AVALON – As of April 1, Avalon is the only community in New Jersey with a level 3 or higher Community Rating System (CRS) score. That rating level from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provides Avalon taxpayers with a 35% community discount on National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) premiums.
The CRS program is a national incentive program that provides participating communities with points for floodplain management practices that exceed the minimum necessary to be part of the NFIP.
There are nine levels, with level 1 the highest. Of the 1,745 communities on FEMA’s April 1, 2023, list of eligible communities, two have the highest score of level 1, six have a level 2 score, and 11 are rated level 3, including Avalon.
This was a difficult year for some communities who benefited in 2013 from FEMA CRS points given to incentivize towns to accept Advisory Base Flood Elevation Maps following Superstorm Sandy. Those points expired this year, forcing communities to find other ways to maintain their CRS point levels. Some failed to do so and fell back to lower ratings and lower premium discounts.
One way in which Avalon continued to score well in the CRS program is through its planning and public information activities related to floodplain management.
Avalon Council April 12 heard a report from borough engineer Thomas Thornton, of Mott MacDonald, concerning a revised version of the borough’s Floodplain Management Plan, which gains the borough 326 CRS points this year. The average points awarded for such a plan are 150, according to Thornton’s presentation.
The 326-point gain is close to 10% of the total 3,817 points that earned the borough the coveted level 3 rating. A level 3 rating requires a score of 3,500 to 4,000 points, meaning that Avalon is 187 points shy of moving up to a level 2, even in a year when the Superstorm Sandy points were lost.
Thornton walked the council through the nine sections that make up the Floodplain Management Plan. They include a community profile, hazard and impact assessments, goals and action plan and an implementation program. The plan then goes through an annual review process.
The plan development is done by a committee on which half the constituency is made up of members of the public. FEMA is very supportive of public participation, Thornton told the council members. Public notices and meetings make the work of the committee transparent to the community.
The hazard assessment section covers more than just flooding hazards, including coastal erosion, severe winter weather and even the threat of wildfires. It also covers all classes of flood hazard areas in the borough.
Planning for science-based response to sea level rise is part of the process using predictions and percentages established by the New Jersey Science and Technical Advisory Panel.
Goals are then set, and activities defined. Thornton referenced 70 possible activities across six broad areas. New activities in this version of the plan included the Bay Park Marina resiliency improvements, accelerated bulkhead replacements, establishing a local tidal gauge, and initiating a Business District flood study.
Avalon plans to submit the revised Floodplain Management Report to FEMA April 28. The slides used in the presentation to council can be viewed on the borough’s website.
Contact the author, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.
