Brick's FEMA Map Appeal Gets Double Boost

Brick Township's long-discussed appeal of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's advisory flood maps got a double shot in the arm this week.

A conference call with representatives from FEMA and U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez's office on Tuesday yielded a piece of the puzzle township officials have long sought: access to FEMA's mapping software and its data.

"What is in our control is the challenge," township resident Ron Jampel, who started the Save Our Communities 2013 group, told Brick council members a week ago. "We've got thousands and thousands of people wanting that answer. There's no more important matter than this for the people who have been displaced."

The data from FEMA, township officials have said, is central to being able to create a stronger case to appeal the Advisory Base Flood Elevation maps that have added more than 4,000 Brick resident to 'V,' or velocity flood zones.

Being in a 'V' zone can mean significant cost increases to raising one's home to comply with elevation standards, since piling foundations must be used rather than block foundations, which are permissable under the 'A' flood zone.

Jampel, who said he was on a conference call with FEMA and township officials Tuesday, has been pushing the township to submit data before official appeals can be considered by FEMA, and for the data to be placed in the township's hands.

Mayor Stephen C. Acropolis said a "working" version of the next round of flood maps – known as preliminary maps – may be out in May.

"We plan on doing our own modeling, our own transect lines and presenting our own map to FEMA," said Acropolis, fresh off a meeting with a representative from an engineering firm who holds a doctorate degree in oceanographic engineering. "We're going to start that process now."

Acropolis said he plans on requesting the township council to add the firm, Najarian Associates, to the township's engineering pool at the next council meeting.

As it stands now, FEMA's raw data includes transect lines that show where a potential ocean wave would travel. They begin in the open ocean, cross over the township's barrier island section, then cross Barnegat Bay to the mainland sections. But if one such line travels over a particularly flat or low-lying area, the mayor said, the entire map could be affected. New mapping would include additional transect lines that would paint a more accurate picture.

Moreover, the next round of FEMA maps will likely take into account structures such as buildings and bulkheads that would decrease wave action, leading to fewer 'V' zones.

The data FEMA will turn over to the township might allow for a more robust appeal, Jampel said, since locally-known items such as streets that were graded or otherwise raised could also be taken into consideration.

"Brick will be able to insert all of the information that was missing," said Jampel.

Acropolis said the Najarian representative he met with has already taken a small look at Brick's situation and said many of the 'V' zones might be able to be changed.

"I actually felt a little better today after seeing that, that it's not just a hunch that the maps will scale back," he said.