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Regular Council Meeting February 27, 2023 Page 11 parking on E. Cherry with the exception of one property. He also said they were going to plant trees in the front and back, as well as landscape the properties. Mr. Risinger said he had been watching this property for a year and when it gets saturated, the water runs down the center, crosses 21s' Street, drops off and heads to Lamar. He referenced a man at the meeting whose business floods when it rains and said this property was six ballfields away from that property. Mr. Risinger said this property was not the problem for all flooding on Lamar Avenue. He also said they were going to enhance this property. With no one else speaking, Mayor Portugal closed the public hearing. Council Member Pilgrim asked Mr. Mack to pull up City base map and the flood plain. Council Member Pilgrim said he had a little background in land and explained he was a realtor, a real estate accredited consultant, real estate broker, and worked in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Colorado. He referenced the map and pointed to the blue area and went on to say if you buy property in the blue area there was a large chance that you could have water in your structure if you do not build above the flood plain. He asked Mr. Mack if he wanted to build in the flood plain what would he need to do. Mr. Mack said the City participated in the National Flood Insurance Program and in order to participate in the program, the areas had to be mapped and the City had to cooperate with the Federal Government through FEMA, and the City had Ordinances that covered that. Mr. Mack said you would have to build two feet or higher above the flood plain. Council Member Pilgrim said the structures that had been discussed today. He said he knew for a fact they were not built twenty-four inches above the flood plain, He further said this was also a waterway, a tributary to Big Sandy Creek and confirmed this with Mr. Mack. Council Member Pilgrim said years ago the Corp of Engineers allowed them to put in a concrete bottom to speed flow of water away from some of these areas. He said you can slow water and manage water and that was with a retention pond behind it. He said every time a multi -family dwelling was constructed they had an ordinance that addresses that. He said his house was in a flood plain and was built two feet above the flood plain. He said you could put a certain amount of concrete in an area without having an adverse effect on your neighbor with a hydro. He said hydros have to be done. Council Member Pilgrim said he doesn't like it but as a real estate professional guide people through the process all the time. He said if you are in the 100 -year flood plain, every time it rains, you have a 1% chance of getting water in your structure and if you were in a 500 - year flood plain, you have a.2% chance. Council Member Pilgrim emphasized if you build in a waterway, which is where water flows through, you are going to get water in your structure. He said the building on the corner of Lamar was in the waterway. He said it was going to be a constant struggle no matter how many structures you build or how much green space there is because they had the tributary that had been there since the beginning of time. He said the only way to change that was to move the tributary to the east or west because it could not be moved to the south or north because those are breaks. Council Member Pilgrim said Mr. Risinger was trying to build a structure and he thought there was a lot of misinformation with a lot of folks going around. He said he understood the concern but there had already been a structure, and there was going to be another structure, and maybe more land out but the engineer will do hydros. He reminded everyone of the basic principal and that was water flows downhill and would continue to do that. Council Member Pilgrim pointed out that Johnson Woods was a prime example and they had rebuilt that creek numerous times even more recently as a couple of years ago. He said if you live in the flood plain against that creek, there was a good chance you were going to have water in your house. In order to prevent this, he said you should hire a