The village of Glen Ellyn will alert 24 property owners with structures built in floodplains about purchasing flood insurance at a cheaper rate through a federal program.
Every five years, the village is re-evaluated to confirm the community is complying with FEMA’s Community Rating system. The FEMA program allows residents to purchase flood insurance at a discounted rate, which is currently set at 10 percent.
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Ray Ulreich, the village’s stormwater engineer, says Glen Ellyn can qualify for a greater discount through additional outreach methods. At this time, the village only notifies residents through its newsletter. By taking more proactive measures to notify the property owners, Ulreich said the village will be able to double the current discount to 20 percent.
There are 240 parcels of land in the village’s nine floodplains, with 56 buildings either completely or partially in the flood zone, according to village data. Of those buildings, 32 have some form of flood insurance that covers the structure, the contents inside, or both.
Ulreich urged trustees to authorize staff to send letters to those property owners who have not purchased the insurance, and to allow staff to meet with them to provide an assessment of what they might need. The FEMA CRS program allows participating villages to use targeted marketing techniques to earn points in a rating system to increase possible flood insurance discounts.
Village Manager Mark Franz said village staff periodically receives calls from residents about flooding. Sending a note to property owners in the floodplain, he said, might help resolve any misunderstanding about flood insurance.
Trustee Diane McGinley was opposed to village staff reaching out to landowners about possible insurance coverage.
“That’s an insurance salesman’s job, not the village’s,” McGinley said.
Ulreich said he didn’t want to promote flood insurance, but wanted to create a better floodplain management program for the village.
Despite McGinley’s concerns, other trustees said there was no harm in notifying those property owners about the flood insurance savings. Trustee Pete Ladesic said he supported notification efforts, as did Tim O’Shea.
“I would be OK with sending a letter. Send a letter and it’s over. I would be OK with that,” he said.
The Village Links flood plain has the most buildings within its boundaries, at 16. EB South has 13, and Lake Ellyn has seven buildings.
In April 2013 heavy rains caused significant flooding throughout Glen Ellyn, particularly in areas near the public library and the Village Links Golf Course. Additionally Lake Ellyn, Lambert Lake and several detention ponds overflowed during that storm and submerged some properties.