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Bossier Parish, Flood Plain Management

Client:

As the Flood Plain Administrator for over 869 square miles, the Bossier Parish Engineer's office processes the Flood Plain Development Applications for hundreds of residences, businesses, corporations, oil production companies, contractors and other individuals who plan on building a structure in Bossier Parish. They serve over 100,000 people a year in addition to being responsible for the parish's culverts, utility and logging inspections. They manage the entire parish system of roads and bridges, as well as any parish building under construction.

Challenge:

Due to the discovery of the Haynesville Shale natural gas deposits, it became increasingly difficult to process all the applications in a timely manner in order to provide accurate and efficient flood plain reviews. These reviews became even more of a challenge as the state of Louisiana passed statewide Uniform Construction Codes (LSUCC) that needed to be blended with the National Flood Insurance Program to ensure that Federal, State and local construction codes were not being compromised, and parishes' flood insurance programs were not placed in jeopardy. Bossier Parish recognized the efficiency in reviewing the Flood Plain Development applications at the same time as the Construction Code reviews.

IBTS provided a Flood Plain Program assessment of their current process and developed a viable and sustainable Flood Plain Management Program that would provide efficiency and full compliance with all required laws, ordinances and codes. The challenge for IBTS was that permits and documentation was largely processed on paper for over a 1,000 permits a year. IBTS went to work and developed permitting flood plain management software that enables all flood plain documents, Firmettes, Elevation Certificates, pictures and numerous other supporting documents to be attached to and tracked with a specific permit. This also required adjustments within the Plan Review offices, to ensure that plan review methodologies would meet all NFIP requirements as well as the LSUCC.

IBTS Solutions:

  • IBTS worked with the Bossier Parish Flood Plain staff to devise a system that is efficient, cohesive, and within the framework of NFIP and LSUCC requirements.
  • IBTS provided a Certified Flood Plain Manager for ordinance review to ensure compliance with both Federal and State laws.
  • Electronic document management was built into the existing Building Department Software to provide for complete cross-reference of construction and flood plain permits.
  • IBTS thoroughly reviews plans for flood plain and construction codes efficiently.

Benefits:

  • IBTS reduced the burden of a growing parish engineering department by providing a thorough review of flood plain development permits that corresponds with the LSUCC requirements.
  • Bossier Parish benefited from a team of certified and professional plan review experts knowledgeable of LSUCC and 44 CFR 480 (NFIP) requirements.
  • IBTS worked quickly and cohesively for clients, staff and citizens to reduce the flood permit approval process by 5 days.

Testimonial:

"The entire staff at IBTS has been very responsive to our changing needs as we continue to develop the permitting process in Bossier Parish... I commend IBTS for their outstanding work ethics and high standards."

--Michelle K. Rodgers, Bossier Parish