By Navar Watson
The effects of Hurricane Katrina nine years ago have hit Noblesville, affecting dozens of East Harbor residents and their trees.
In response to the multiple levee failures Katrina caused, FEMA is requiring new levee inspections, prompting levee owners to certify their levees under FEMA’s new regulations in order to receive accreditation. These regulations require a vegetation-free zone of at least 15 feet outside the base of either side of a levee. Some vegetation in the East Harbor neighborhoods inhabits this zone of the Morse Reservoir levee, and Citizens Energy Group plans to remove them.
Citizens Energy addressed the facts at a recent meeting in city hall with residents of East Harbor I and II, many of whom planted the trees scheduled for destruction. Having trees within the vegetation-free zone risks root infiltration into the levee itself, A.J. Fricke of Christopher B. Burke Engineering explained at the meeting, and they must be removed.
Fricke said FEMA is updating their flood insurance rate maps to a digital format and if levee owners do not comply with these regulations and certify their levee, then FEMA will label those areas behind the levees as high-risk flood hazard areas.
“Maintaining this levee and having it certified is, we believe, the right thing to do for the community,” said Jeff Willman, director of external affairs for Citizens Energy. “If we were to not maintain the levee, then that would affect a lot of people.”
Willman said being labeled as a high-risk area would force “much higher” flood insurance premiums on residents. FEMA would also enforce building and development restrictions upon businesses in the affected area.
Some key areas of removal will be north toward the end of Dakota Drive, past the park and up to the cul-de-sac. Citizens Energy plans to remove some trees along Party Cove as well. Many of the targeted trees, though planted by residents, still sit on Citizens Energy property. Citizens Energy is awaiting easements, or rights of use, for the properties they do not own.
“We’re not trying to make life difficult for any of the neighbors,” Willman said. “We value those relationships. We value relationships with the city of Noblesville. It’s just the right thing to do.”
Fricke said he has pushed to reduce the number of trees scheduled for destruction. Many residents, however, suggested applying for a variance, which would request an exception to some of FEMA’s regulations.
“We really need to look into a variance … That step ought to be taken and given enough time to [consider],” Mayor John Ditslear said. “If we have to get Congresswoman [Susan] Brooks and a couple senators on, that’s okay too.”
Willman said Citizens Energy will “revisit” the idea of applying for a variance and notify the residents on the development of that.
Director of Water Production Ed Malone said Citizens Energy is funding the project and that no federal moneys are involved in the certification process.
The Morse Reservoir levee, comprised entirely of earthen embankment, runs approximately 12,850 feet long through East Harbor I and II. It was constructed in the mid-1950s as a “line of protection at a specific elevation,” Fricke said.
Citizens Energy will provide an advisory to residents prior to any removal of vegetation, according to Willman. Engineering Project Manager Steve Summerlot said he hopes to begin the removal process in mid-July, depending on when he receives all of the easements.
