First Selectman Mike Tetreau announced today that the Town of Fairfield has been accepted into the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA’s) National Flood Insurance Program Community Rating System (CRS). The CRS program awards communities that go above and beyond the minimum requirements of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) requirements for flood plain management and requirements for construction in the flood plain.
The letter to the First Selectman from FEMA CRS Coordinator William Lesser states, “The floodplain management activities implemented by your community qualify it for a 10 percent discount in the premiums cost of flood insurance for NFIP policies issued or renewed in Special Flood Hazard Areas on or after October 1, 2016. This savings is a tangible result of the flood mitigation activities your community implements to protect lives and reduce property damage.”
The discount would automatically apply to any new policy and to existing policy renewals.
Jim Wendt, the Town’s Assistant Planning Director and CRS Coordinator, reports that there are 2,717 flood insurance policies in effect in Town and those policy holders are estimated to save a total of $433,000 annually as a result of the Town’s participation in the CRS program. Fairfield is only one of eight communities in the State to participate in the program. Technical assistance was provided by multiple town departments as well as from The Connecticut Metropolitan Council of Governments (MetroCOG).
First Selectman Tetreau said, “I am very proud of the hard work that our Town and MetroCOG have performed over the last year to qualify Fairfield for the CRS program so that residents living in flood plain areas can receive some much needed assistance. I particularly want to thank Mr. Wendt for his commitment and diligence in seeing this initiative through. The Town continues to support those affected by flooding by providing resources and other relief measures.”
For more information, please contact Jim Wendt at 203-256-3050 or jwendt@fairfieldct.org.
The photo shows Jim Wendt, the Town’s Assistant Planning Director and CRS Coordinator, and First Selectman Mike Tetreau in front of a house undergoing a lift to become FEMA compliant.
(Town of Fairfield Press Release)
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