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FEMA Region X – Risk MAP Discovery Interview
Lower Willamette - Tualatin Watersheds
City of Gresham, Oregon
August 13, 2012; 1:00pm Pacific Time
City of Gresham
Jennifer Belknap Williamson—Watershed Division Manager
Thomas McCausland – Senior Engineer
Jonathan Harker – Planner
Dave Krogh - Senior Planner
FEMA Region X
Dave Ratté – Regional Engineer
Oregon DLCD
Steve Lucker – State Risk MAP Coordinator
STARR (FEMA Contractor)
Josha Crowley – Region X Service Center Lead
Becca Croft – Interviewer
Jon Johnson – GIS Specialist
Gregg Pickett – Recorder
The following information was collected during the Interview. Unless otherwise noted, all comments are
from City of Gresham representatives.
I.
Contacts
 The contact list was updated with the information for all of the additional attendees
that attended the call from the City.
 Eric Chambers was noted as the mayor’s staff person. The current mayor is Shane
Bemis.
 The Emergency Manager, Todd Felix, was added to the contact list, but was unable to
attend the call. Please Note: A questionnaire was sent to Mr. Felix in the days following
the Discovery Interview, and a response was received by STARR on 9/5/12. All
comments from Mr. Felix on the following pages are from the questionnaire, and were
not part of the actual interview on 8/13/12.
STARR (J. Johnson) reviewed the GIS data that has been collected for the city of Gresham 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.).
D. Ratté acknowledged the City’s previous experience with Discovery and Risk Map in another
watershed, and explained that there are some differences in the way things are being handled with this
project. He also mentioned the PMR submitted by the City (using West Consulting) and that although the
timing may not work out, there is hope to have some depth grids at some point based on this work. This
will not be completed by September.
Risk MAP Discovery Interview – Lower Willamette - Tualatin Watersheds
City of Gresham – August 13, 2012
II.
III.
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Topography, LiDAR, and GIS
 D. Krogh asked if DOGAMI is a participant in this process and was told by D. Ratté that
DOGAMI is not directly involved in the project, but it is hoped that they will be indirectly
involved in the process because they possess and share significant amounts of data with
FEMA.
 D. Krogh mentioned that it would be beneficial if any future work was consistent with
the hazard work that DOGAMI has already done.
 The City recently completed a detailed floodplain study for Johnson Creek Basin in
Gresham (and a little to the east). This work was done by West, and it was submitted to
STARR for concurrence. This data, although not effective, may be slightly different than
what STARR is using currently for this project, and it can be added to the mapping and
database before the Discovery meeting.
Planning
 Gresham has a Pre-Disaster Mitigation Plan and a Hazard Mitigation Plan, which was
adopted in 2006. In association with Multnomah County, the Hazard Mitigation Plan is
being updated currently. Plan may have been submitted but has yet to be adopted.
Todd Felix would be the best person to talk with regarding this.
 Gresham’s revised HMP has previously been submitted to Oregon Emergency
Management for review in June of 2012, and revisions are currently underway. The
HMP is scheduled to go before the Gresham City Council in the fall of 2012. (Todd Felix 09/05/2012)
 There is an emergency operations group for Gresham that goes through emergency
training and simulations. The City currently has a very detailed evacuation plan, and
copies can be provided.
 There is also a detailed Emergency Operations Plan that can also be provided. (Todd
Felix -09/05/2012)
 The City did not know of any regulations that promote hazard safety or damage
prevention.
 Hillsides with slopes of more than 15 percent are heavily regulated and zoned.
 Gresham has received assistance for the retrofit of fire stations.
 Set-backs and engineering reports are required for building permits in some areas, but a
bigger problem is that there are structures built in the 1970’s and 1980’s that pre-date
the tougher regulations. Also, areas prone to landslides may be classified as open
space, but they back up to privately-owned land and structures.
 The City has no evidence to show that current regulations are effectively reducing risk.
 Dams on Butler Creek are a concern for the city. The creek has a series of dams
constructed for aesthetics and/or flood control. The dams are inspected every few
years. The State recently reclassified Binford Lake Dam because of increased population
downstream of it, and has requested additional information from the city. Capital
improvement on the dam will be required in order for it to meet the current state specs.
Risk MAP Discovery Interview – Lower Willamette - Tualatin Watersheds
City of Gresham – August 13, 2012
Page 3 of 5
Mainstem of Johnson Creek has protected buffers, but homes from the past are closer
than would be allowed to be if constructed today. Some infrastructure (mainly pipes)
has been exposed as the stream has changed its course. Stream banks are eroding and
getting close to structures. This area has recently been restudied. It is unknown
whether velocity was studied. This issue should be discussed more thoroughly at the
upcoming Discovery meetings.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
Earthquakes
 Ten historic earthquakes are noted in the HMP, from 1700 to 1965. These earthquakes
ranged from 4.5 to approximately 8.0 or 9.0 on the Richter scale. (Todd Felix 09/05/2012)
Wildfires
 The southern and eastern portions of the city have wildfire potential. (Todd Felix 09/05/2012)
Landslides
 City funding has occurred for landslides and stabilization in natural areas within the city.
