JARRETT GOODMAN
Staff Writer
The Board of Mayor & Aldermen in Jasper has approved the first reading of Ordinance 452. It concerns changes to floodplain zoning limits inside corporate limits to the community.
According to City Attorney Mark Raines Jr., the new ordinance was recommended for passage by the town’s planning commission, which was brought to the commission by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for review. He explained that the U.S. government is in the process of creating new flood maps for communities across the nation. The ordinance allows the city to adopt any changes within different districts of the community located in flood zones.
“We were given a deadline to submit any changes up through the chain, if we wanted to make changes to the zoning limits,” said Raines Jr.
Mark also explained that one major change which the city has made was regarding a rate increase for public notices. He stated how in the past, the fee to run a public notice within a news related publication was $50. However, the new ordinance aims to increase the fee up to $100 to keep in line with average prices for running a public notice for reworks in different zones.
The board officially gave the thumbs up for the first reading of Ordinance 452, with a second yet to be approved during the city’s next meeting.