MONDAY JUNE 21, 2010
6:40 PM

I stopped by the bridge construction site this morning and met the man in charge of the construction. He told me that everything was going well. He said that he thought that they would complete the pile driving by the end of work on Tuesday. After lunch I stopped by and watched the drive one of the supports. Once they had the metal in place the driving went very fast.

The contractor for the cemetery has started cutting the excess growth of trees around the cemetery and some trimming of trees and small bushes throughout the cemetery.

This afternoon I went to a meeting in West Memphis about the new flood maps. This process started several years ago and in the last few weeks there has been a lot of information about the new maps discussed. The head of FEMA was there and addressed the group and answered questions from the assembled group. This is a process that was mandated by congress. It appears to me that there are a lot of uninformed elected officials and citizens about this process. The head of FEMA did say that he would delay the process for ninety days. He said that he or an individual from his office would return after the delay. During this time he pledged to help inform the citizens and elected officials of the process and have complete information before the next meeting.

I was aware of the process and in fact I along with members of fire department met several months ago with representatives of FEMA. I left the meeting feeling that I fully understood the process and felt that I was knowledgeable of the process and the final outcomes of the new maps. In Wynne there will only be some minor changes to the present flood maps. I hate to say this, but after the meeting, I think that a lot of elected officials have not taken the time to be informed about this project.

If it were not for FEMA providing insurance for citizens who have structures in the flood plane, they could never borrow money on their property. Lending institutions will not loan money if the property is in a flood zone if it is not insured. It is not cheap, but it is necessary for citizens to sell or make improvements to their property.