Roads and buildings have been affected. There is a landslide risk in several areas,
especially near a drinking water reservoir (in 2009) and at Gresham Buttes. Noted as an
area of potential mitigation interest.
Severe Storms
 High winds and downed trees sometimes affect transportation and cause electric power
outages. The Columbia River Gorge Area, because of its frequent high winds, is
particularly susceptible to wind-related damage.
 Any power outages typically occur for hours, not days.
 There are 20 churches in the city that are listed in the National Shelter System as Red
Cross Shelters. There are 4 churches in Gresham that open as warming centers during
inclement weather. (Todd Felix -09/05/2012)
 Gresham is concerned about a catastrophic earthquake or a Mount Hood eruption,
causing severe flooding, mudflows, etc.
 Emergency Command Center (EOC) is set up at City Hall. Operations Center is about 2 ½
miles away (crews, trucks, equipment, etc…). This is a concern if communication is
knocked out. There is some discussion about moving the Command Center to the
Operations Center. The City may be seeking a funding source for this move.
 City residents get their emergency information from city staff, local news, etc.
 The City is developing a prototype system along with Multnomah County that is known
as BRIDGE. This system is used for emergency management and public awareness in the
event of an emergency.
 A few training sessions have occurred with EOC staff, but IT problems have occurred
during those exercises. He also said that the County can provide the City with access to
public alerts for some Reverse 911 capabilities. (Todd Felix -09/05/2012)
Risk MAP Discovery Interview – Lower Willamette - Tualatin Watersheds
City of Gresham – August 13, 2012
VIII.
IX.
X.
XI.
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Flooding
 The City has no known repetitive flood loss structures.
 Johnson Creek, Fairview Creek, and the tributaries to the Sandy are particularly
problematic areas for flooding. It is unknown why there are so many LOMCs in the city
that are not close to any known flood hazard area.
 City Hall and the Police and Emergency Services Building have a large drainage system
that goes under the parking lot, and it is undersized. This area slated to be
redeveloped, and so flooding is potential concern there. Some work has been done
(including inundation maps) showing potential flooding in the area.
 Gleason Street has significant overland flow. Originally thought to be a 100-year
problem, floods have been occurring during high intensity short duration events. Road
closures in that area are frequent. West Consulting is restudying the area. Quite a bit of
flow can jump the banks there, but no capital funding has been spent to fix the problem
yet. It is a “hydrologically-complex” area according to the City.
Levees
 There are levees up on the Columbia Slough, but no issues or problems have occurred
there. These levees are operated by Multnomah County Drainage District.
Environmentally Sensitive Areas
 Habitat Conservation Areas exist, and GIS layers for these areas can be provided.
Includes drainages and riparian areas.
 Environmentally Sensitive Resource Areas were mapped a long while ago on a number
of tributaries and these areas provide fairly wide buffers. Problems are occurring now
that some developers want to remap the ESRA for potential development. Gresham
does not have money to remap those areas, and is struggling with how to address such
requests. The original intent was to be for ESRA to be done on a scientific basis, but in
reality much of it was done on a desk-top basis (using GIS). Methodology used is now
being questioned, and there is little backup data existing today.
 Future annexations for the city are planned, especially to the south.
 State-threatened species (mainly turtles and frogs) are protected along several
tributaries in the city.
Communications and Outreach
 Neighborhood newsletters are the primary source of community outreach regarding
risk. Some outreach materials have been prepared. The City would welcome technical
assistance and training; this should be coordinated with T. Felix. Mr. Felix requested
continued training and exercises with the EOC staff. (9/5/12)
 The City does not have a floodplain administrator currently due to a retirement and
subsequent fiscal constraints. 70 city positions over the last few years have been
discontinued. The building division reviews all building permits in the floodplain.
 The City was open to the potential of online training and other available information
Risk MAP Discovery Interview – Lower Willamette - Tualatin Watersheds
City of Gresham – August 13, 2012
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XII.
Page 5 of 5
The City has a “Neighborhood Ready” book which is available on the City’s website. On
the website, there are numerous preparedness and hazard resources on the Emergency
Management webpage.
 The City attends many public events such as wellness fairs, farmer’s markets, and
neighborhood meetings to conduct outreach. (Todd Felix -09/05/2012)
Other
 The main GIS contact for the City of Gresham is currently on maternity leave. Any GIS
requests should probably be coordinated through the people attending this conference
call.
 The City expressed the need to protect their local reservoirs and for future seismic
studies.