Final Report

Final Report

Executive Summary
"Pre and Post Disaster Planning for Historical Resources."

Background
Florida is a state of abundance–both in terms of historical resources and natural disasters. The remains of over 10,000 years of human habitation can be found in this state–from significant archaeological resources to historic buildings, structures, and districts. These resources add to the character and quality of life in many Florida communities, and often provide important economic benefits. Many of these resources are located in coastal zones and other high hazard areas, making them particularly vulnerable in the event of a natural disaster.

Working under a grant from the Florida Department of State (DOS), which oversees historical resources, and in coordination with the Florida Department of Community Affairs (DCA), which oversees emergency management, 1000 Friends of Florida developed this project to:

• provide an evaluation of Florida's emergency management process with regard to historical resources;
• develop recommended strategies and actions on how to strengthen and improve that process; and,
• identify and development of stronger and more well defined links between DOS, DCA and local communities and recommend actions by which historical resources receive careful consideration prior to, and after, natural disasters.

Major Undertakings for the Project
The principal work products of this project involved:
• Conducting background research to better understand Florida's situation and the situations in other southeastern states in regards to pre and post disaster planning for historical resources;
• Conducting a survey to identify areas of agreement and concern regarding pre- and post disaster planning for historical and cultural resources;
• Conducting a series of meetings/interviews with DOS and DCA representatives;
• Preparing a summary of federal requirements and Florida's current approach to emergency management with regard to historical resources;
• Convening a roundtable of experts to discuss various approaches to emergency management and the protection of historic resources and to develop recommendations on how Florida can improve its procedures and develop strategies for better coordination and response;
• Present results-to-date at the Governor's Hurricane Conference; and,
• Preparation of this final report.

Identification of Issues through Research, Survey, Interviews and Expert Roundtable
Issues and concerns were identified from research, interviews and through a survey sent out to a variety of emergency management, planning and historical/cultural resource experts. The identified issues were used as the starting point upon which a selected group of historic resources and emergency management experts later met to develop specific recommendations. Below are issues and recommendations resulting from the roundtable.

1.) Insufficient field information about resource location and better integration of data regarding resources into existing local, state, and federal emergency planning and response networks.

Recommended Solutions

The state (DOS and DCA) needs to consider and develop a data/information collection and dispersal process. The process should use at a minimum:

The Florida Master Site File;

Local identified sites;

Countywide inventory of cultural resources;

FDOT archeological/cultural resources inventory.

The process should provide a method for regular updates and should consider involving the Regional Planning Councils, the Water Management Districts (especially their GIS capabilities).

For smaller counties/jurisdictions, alter the eligibility requirements to lower or eliminate any grant match requirements. [e.g., DCA's Emergency Management Preparedness Assistance Grant (EMPAC) and DOS's cultural/historical grants used for preparing and updating resource inventories.

Each county develops a Local Mitigation Strategy (LMS) as a means to prepare and better develop their areas for disasters. The LMS is updated yearly and can be used to identify and support actions to identify and protect historical and cultural resources.
2.) Identifying lines of responsibility

Recommended Solutions

To assist in identifying lines of responsibility the various existing planning processes need to be employed such as the local Emergency Management (EM) Plan; the Local Comprehensive Plan.. Actions to guide and improve historical/cultural resource disaster protection can be added at this time such as placing DOS into the State's Emergency Support Function matrix as the lead agency regarding historical/cultural resource issues and outlining lines of responsibility.

The local Emergency management plan should begin to address the historical/cultural resource issues. Local comprehensive plans for each jurisdiction covered under a county EM plan should also be encouraged to address disaster/emergency planning for historic/cultural resources and should link back to the local emergency management plan.

Organizational Charts and outlines should be developed to depict lines of responsibility.

DOS could maintain/update a listing of local historical/cultural contacts (groups and individuals) which would be provided to the local county emergency management office for inclusion in their emergency management plan.

Develop a Historical Preservation Response Function (outlines responsibilities during times of emergency response and recovery).

Provide for a historic preservation plan in local comprehensive plans - this could be done as an optional element if advocated by local historic preservation interests.

Local groups must be the point of advocacy to address the misconception that identifying historic properties is not an important local task; local historic groups must be the ones to advocate for the identification of such properties BEFORE a disaster.

Historic preservation groups must be educated on the post disaster recover process to understand what will be lost if this kind of information is not documented beforehand at the local level; allows these groups to that they can influence the priority of local government repair considerations.

