FEMA Region X – Risk MAP Discovery Interview
Lower Willamette - Tualatin Watersheds
City of Beaverton, Oregon
August 16, 2012; 2:00pm Pacific Time
City of Beaverton
Jim Duggan – Senior Engineer and Floodplain Manager
Mike Mumaw – Emergency Manager
Ken Rencher – Land Use Planner
Wendy Prather - Site Development/Project Engineer
Justin Manville – GIS Manager
FEMA Region X
Dave Ratté – Regional Engineer
Oregon DLCD
Steve Lucker – State Risk MAP Coordinator
STARR (FEMA Contractor)
Josha Crowley – Interviewer
Jason Sidorski – GIS Specialist
Jon Johnson – GIS Specialist
Gregg Pickett – Recorder
The following information was collected during the Interview. Unless otherwise noted, all comments are
from City of Beaverton representatives.
I.
Contacts
 The contact list was updated with additional attendees and email/phone numbers.
STARR (J. Johnson) reviewed the GIS data that has been collected for the city of Beaverton and explained
the types of additional data that could be beneficial to the project: parks, environmentally sensitive
areas, critical habitats, building footprints, parcels, topographic data (LiDAR, etc).
II.
III.
Topography, LiDAR and GIS
 All GIS data for the city of Beaverton was obtained from the Metro Regional Land
Information System.

 A Multi-Hazard Disaster Mitigation Map was provided by the City. This map shows
known floodplain, landslide, and methane risk areas.
Planning
 A Hazard Mitigation Plan is in place from either 2010 or 2011.
 Meetings take place twice a year regarding the City’s mitigation plan, and any projects
or grants associated with it.
 A LiDAR flight is planned for the Fall of 2012.
 The city is interested in developing building footprint GIS data and is working to find
such a project.
Risk MAP Discovery Interview – Lower Willamette - Tualatin Watersheds
City of Beaverton – August 16, 2012

IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
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City Hall was recently seismically-upgraded/retrofitted using a pre-hazard mitigation
grant.
 Undeveloped areas located in a mapped floodplain cannot be sub-divided in the city.
 Stream protection requirements sometimes go beyond what is shown as the floodplain.
 All development in the downtown district requires a higher freeboard than minimum
standards because of the known flood risk.
Earthquakes
 Several earthquake faults are located in Beaverton.
 A long duration earthquake is a known risk in the city, this could cause landslides, soil
liquefaction, and structural damage.
 The Nisqually Quake (2001) in Washington caused structural damage to multiple
buildings within the city.
 The City Hall retrofit is the only mitigation action that has taken place regarding
earthquakes in Beaverton.
Wildfires
 A few large park areas exist, but overall wildfire risk is minimal.
 The Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue has a plan in place to address the known risk.
Landslides
 Properties with slopes of more than 25% are heavily regulated using existing ordinances.
The geology of these areas must be studied and construction design approved before
any permits are issued.
 A map of the areas of historic landslides was provided to the City by DOGAMI. This data
was developed using LiDAR data.
 Naturally-occurring methane gas is a concern for the City due to development on an old
landfill.
 Two roadways have potential to be damaged by landslides, but there are alternate
routes available if that were to occur.
Severe Storms
 High winds and high rainfall amounts are the most likely cause of storm damage in the
city of Beaverton. Occasional heavy snow occurs.
 Power outages usually last no longer than one day, although historically longer outages
have occurred. In 1979 and 1980, long-duration outages occurred, prompting utilities to
put their transmission lines underground. Having the utilities underground has largely
eliminated any long term power outages, and has also improved the aesthetics of the
area.
 The Red Cross has emergency shelter locations identified, but these locations are not
given to the public until an emergency is imminent. The State of Oregon has recently
updated this list, and the data has been obtained from Metro.
 Citizens monitor local media and the National Weather Service for emergency
information, along with the City website, email, and social media.
Risk MAP Discovery Interview – Lower Willamette - Tualatin Watersheds
City of Beaverton – August 16, 2012
VIII.
IX.
X.
Page 3 of 4
Flooding
 The City has concerns about the flood risk shown on the preliminary Washington County
FIRMs. A local consultant prepared products that the city believes are of a much higher
quality than what ended up on the preliminary FIRMs. The City would prefer to use this
data for their floodplain management purposes.
 The City believes that Washington County (U.A.) has a much bigger problem than
Beaverton does regarding the preliminary FIRMs. The City tries to help people with
their floodplain issues, even those living in the county with a Beaverton address.
 D. Ratté confirmed that FEMA is working with Washington County to try to get the flood
mapping project back on track.
 The ongoing restudy superceded some floodplain revisions completed by a LOMR when
light rail was constructed in the 1990’s. Much of the city was regulated based on the
data from the LOMR, which is soon to be out-dated.
 A mobile home/manufactured home park is a major concern. It is often flooded. This is
a highly contentious area.
 Further discussion flooding is desired at the upcoming Discovery meetings.
 The City is relatively happy with the current mapping and what it shows, but they feel
that determination companies and lending institutions are not properly using that data
in regard to the purchase of flood insurance. The City would be willing to adopt the new
maps “as-is”.
 The new LiDAR being flown in the Fall of 2012 will cover all of the known problem areas
currently existing on the FIRMs.
 Land acquisition and buffers are planned.
 S. Lucker requested that the City determine the cost of the building footprint data that
they are hoping to acquire funding for, and to have that information at the upcoming
Discovery meetings.
 The City is concerned how this Discovery project (and subsequent projects) would tie-in
with the data being used for “Virtual USA”. They expressed concern about potentially
having to use two sets of data, which might conflict with each other. S. Lucker told
them that this issue is being looked into, and that it was hoped that each database
would eventually draw from the same datasets.
 S. Lucker told the City that all data gathered during the Discovery process will be
available to the City for their use.
Levees
 No levees or flood protection measures are located in the City of Beaverton, but there
are some storm bypasses located within the City.
Environmentally Sensitive Areas
 Most environmentally sensitive areas overlap the floodplain boundaries, but no
separate layers or databases exist for the City, other than what the DEQ maintains.
Risk MAP Discovery Interview – Lower Willamette - Tualatin Watersheds
City of Beaverton – August 16, 2012

XI.
XII.
Page 4 of 4
The Viewmaster Corporation dumped contaminants into the groundwater years ago,
but this problem has now largely been resolved.
 New wetlands delineations have been completed by the City, largely because the
definition of wetlands has changed since the original wetland inventory took place.
Communications and Outreach
 The City sends periodic reminders about the availability of flood insurance to residents,
particularly those at risk from flooding. A City newsletter talks about emergencies and
having an emergency preparedness kit. Information is also sent out with water bills.
 Some information and materials are distributed to neighborhood associations, at the
farmers market, at the county fair, at public libraries, etc.
 Historical landslide information is also distributed to potentially affected property
owners.
 The floodplain permitting process is part of the normal permitting process.
 The City gets the Region X and STARR newsletter.
Other
 Beaverton is a Washington County community, and Washington County FIRMs are
currently in the process of being updated.
 City would like to hear more about the Multiple Hazard Risk Mapping initiative.
 Three annexation requests are currently underway in Beaverton. The City limtis can
change frequently.
 Mobile home park owner (Jack) would like a visit from someone from FEMA when the
Discovery meetings take place in late September.