Residents in the tri-city area can get information to assess their flood risk at FloodSmart.org. Courtesy photo

Alamo Heights City Council members were updated on revamped flood plain maps encompassing their region at their Feb. 25 meeting. In turn, they alerted residents to steeply discounted compost bins available for their use and also approved construction of a new daycare center.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, with support from the San Antonio River Authority (SARA), is modernizing its maps to provide a clearer picture of flood risks throughout Bexar County – including Alamo Heights. Toward that end, SARA official Nefi Garza outlined the public review process now in effect for affected municipalities.

“These maps show you rates of insurance,” Garza said. “They are being created to show risk, not a representation of what could happen.”

Indeed, predicting areas hardest hit by future flooding is conjecture, Garza suggested. Instead, the new digital maps are designed to display vulnerability given proximity to watersheds and assigning varying degrees of risk for insurance planning purposes, regulatory officials have previously stated.

Called Digital Flood Insurance Rate Maps, the representations will replace existing renderings which haven’t been updated since the 1970s. Digital format conversion – a $15 million project – will provide enhanced pictures of countywide flood risks. FEMA plans to recommend cities adopt digital renderings as their official community maps by December 2009, Garza said.

He noted FEMA’s 90-day public comment period for appeals and protests begins this month. But an application to submit such protests is due by April 21, according to a distributed sample form.

The region was deluged with record rainfall in October 1998 and July 2002, resulting in $1 billion-plus in damages, Garza reminded residents. In the floods’ wake, government officials joined to provide improved flood control, storm water management and water quality. Toward that end, SARA joined San Antonio officials and the Bexar County Commissioners Court in creating the Bexar Regional Watershed Management partnership.

Since the partnership’s formation, 19 suburban cities – Alamo Heights, Olmos Park and Terrell Hills among them — have joined to address flood issues. More information on revamped flood plain maps is available at BexarFloodFacts.org or by calling 227-1373. Residents wanting to assess their risk should visit FloodSmart.gov, while those with insurance queries can call 1-888-435-6637.

In other business, city council approved an application by the Archdiocese of San Antonio’s St. Peter Prince of Apostles Church to open a daycare/kindergarten on their property at 103 and 105 Marcia Place. With the approval, council allowed conversion of the pair of Marcia Place single-family homes into a child development center.

Discussion on the item continued from Feb. 11, when council members directed church officials to meet with nearby property owners to gauge reactions to the plan. Given a lack of objections, council approved the plan, with the condition that St. Peter’s own and operate the facility.

The city also did its small part for the environment in a cooperative effort with the Alamo Heights Neighborhood Association (AHNA), announcing receipt of 100 residential composting bins available to residents. The city is subsidizing much of the cost in promoting the bins’ use, selling bins to residents for a mere $20 – including assembly and delivery – after buying them at $37 a pop. The 80-gallon bins normally retail for $85.

“In addition to creating rich compost for landscaping and gardens, the bins reduce the amount of solid waste picked up and deposited at the landfill,” public works director Shawn Eddy noted.

AHNA president John Joseph sang the bins’ praises, noting their powers to compress waste into compost: “These things are really great. You can put weeds, grass, kitchen scraps in there and every day, two to three inches drops down.”

Mulch ado about nothing? Clearly not, according to Joseph!