FEMA Region X – Risk MAP Discovery Interview
Lower Willamette - Tualatin Watersheds
City of Milwaukie, Oregon
August 14, 2012; 10:00am Pacific Time
City of Milwaukie
Brad Albert – Civil Engineer
Gary Parkin – Public Works/City Engineer
Oregon DLCD
Steve Lucker – State Risk MAP Coordinator
STARR (FEMA Contractor)
Becca Croft – Interviewer
Jason Sidorski – GIS Specialist
Gregg Pickett – Recorder
The following information was collected during the Interview. Unless otherwise noted, all comments are
from City of Milwaukie representatives.
I.
Contacts
 The contact list was reviewed and updated with additional contacts and corrections.
 The GIS person for the City of Milwaukie is Kate Rosson.
STARR (J. Sidorski) reviewed the GIS data that has been collected for the city of Milwaukie 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.
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Topography, LiDAR, and GIS
 A Stormwater Master Plan update is underway, but has not been completed.
 An Emergency Preparedness Document is available showing shelter locations in the city,
as well as additional safety information.
 K. Rosson will be the City’s point of contact (POC) for any GIS data needs, with the other
city officials to be copied on any requests.
Planning
 The current Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP) is being updated, with the primary POC being
the Police Chief, Bob Jordan. The City of Milwaukie will have its own HMP (it will not be
a multi-jurisdictional one).
 It is unknown if a current Evacuation Plan exists. The City suggested that this should be
a question for Dave Rash, the Emergency Operations Center lead.
 There are no known repetitive loss structures, but there may be some just outside of the
city boundaries in Clackamas County. No previous grants are known for this issue.
 A Reverse 911 system exists in the city.
Earthquakes
 Data obtained from the USGS regarding seismic data may include the city of Milwaukie.
This data was originally noted during the city of Rivergrove Discovery conference call.
Risk MAP Discovery Interview – Lower Willamette - Tualatin Watersheds
City of Milwaukie – August 14, 2012
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No historic earthquakes known that have caused damage, but earthquakes have
occurred in Milwaukie.
 Some retrofitting has been done in the city to meet newer building codes.
Wildfires
 The wildfire threat is “low-to-none”. The city is very developed.
 No critical facilities at risk, with the possible exception of some wells and other waterrelated infrastructure.
Landslides
 No known major historic landslides have occurred in the city, but small localized
landslides have occasionally occurred.
 A church parking lot experienced a small landslide at the top of a very steep slope. A few
small landslides have occurred around road cuts.
 No previous action has ever taken place to mitigate landslide risk.
Severe Storms
 High winds are the most likely cause of storm damage in the city of Milwaukie. The city
is susceptible due to its relatively close proximity to the Columbia River Gorge.
 Downed trees and branches are the primary source of storm damage, occurring one to
two times per year. Power outages do occur occasionally, typically for only a few hours,
although on rare occasions they will last for a few days.
 Emergency shelters have not been needed in the past, but currently preparation is
underway for the use of shelters in the event of future disasters and emergencies.
 The city website is used to alert the public. Reverse 911 has also been used in the past
with mixed results. Previously some residents were not alerted when they should have
been, and now many people no longer have land lines anymore.
Flooding
 The current FIRMs seem to be pretty accurate.
 No known problem areas exist outside of the flooding shown on the Flood Insurance
Rate Maps.
 Piers for a light rail bridge have been put in at Kellogg Lake, but analysis has shown that
no impact is expected from this construction project.
 Stream restoration is underway at the mouth of Johnson Creek, but analysis has shown
that no changes will result in the floodplain.
 No major development is underway, but there is potential for redevelopment. Any
redevelopment would be completed with newer, tougher building and zoning
regulations.
 The central portion of the city is somewhat of a basin, so localized flooding does
occasionally occur. In this area, dry wells are used for flood storage, but they can’t
always handle the full amount of water. Winter is typically the worst time of year for
this localized flooding.
Risk MAP Discovery Interview – Lower Willamette - Tualatin Watersheds
City of Milwaukie – August 14, 2012
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No capital improvement projects are currently underway to reduce localized flooding,
but the Stormwater Master Plan is being revised and this will hopefully help address
that problem.
 The city would appreciate public outreach materials for residents about the advantages
of having flood insurance. A large carpet and fabric store is sometimes isolated by
floodwaters from Johnson Creek, but it has never been flooded. Another building in a
similar situation stores frozen food until it is ready to be shipped.
 S. Lucker suggested that areas could be highlighted where people appear to be located
in a SFHA but do not currently have flood insurance. 19th Street would be one example
of such an area where a number of homes are located in the SFHA, but do not appear to
have flood insurance policies. This area could be targeted for outreach.
 The Kellogg Wastewater Facility has previously had to release sewage into the
Willamette River during storm events. Clackamas County operates the facility, but it is
located in the city of Milwaukie. A new bypass project is currently being completed that
should reduce the number instances where sewage releases are necessary. This project
will take a large portion of the flow and direct it to another sewage treatment plant.
 Coordination with the City of Portland and the City of Gresham takes places through the
Johnson Creek Watershed Council (JCWC). Milwaukie does not work directly with
Portland or Gresham in regard to how development occurs upstream of the city.
 The JCWC has done good things for the Johnson Creek watershed, including more
upstream flood storage than what existed beforehand.
 Lots of LOMCs are located just upstream of the Milwaukie corporate limits on Johnson
Creek. The City was not certain why, other than that the floodplain is more well-defined
in the city of Milwaukie than it is upstream, therefore Milwaukie seems to have fewer
problems with flooding on Johnson Creek than the communities upstream of the city.
Levees
 No levees are located within the city of Milwaukie.
Environmentally Sensitive Areas
 Maps of riparian areas and Habitat Conservation Areas are available in GIS format from
K. Rosson.
Communications and Outreach
 Community outreach is handled by the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT),
who provides information to neighborhoods about awareness and preparation for risk.
The City participates in the CERT Project, but it is staffed by volunteers.
 City Council meets twice a month and it would be beneficial to update them
occasionally about the Discovery process. This can be done by the attendees of the
conference call.
 General support and outreach would be welcomed by the city. The contact person
would be the Public Information Officer, Grady Wheeler. Mr. Wheeler can be contacted
through D. Rash. Mr. Wheeler also works with the Emergency Operations Center.
Risk MAP Discovery Interview – Lower Willamette - Tualatin Watersheds
City of Milwaukie – August 14, 2012
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S. Lucker noted that on the city website, there is “The Mayor’s Emergency Preparedness
Free Speaker’s Series”. The City said that they were aware of the series and it was being
done in conjunction with CERT, as another way to get emergency and hazard
information out to the public. This program was initiated in June of 2012.
 Floodplain administrator is B. Albert, and he would be open to training and webinars. .
 Floodplain building permits are completed under the normal building permit process.
Other
 The city is located in both Multnomah and Clackamas Counties.
 The City said that they thought that this pre-Discovery process was beneficial for them
and that they thought that it was very good that these issues were being talked about.