Southern Vermont Floodplain Manager Position: Application due 12/4/2014

Hello all,

We wanted to announce that our Southern Vermont Floodplain Manager position is out-for-hire at this time.  Please note that the on-line application deadline closes 12/4/2014. If you would like more information about this position, please contact Rob Evans at rob.evans@state.vt.us

Environmental Analyst IV AC: General Job ID: 616053 Location: Rutland
				Full/Part Time:
							Full-Time
									Regular Shift:		N/A
				Regular/Temporary:
							Classified
									Hourly Rate:
											21.550000
				Posting Date:
							11/18/2014
									Pay Grade:
											23
				Position Number:
							660401
									Application Deadline:
											12/04/2014
				Department:
							Environmental Conservation

General Information 

This position, (Environmental Analyst IV, Job Opening # 616053), is open to all State employees and external applicants.

Resumes will not be accepted via e-mail.  You must apply online to be considered. http://humanresources.vermont.gov/careers

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Overview 

This position is within the River Corridor and Floodplain Protection section of the Vermont Rivers Program. The Regional Floodplain Manager will provide regulatory support and technical assistance to individuals, municipalities, consultants, and agencies of state and federal government regarding development proposals in river corridors and floodplains in southern Vermont. The position supports multiple regulatory jurisdictions including the State Flood Hazard Area and River Corridor Rule, municipal land use permitting, and Act 250. The position requires working both independently and collaboratively to evaluate development proposals for regulatory compliance and recommend alternative courses of action to minimize conflicts between river/floodplain dynamics and human investments. This position requires strong written and verbal communication skills, and must work well with the public and include education in each interaction.

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Preferred Qualifications 

Preference will be given to candidates with a strong combination of the following: working knowledge of the National Flood Insurance Program; experience reviewing and analyzing site plans, grading plans, and related engineering and surveying schematics; knowledge of riverine hydrology/hydraulics and fluvial geomorphology.

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 Minimum Qualifications 

 EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

Education: Bachelor's degree in a biological-life or physical science, engineering, or an environmental or natural resources field.

Experience: Four years at a professional level in an environmental or natural resources field.

OR

Two years as an Environmental Analyst III.

NOTE: Graduate Degree in an environmental or natural resources field may be substituted for up to two years of experience on a semester for six months basis.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:

n/a

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 Submission of Application 

 Should you submit an application for this job opening, you certify that all information entered is correct and complete to the best of your knowledge.  By submitting an application, you acknowledge and understand that the State of Vermont may verify information, and that untruthful or misleading answers are cause for rejection of this application, and/or dismissal if employed with the State of Vermont.

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 Equal Employment Opportunity 

 The State of Vermont is an Equal Opportunity Employer.  Applications from women, individuals with disabilities, veterans, and people from diverse cultural backgrounds are encouraged.

Help with Community Substantial Damage Determinations After Flooding

As everyone living in the Northeast US already knows, it has been quite a rainy 2 months.  Although the Old Farmer's Almanac had predicted a hot and dry summer for most of the Vermont region, the rainfall that we have been seeing since the middle of May has been breaking many records in the Burlington area.  It seems like there have been very few days where there hasn't been hot and humid temperatures with at least some thunderstorm or rain.  In the past few days, however, many of the damages resulting from the frequent thunderstorms and rainfall does not appear to be limited to just road and culvert washouts and some wet basements.  There have been several reports of communities where homes are starting to become inundated because rivers are running consistently high and the floodplain is the only place left for water to flow. 

If you are a community employee or volunteer, your community participates in FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program and some of the homes that are located in the FEMA mapped floodplain (called the Special Flood Hazard Area, or SFHA) have flooded in the past two months, we want to make you aware of Substantial Damage determinations.  Part of the flood hazard area regulations that your community has adopted includes language about Substantial Improvements in the development standards.  What many people are not as aware of is that the language around Substantial Improvements also includes the term Substantial Damage. It is the community's responsibility to make a determination about whether a building has been Substantially Damaged and there are a few different ways to go about this process.

