No. O-07-2-102, § 1(Exh. A), 4-16-07)