DOS should make grant funds available to local historic preservation groups for this purpose.

DOS and DCA should create incentives for local governments to identify local historic properties.

Disaster assistance and recovery teams need to know that historic properties are within the disaster area(s); this is especially important when non-local groups are involved.

Where historic properties are located in hazard areas, i.e. flood plains, local governments must decide beforehand how they want to deal with damage that requires compliance with newer building code and flood insurance requirements (i.e., relocation, flood-proofing, etc.).
3.) Resolution of repetitious replacement or "repairs in-kind" discussions between State SHPO, DEM, and FEMA.

Recommended Solutions

Problem area exists for non-FEMA private structures. Their needs to be a consultation process for privately owned structures to let owners, lenders, others know of the importance of repair in-kind as a means to preserve the historic/cultural qualities of the structure.

The concept of repair in-kind for disaster damages, and the variances for historic structures needs to be built into local building codes and variance procedures.

For historic structures non-contributing structures in historic areas, local codes should provided for exemption by right from the 50 % rule (e.g., Sarasota County.) Look at the 50% rule for how structures are affected. In many areas there is an "inequity" wherein smaller structures hit the 50% rule for minor repairs/modifications that larger structures can avoid.

Develop group insurance pools for private historic structures and for public structures where the cost of repairs in-kind will exceed the standard repair costs. In essence, such a group insurance policy would pay for the difference between "normal" repairs and likely more expensive repair in- kind necessary to rebuild structures to preserve their historic characters/attributes.

For insurance repair/replacement purposes, historic structures should be valued at the "true" replacement costs given the special materials/treatments and associated repair in-kind needs.

There is a need to plan ahead for historic structures/districts to allow for "quick repairs" with standard materials to protect and preserve the integrity of the structure and "buy time" to allow the "repairs in-kind" to be appropriately planned and performed later.

From an educational perspective, information about "repair in-kind" needs could be developed by the state and then made available at local building offices for handouts and/or provided to local tax assessor offices to allow the information to be sent out to historic structure owners via the homestead exemption mailouts, utility mailouts, etc.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) is a group that often is involved in loaning the money to private entities for disaster repairs and replacements. This group also needs to have more directed information and education on the repair in-kind needs of historic/cultural structures. Information should be developed by the state for this purpose. Delivery of the information can be by, letters, handouts and/or via group-wise workshops. Group-wise workshops can also involve other private groups.

Check with state insurance Department on whether homeowner policies contain the phrase "replace with in-kind"; if so then insurance company has to pay for repair in-kind of historic structures.
4.) Issue Area: Seeking and using appropriate expertise ( i.e. historic resource expertise linkage to disaster recovery teams?) This is a multifaceted issue affecting pre disaster, disaster and post-disaster actions.

Recommended Solutions

The state's Division of Historical Resources working through its network of local contacts (Certified Local Governments, Local Historical Resources Groups and Main Street Managers) should develop lists of volunteer historical/cultural contacts prior to disaster situations and provide them to the state and county emergency management offices. Contacts for an area can be developed for each locale as well as on a regional basis.

The list of local expertise needs to be updated (possible yearly?).

Local expertise needs to be identified and involved in disaster planning ahead of time.

Each county emergency management office as well as the state DEM should be provided a list of local historic/cultural expertise available for use during disaster situations.

Local expert volunteers should be made available to assist with the initial post disaster preliminary impact assessments of damaged/destroyed historic/cultural resources. To provide for the use of such individuals, specific cross-training would be required between local preservation experts, local EM offices state DOS and DEM personnel.

The state's site files on historic and cultural resources is now available in Geographic Information Format (ArcView). This information needs to be made available to the state DEM and to each county EM office. DOS and DEM need to cooperate to achieve this objective.

The State and local emergency management plans, emergency support function matrices and the local mitigation strategies need to be amended to include the appropriate cites and linkage for handling historic and cultural resources. Related actions would include: having the DCA and the DOS work cooperatively to develop criteria for a historic/cultural section to be included.

Jump start technical teams by going to the Regional Planning Councils.
5.) Issue Area: Continued Education and Training

Recommended Solutions

Create ready made road shows that can be used at professional organizational meetings and workshops. The focus would be on historic preservation issues tying back to emergency management processes. The information should be on tape and on DVD, as well is presented in person.

