This is for the approval to procure a Floodplain Management Plan from WSP USA, Inc. in the amount of $80,968.  The Development Services Department is requesting this service because as an active participant in the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Community Rating System (CRS), the City is required to develop and submit a revised Floodplain Management Plan (FMP) to FEMA every five (5) years. As part of the FMP, the City must include the Repetitive Loss Area Analyses (RLAA) and Natural Floodplain Functions Plan (NFP) elements.  The FMP is a critical element of the CRS, which is used to set National Flood Insurance premium discount rates for City residents and businesses.  In addition to the required FMP update, the City also needs to establish a Substantial Damage Management Plan (SMP) that will address the community's approach to identifying, managing, and mitigating substantial damage to properties during and after hazardous events. These plans will enhance community resilience and support CRS credit eligibility.

CRS is a point system program that awards flood insurance premium discounts to communities that are aggressive in flood mitigation activities.  The City currently carries a rating of 5, which provides a 25% discount for NFIP insurance premiums paid by City residents, property owners, and business owners. There are currently 4,325 active flood insurance policies, totaling approximately $2.6 million in premiums and covering roughly $1.3 billion in insured property. The discount currently saves a total of $648,874.50 for flood insurance policyholders within our community.

The purpose of the FMP is to assess current flood hazard conditions, including historically flooded areas and repetitively flooded properties, to develop appropriate mitigation strategies for the City to consider in reducing or eliminating future flood losses.  The RLAA is a more detailed, site-specific plan to reduce flood losses in repetitively flooded areas and the NFP addresses natural floodplain functions in the community.  The SMP is an additional plan that provides enhanced protocols for FEMA-required determinations associated with substantially damaged properties after hazardous events. It also aids in post-event structure evaluation and potential resource allocation. Due to the complexity of the plan requirements, an outside consultant will need to develop the plans.        

Failure to produce the FMP and accompanying element(s) will result in loss of CRS class designation and associated insurance premium discounts. Achieving the lowest class possible in the CRS program is one of the few options the City has to offset the increasing flood insurance premiums in our community due to FEMA’s updated flood insurance pricing methodology defined by NFIP Risk Rating 2.0 Equity in Action.
 

The method used for this procurement was the request for proposals (RFP), which evaluates criteria in addition to cost. The proposals were evaluated on the basis of project approach & schedule, proposer’s qualifications, fees, and references.

One (1) proposal was received in response to this RFP. The proposal was reviewed by the department.

The proposal was advertised, opened, and reviewed. Delivery: As needed. Terms: Net 30 days. The proposers were:

B.P.       WSP USA, Inc. (Savannah, GA)^(B)  $80,968

A pre-proposal conference was conducted and five (5) vendors attended. (B) indicates local, non-DBE owned business.

Local available: Yes

Total sent: 692

Total received: 1

Approval