NORWAY — Town Manager David Holt told selectmen Wednesday that he is confident the Federal Emergency Management Agency will accept a new floodplain ordinance voters are being asked to enact at a special town meeting July 7.
“It comes from them, so I’m confident they will accept it,” Holt said.
Problems arose with the document accepted at the June 15 annual town meeting when the Federal Emergency Management Agency rejected it because the map was referenced as the “Norway Map” instead of “Oxford County Map” and the effective date read July 1 instead of July 7.
“They didn’t like the answers I filled in,” Holt told selectmen Wednesday during a special meeting held to sign the meeting warrant.
Holt said the he typed in that the ordinance would go into effect on July 1, not knowing that FEMA had required July 7 as the enactment date. He also typed in Norway instead of Oxford County because he was unaware of the need to call it the Oxford County map.
Although Selectman Bill Damon called it a “small, simple mistake,” Holt said it was an important mistake, “because it needs to be fixed.”
The ordinance must be passed by July 7 or the town will be removed from the National Flood Insurance program, Sue Baker, state coordinator for the program, said earlier this week.
Baker said removal from the program means property owners won’t be able to get the required flood insurance on any federally-backed loan through a banking institution or their loans will be suspended when they are up for renewal. Additionally, removal means that towns will have their state and federal flood disaster assistance suspended, Baker said.
On July 7 at 4 p.m. at the Town Hall, voters will be asked to repeal the existing Norway Floodplain Management Ordinance and amendments passed under Article 9 of the annual town meeting on June 15.
Then in a separate action, voters will be asked to enact FEMA’s Norway Flood Management Ordinance supplied by the State Planning Office and have it be effective immediately.
A public hearing on the ordinance will be held at 2 p..m July 7 at Town Hall.
ldixon@sunjournal.com


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