Improve the FEMA website by including the boiler language forms and other materials on the web. Until the necessary approval to do this is obtained, DCA and DOS should put FEMA's Regional Atlanta Offices' email address on their sites so people can contact them to get these materials.

Improve the DOS website and link to other sites pertinent to this issues.

Work with universities, community colleges, and professional organizations to get continuing education credits for classes/workshops on historic preservation and emergency management issues. A continuing education unit be developed as a cooperative effort between the DOS, DEM and FEMA. Assistance in the development and dispersal of such a educational unit may be found by enlisting the support of the National Emergency Management Association (NEMA) and the Florida's community colleges and universities.

Create a package of information about the "care and feeding" of historic structures, as well as mitigation issues, to give to homeowners. This could include a unit/section on how to stabilize historic structures that have experienced disaster related damage.

The issues related to disaster planning for historical/archeological/cultural resources should be brought to the forefront via use of existing newsletters, magazines and web pages. DOS, DCA, NTHP each have such public information vehicles which should report on these issues. Other larger circulation publications such as Florida Trend Magazine could be used to cover the issues.

Allow disaster recovery plans to be funded through Certified Local Government funding.

Encourage dry run practices of disaster events involving historic resources at the local level. Include historic preservation issues into "Tabletops".

Encourage county emergency management offices to perform pre-disaster planning functions, e.g., identification of debris staging sites to avoid historic and archeological areas.

Integrate historic preservation into the existing FEMA on-line program course.

DCA , DOS and FEMA should work cooperatively to get teams to go out and meet with local emergency management staffers. The teams would include local, state and regional historical experts to provide relatively specific information and to train and sensitize local EM staff and support personnel to local historical resources and issues.

DOS can act as an information clearing house.
6.) Issue Area: Dissemination of relevant information amongst and between the historic preservation and emergency management communities.

Recommended Solutions

Review various forms used at all stages during a disaster and amend to include a clear box identifying whether historic resources are thought or known to be affected by the event.

Include a local historic resource liaison at the table in the local EMO when demolition discussions take place. This will provide historic preservation people with more reliable information with which to update site files.

Partner with the Red Cross and the Small Business Association to help disseminate information, particularly about retrofitting.

Create field manuals about what to do or not do.

Create a process for identifying a post disaster historic preservation task force in those cases where a lot of historic resources are affected by the event. Consideration should be given to seeing if this activity could be included in the Programmatic Agreement.

Create public service announcements that talk about what to do after a disaster if you are a historic resource owner. DEM's public information office should create a model and distribute to local EMO public information units.

Create a historic resource/emergency management contact list to distribute to local emergency management offices. DOS would compile the historic preservation portion and DCA would compile the emergency management portion.

The DOS needs to develop a guidebook for local jurisdictions to use to incorporate historic and cultural resource protection into the local emergency management and city/county planning functions.

DOS should work with DCA and local EM offices to be included within their Emergency Support Functions in state and local EM plans to "red flag" historic districts/resources.

To avoid the problem of "gypsy contractors after a disaster event identify and develop database of state/local certified contractors and consider disseminating this data in public information brochures, DOS web site links to MyFlorida.com and newsletters.
7.) Issue Area: Funding access for unexpected needs for historic resources, i.e. how do you get year to year access through existing grant monies for immediate post disaster relief so you don't have to rely on adopting emergency rules on a case by case basis.

Recommended Solutions

Develop a pre-disaster contract to provide goods or services that would become activated when an event affects historic resources.

Handle structural engineering services under contract like FDOT does with planning services; engineer would be retained in advance of events and contract would be activated if event warranted it.

Help develop Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) and DCA and DOS capacity to raise emergency funds.
8.) Issue Area: General Funding

Recommendations

For smaller counties/jurisdictions alter the eligibility requirements to lower or eliminate any grant match requirements. [e.g., DCA's Emergency Management Preparedness Assistance Grant (EMPAC) and DOS's cultural/historical grants used for preparing and updating resource inventories).

The DCA managed emergency management grants, local mitigation strategy grants and other FEMA and NOAA grants should include disaster preparedness actions for historic and cultural resources under their yearly funding priority criteria.

DCA and DOS grant funds should be made available to help get GIS to local level. Definitive site coordinates (geopositioning) and expansion of particular resource attribute table data should be encouraged within GIS data sets.

Give local communities the option to use some of the Tourist Development Council monies for identification, mapping and inventories of historical/archeological and cultural resources.

Return To Planning for Disaster for Florida's Historcal Resources