Development in flood-prone areas in Warren County will be the focus of a floodplain management assessment by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Expected to start next week, the effort will “make sure any development in the flood plain is within the (floodplain) ordinance,” Warren County Emergency Management Director Gwen Coleman said Monday.

Termed a “community assessment visit,” the process is customary for all communities participating in the National Flood Insurance Program, administered by FEMA.

NFIP policies are taxpayer-subsidized and participating cities and counties are required to limit building or rebuilding in flood areas to help break the cycle of repeated claims. Areas not enforcing the restrictions or monitoring construction can be expelled from the program. Field inspections in low-lying areas will be conducted.

Updates to the county’s overall flood risk map began in October, with the special zones as the chief focus. New maps based on technical changes in special zones could come by 2012, depending on information gathered by state emergency management and environmental officials.

Any recommendations made by FEMA to keep the county compliant are expected 30 days after the visit. Rights of entry and inspection of properties was added to the local ordinance as part of the current map becoming effective in 2008. Inspections and citations for floodplain and subdivision ordinance violations are a function of the county’s building permit department.

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Contact Danny Barrett Jr. at dbarrett@vicksburgpost.com

On the agenda

• Accepted $212,800 in federal stimulus money to pay for installing energy-efficient windows at the public library and at the board office building on Jackson Street.

• Discussed a $244,905 estimate from the Midcontinent Express Pipeline on repairs to seven county roads damaged during the gas line’s construction.

The figures include restriping costs and engineering tack-ons, county engineers said, but is less than the $300,000 right of way bond put up by pipeline planners. Dana and Nine Mile Cutoff roads will be resurfaced first, with sections of Halls Ferry Road and Bovina Cutoff Road to be addressed during the spring.