Welcome to another update form the Marshfield Citizens Coastal Coalition. It is crunch time. With only 38 days left to appeal the maps, there is a lot of activity, from both others and us. There are several very important updates for this week:
MCCC Map Appeal Workshop
As you may know, we are in a 90-day appeal period for the FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM). A successful appeal would lower the Base Flood Elevation (BFE) in certain areas. We plan to make an attempt at an appeal. To do this, WE NEED YOUR HELP! Please attend our map appeal workshop on Thursday September 12th, at 6:00pm at Saint Anns Parish Hall, Marshfield. We are asking people to bring an elevation certificate (if you have one) and a site or plot plan, as long as it has topography on it. We hope to find errors with topography on the FIRMs. Because of the number of people we expect, we have broken the workshop into six different sessions:
6:00pm – Humarock
6:30pm – Rexham
7:00pm – Ocean Bluff (Including roads of Ocean Street)
7:30pm – Brant Rock
8:00pm – Green Harbor (Including roads of Careswell)
8:30pm – All Others
While citizens do not have to adhere exactly to this, it will help the flow of people. Please click the link on our website homepage to sign up digitally.
This workshop will be both a data collection and educational evening. There will be four stations. A map reading area, a video of our educational presentation, a site plan and elevation certificate data collection area, and a general questions area. The goal of the September 12th meeting is to gather as much elevation data as we can, and apply it to our map appeal as well as help you, the citizens, with questions you may have. If you cannot make the meeting, we have a page where you can submit the data digitally (more below).
Recap of Sept. 4th FEMA meeting
The September 4th FEMA meeting was a great display of the devastation these changes will have on Marshfield. Many outraged homeowners told FEMA how these changes could end up causing them to leave their homes. Representative Jim Cantwell as well as U.S. Representative Steve Lynch were in attendance, and spoke eloquently demanding FEMA make the necessary steps to change the harsh implementations of the flood maps. Rep. Lynch said he would take “legal action” if necessary. The Town of Marshfield is also considering attempting a map appeal in the time we have left. State Senator Bob Hedlund has also asked Attorney General Martha Coakley to block the implementation of the FIRM maps and Biggert-Waters. It is great to see our leaders on our side. The meeting will be replayed on local cable at these times:
Tonight 9/6 6:30 p.m., Sat 9/7 11:00 a.m., Sun 9/8 7:00 p.m., Mon 9/9 9:00 a.m., Fri 9/13 6:30 p.m
Media
The media is finally hitting the flood issue hard. The MCCC was on the cover of the Patriot Ledger on Thursday September 5th, and there is a large article in this weekends Ledger we are featured in. The Marshfield Mariner, WATD radio, and even Fox 25 has featured our committee and the issue at hand.
Our Website
We have a very helpful page now on our website called the “What Can I do?” page. This page is where you can find our meeting sign ups, elevation data submission page, and info on what you as homeowners can do to help reduce your premiums. Also there have been additions added to our downloads page.
Finally, the MCCC would like to thank everyone for their support and help. As MCCC Doris Crary says, “We fought this once and won, now we can do it again”. As always, visit the website and spread the word.
Marshfield Citizens Coastal Coalition