Many zoning or flood administrators became familiar with this term after Irene if there were damages to homes and other structures in the community.  However, for those of you not familiar with Substantial Damage, it means "damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the cost of restoring the structure to its before-damaged conditions would equal or exceed 50 percent of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred." (emphasis added).  The key things to notice is that the damage can occur from any origin, which can include fire, wind, waves, etc., and that the damage is compared to the pre-damaged value & condition, not compared to the condition that the owner will restore the building to after making repairs.  Once a person who's structure is located in a SFHA has been damaged, any permanent repairs need to be done in compliance with your municipal flood hazard bylaws.  A person whose building has been substantially damaged will most likely need follow the guidelines for substantial improvement when rebuilding their home, business or other structure. 

VTDEC has a website that was put up in the aftermath of the Lake Champlain flooding and Tropical Storm Irene in 2011 that provides additional information about Substantial Damage determinations and flood recovery.  This site contains links to a few documents that may be helpful while you and your community are trying to figure out what work will need to get done after the flood waters recede.  As always, your regional floodplain manager is available to assist you with substantial damage issues, reviewing repairs and applications, etc.  To find out who your regional floodplain is, you can view our Floodplain Manager Regions map here.  Others that may be helpful to you would be a Certified Floodplain Managers (CFM) in your area or another Zoning Administrator that may have had to deal with many damaged buildings in the aftermath of the 2011 Lake Champlain Flooding or Tropical Storm Irene. 
 

UPDATED Development Review Checklist

As we keep our fingers crossed that all of this rain does not result in anything more than some minor flooding, we wanted to make an announcement that we have updated its Development Review Submission Checklist.  The Development Review Submission Checklist is intended to provide a more detailed list of the documentation required when submitting a permit application for review by ANR under 24 VSA §4424.  

When local Flood Hazard Administrators (typically the local Zoning Administrator) are reviewing projects located in a flood hazard area, our office plays a role in the review and permitting of these projects.  As a mandatory provision of municipal bylaws, permits may not be granted until an application for new development and substantial improvement on property located within a flood or other hazard area has been forwarded to ANR and a 30 day review period has lapsed.  

The updated form, available online at www.watershedmanagement.vt.gov/rivers/docs/nfip/rv_4424_checklist.pdf, provides a checklist for municipalities to complete and confirm the necessary paperwork has been submitted for a timely review by ANR.  Because of the volume of applications and projects that we are involved in, we will be returning incomplete applications .  Therefore, it is important that all the required documentation be included and submitted to the correct regional floodplain manager (www.watershedmanagement.vt.gov/rivers/docs/rv_floodplain_regions.pdf).  

We hope that the updated Checklist will be helpful to you if you have to submit an application to our office for review.  

These times, they are a changin'

As the change to fall can no longer be in doubt, especially with flurries falling already, we have been having some of our own big changes going on as well.  

The biggest change that we have seen is the addition of two new floodplain managers to supplement the work that Rebecca Pfeiffer has been doing on a statewide basis.  We are happy to introduce Sacha Pealer, covering central Vermont and Joshua Carvajal, covering southern Vermont, as our new Floodplain Managers, while Rebecca will be taking northern Vermont.  To see the regions and communities that each floodplain manager will be covering, you can see our Floodplain Regions map on our Flood Hazard Management website (see below on the website domain change).


A second change that some people may have heard about in local Vermont news is the big move for some of the staff of the Agency of Natural Resources in early October.  After Irene flooded the Waterbury State Office Complex, which included most of the centralized ANR offices, the majority of ANR staff has been scattered about in various office spaces around Washington & Chittenden Counties.  The ultimate goal, though, was to move the ANR centralized offices to the National Life building located in Montpelier which other VT State Agencies call home, including VTrans, the Secretary of State's office & the Agency of Commerce & Community Development.  The Rivers Program staff that had been located in Waterbury was part of the first ANR staff to move into our new office space at National Life.  So while you may not have seen too many changes on the outside, there have been some moves and adjustments as we all settle into our new spaces and roles.

Another change for everyone to be aware of is that our website address will also be changing.  About 1 year ago, the VT Water Quality Division was reorganized and renamed the VT Watershed Management Division (WSMD) which provides for the comprehensive management of Wetlands, Rivers, and Lakes. The WSMD also supports the integrity of surface waters by administering programs to regulate wastewater discharges and stormwater runoff.  Our old website domain was listed as vtwaterquality.org, while the new WSMD domain is http://watershedmanagement.vt.gov.  The specific link to the Rivers Program Flood Hazard Management website is now:

http://watershedmanagement.vt.gov/rivers/htm/rv_floodhazard.htm

Happy Thanksgiving!