City of Xenia Massies Creek Flood Mitigation

Five residential properties located north of the City of Xenia, near the confluence of the Little Miami River and Massies Creek suffered from repeated flood damage. These structures, all located within FEMA’s 100-year floodplain, were identified by the City of Xenia as strong candidates for Hazard Mitigation Assistance from FEMA’s Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) grant program. Coldwater assisted the City of Xenia with the preparation of the grant application, which included data collection and analysis, working with the property owners, and establishing a project budget and schedule. The data in the grant application included historical flood data, interpretation of FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps and Flood Insurance Study, preparation of a benefit/cost analysis, and documentation of potential environmental restrictions. Coldwater investigated the flood elevations from both the Little Miami River and Massies Creek and determined that Massies Creek actually flooded the properties more frequently than the Little Miami River. This analysis was critical to the development of the benefit/cost analysis and supported an overall benefit estimate that met the grant requirements.

The application was successful and the City was awarded $553,975 in federal PDM funding (representing 75% of the total project cost; the City of Xenia was responsible for the remaining 25%). These funds were utilized to purchase the properties, demolish the structures, and restore the area along the river to a natural floodplain with open space. Coldwater’s services included management of subconsultants (appraiser, asbestos inspector, attorney), property owner negotiations, permitting, preparation of demolition/ asbestos abatement contract documents, bidding services, and preparation of the grant-required quarterly reports. The property owner negotiation process was lengthy, as one property owner elected to have independent appraisals performed after receiving his initial purchase offers. The permitting effort involved local (Greene County demolition and flood hazard permits), regional (Regional Air Pollution Control Agency-RAPCA), and state agencies (ODNR Scenic Rivers program). Property acquisitions began in late 2014 and the project was completed on schedule in 2015.