14-020 - City of Kent - Briscoe-Desimone Levee Repair

Browse Search

C� Council Approval 2/18/14 INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF KENT AND THE CITY OF TUKWILA FOR CONSTRUCTION AND ACCREDITATION OF THE DESIMONE LEVEE THIS INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT is entered into pursuant to the Interlocal Cooperation Act, Chapter 39.34 of the Revised Code of Washington between the City of Kent, a Washington Municipal Corporation ( "Kent ") and the City of Tukwila, a Washington Municipal Corporation ( "Tukwila "). RECITALS A. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the agency responsible for the nation's flood insurance program, has determined that the Green River levees do not have the documentation to be accredited to provide 100 -year flood level protection. B. FEMA is responsible for and is reissuing the Flood Insurance Rate Maps for the Green River Valley. The preliminary map encompasses the cities of Kent and Tukwila and shows a large segment of Kent and Tukwila to be within the 100 -year flood -plain and floodway, even though they are behind existing levees. Properties within the 100 -year flood plain typically must acquire costly flood insurance, are subject to increased development standards, and subject to dramatic devaluation. C. These flood insurance requirements act as a disincentive to development and redevelopment in the Green River Valley. D. Kent and Tukwila share a mutual boundary in an area along the Green River that is protected by the " Desimone Levee." A breach in the Desimone Levee section in Tukwila would inundate properties within both Kent and Tukwila. E. Beginning in 2010, Kent prepared the necessary engineering studies to verify, through FEMA's Conditional Letter of Map Revision process, that the levee segments along the Green River are constructed to federal levee safety standards, and identify any repairs needed in order to meet the standards. The study identified 2 weak portions of the levee system located in the city limits of Tukwila, see Exhibit E. F. Both parties desire to have the necessary repairs made to have the levee meet federal levee safety standards. G. Kent, along with King County, was instrumental in obtaining a $7,000,000 state grant which was awarded to the King County Flood Control Zone District (KCFCD) for Briscoe - Desimone Levee improvements, see Exhibit A. H. The KCFCD passed Resolution FCD2013 -02.2 on February 26, 2013, providing for use of the state grant, providing additional KCFCD funding for the Briscoe - Desimone Levee project, supporting the use of setback levees that are retained by Interlocal with Tukwila - Desimone Levee Page 1 of 6 02/10/14