Commissioners adopt flood plain map
Staff writer
More than five years after starting to revise the county’s flood plain, county planning and zoning director Sharon Omstead presented a new map and text amendment proposals to county commissioners Monday.
Some homes previously in the flood plain no longer will be included.
Those homeowners can save money by dropping federal flood insurance.
Other homes will be included. Those homeowners will need federal flood insurance because normal homeowner insurance does not cover damage caused by groundwater.
Standards imposed since the county’s flood plain was last defined in 2018 pertain mostly to agricultural structure and variance process.
A series of public events and a mandatory 90-day appeal period preceded changes presented Monday. The new maps will go into effect July 17.
Omstead also gave commissioners a planning commission recommendation Monday to forbid cryptocurrency mining operations inside the county.
Omstead told commissioners the facilities may be a fire danger, are explosive, make “enormous noise,” don’t produce jobs, and raise concerns about disposal of electrical waste.
“This kind of land use doesn’t seem consistent with our overall development plan,” Omstead said. “The planning commission recommended against allowing cryptocurrency mining in our county.”