ORDER NO. 16695
ORDER REQUESTING UPPER GUADALUPE RIVER AUTHORITY TO REDEFINE
THE FLOOD PLAIN IN KERR COUNTY
On this the 9th day of June 1986, upon motion made by Commis-
sioner Higgins, seconded by Commissioner Guthrie, it was unani-
mously approved by the Court that the UPPER GUADALUPE RIVER
AUTHORITY BE REQUESTED TO REDEFINE THE FLOOD PLAIN IN KERR
COUNTY, as per letter from Thomas W. Pollard, Attorney at
Law, regarding the 100 year flood plain in the area of Schumacher
Crossing and testimony of live witnesses which may differ from
the information that FEMA has.
THOMAS W. POLLARD
ATTORNEY AT LAW
951 MAIN STREET
KERRVILLE TEXAS 78028-3598
~512~ 896 7500
Iday 30, i 986
Col. Bernie Bruns
c/o Upper Guadalupe River Authority
215 W. Water St.
Kerrville, TX 78028
Re: 100 year flood plain in the area of Schumacher Crossing
llear Col. Bruns:
I spoke to i~fr. Jim LeGrotte of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEriA) by to 1 ephone on iday 2 8 , 1 9 8 6 . r~ir .
LeGrotte is in charge of the local area information on Governments
~~Iinirnurn Area Standards relating t~~ the 100 year flood plain, as you
know. i•ir. LeGrotte called the in z~r.~sponse to a a letter I wrote him
about the controversy that occurruLi about a month or so ago near
Schumacher's crossing concerning t;ie approval of a subdivision, and
there was some question about he>w much of the property in the
subdivision was inundated in the '32, '58 and '78 floods. You may
remember that Hascol Schumacher an~i Pete Schumacher were involved
in the matter, and I believe Pete :;chumacher appeared before the
cocnrnissioners court at the tune of the subdivision approval.
A~~parently there are some live witnesses to the effect that
the 1932 flood inundation level is substantially higher than the
information that the government hay on the 100 year flood plain.
As I understand it the 1932 flood is considered a 100 year flood.
At any rate, in speaking to :ir. LeGrotte of FEi4A he says that
their regulations i~rovide that local communities should utilize
live witnesses or other evidence which may differ from the
information that FEi~1A has. Iie is sending me those regulations.
As a matter of fact I asked I•ir. LeGrotte how FEi~IA or the
official governmental information on the 100 year flood plain could
be amended to properly reflect what the live witnesses remember in
tiie area and his reply was that this action must be initiated first
by the Commissioners Court of Y.err County, ~i'exas. As I understand
it, your organization is in charge of that information in this
area, and if your organization has such information available and
then transmits that information to tiie Commissioners Court of Kerr
County, Texas, then the Commissioners Court of >:cerr County, Texas
transits the information to :;r. LeGrotte along with a request
that the indicated changes in the information be Made on the 100
year flood plain, at which tune FE1~1A makes the corrections. The
responsibility for gathering that evidence, in our community, is
with Upper Guadalupe River Authority, and the responsibility for
making findings about the changes, and requesting that the federal
government agency cnange the information officially lies with the
Commissioners Court of Kerr County, Texas.
Apparently the Commissioners Court in Kerr County does not
understand that they have the power to make such a request to
modify the 100 year flood plain information on the federal
government's record, because they took the position at the time of
an approval of the subdivision that they were powerless to make
changes of the official information. Therefore I am providing you
with copies of the regulations and information :sir. LeGrotte sent
me, enclosed herewith, and asking that the Upper Gu~a3alupe River
authority make an investigation of the facts and evidence by
contacting Pete Schumacher, Hascol Schumacher, arr3 the other
witnesses that the Schumachers can tell you about.
If at the conclusion of your investigation you a~-e convinced
that the official government information should be changed in the
area of Schumacher Crossing, then I would request that you furnish
that information to the Corarnissioners Court of Kerr t:uunty, Texas
for their findings and action thereon.
If the Commissioners court makes findings thereon that changes
are necessary, then I ask that they forward their fir~ainys to sir.
LeGrotte along with a request, under the federal y~vernrnent's
regulations (copy enclosed for the Cornrnissioners Court also) that
the government's information be appropriately changed.
I am not now representing any of the parties involved in this
matter. I formerly represented Pete Schumacher when there was a
tizreat to sue Pete Schumacher by the owners of the subdivision but
I believe that matter has now been concluded andr4r. Sci~umacizer has
paid his final legal fee to me. After talking to :ir. .Jiro LeGrotte
with Fi;;•iA, I was concerned, as a citizen of this cor;~r~~unity, that
the information Fr:i~1A had was too conservative, and keeping in mind
ti~at this more accurate information is soon likely to be
unavailable to us, I thought, as a concerned citizen, that that
information should be preserved and the official information should
be appropriately changed.
>3y the way, there is some urgency to trris matter. ;sir. Pete
Schumacher was sixteen years old at the time of the 1932 flood, ire
and the other live witnesses are now fairly elderly, and if this
,~
information is riot preserved now, it Will, in just a few short
years, be lost forever. You should know that Pete Schumacher has
terrtinal cancer and has been told by his doctor that he only has
from three months to a year to live. If you want to preserve the
information from him, then I suggest that you proceed imrnediately
with doing so.
In the event I may assist or furnish any additional
information on this matter, please do not hesitate to call me.
Thank you very much.
Sincerely,
Thomas W. Pollard
TWP/t~tw
Encls.
cc: Hon. Gordon 1~iorriss
County Judge
Kerr County Courthouse
Ferrville, Texas 78028
Kerr County Commissioners Court
Kerr County Courthouse
Kerrville, Texas 78028