Catasauqua Borough

25 Pages·2013·1.12 MB·English

SECTION 9.4: CATASAUQUA BOROUGH
9.4 CATASAUQUA BOROUGH
This section presents the jurisdictional annex for Catasauqua Borough.
A. HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN POINT OF CONTACT

Primary Point of Contact Alternate Point of Contact
Name Joseph M Carl Name Eugene Goldfeder
Title/ Emergency Management Coordinator/ Title/ Borough Manager/ Borough of
Department Catasauqua Emergency Management Department Catasauqua
Address 118 Bridge St, Catasauqua, PA 18032 Address 118 Bridge St, Catasauqua, PA 18032
Telephone [phone] Telephone [phone]
Fax [phone] Fax [phone]
Email [email protected] Email [email protected]
B. MUNICIPAL PROFILE

Catasauqua Borough is located in eastern Lehigh County, its northern border shared with the boundary of
Northampton County. Located three miles north of the City of Allentown, Catasauqua is a suburban
borough covering a small area of 1.3 square miles, and has a population of 6,436 (2010 Census). As
shown in Figure 1, the borough is bordered by North Catasauqua and Allen Township, both in
Northampton County, to the north; Hanover Township (Lehigh County) to the east and south; and
Whitehall Township to the west.

Figure 1

(Source: http://www.lvpc.org/pdf/maps/baseMap-LehighNorthamptonCounties.pdf)

The Lehigh River is the only significant body of water in Catasauqua Borough, and forms the borough’s
western border.

DMA 2000 Hazard Mitigation Plan Update – Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania 9.4-1
March 2013
SECTION 9.4: CATASAUQUA BOROUGH
The main roadways serving Catasauqua Borough from the west include Lehigh Street and Pine Street,
both coming from Whitehall Township and crossing the Lehigh River. Race Street runs east-west along
the southern edge of the borough, and continues east as SR 1004 providing access to the Lehigh Valley
International Airport and SR 987. Howertown Road is the main north-south roadway, linking Catasauqua
to Northampton County in the north and Pine Street for points south and west to the south.

B.1 Known or Anticipated Future Development

The following table summarizes major residential/commercial development and major infrastructure
development that are identified for the next five (5) to ten (10) years in the municipality. Refer to the
map at the end of this annex which illustrates the hazard areas within the municipality.

Type
(Residential Number of Known Hazard Description /
Property Name Location
or Structures Zone* Status
Commercial)
Fuller Company 300-500 blocks of Front Partial Flood Conceptual /
Mixed Use TBD
Property St Plain Planning Stages

* Only location-specific hazard zones or vulnerabilities identified. With the exception of flood, wildfire, landslides, and land
subsidence/sinkholes, all locations within the Lehigh Valley are exposed to the natural hazards addressed in this plan
DMA 2000 Hazard Mitigation Plan Update – Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania 9.4-2
March 2013
SECTION 9.4: CATASAUQUA BOROUGH
C. NATURAL HAZARD EVENT HISTORY SPECIFIC TO CATASAUQUA BOROUGH

FEMA Disaster #
Type of Event (if applicable) Local Damage and Losses
Over history multiple industrial buildings and private
Fire residences (including a school) total loss and/or
damaged by fire
Flooding damage to municipal sewer plant, discharge
Lehigh River Flooding issues, water treatment issues, other private property
damage over history
Flooding and flash flooding over history damage to
private property including residences and industrial
buildings, road closures including major arteries,
Catasauqua Creek Flooding
damage to municipal swimming pool and recreation
facilities, school transportation disruption, rail line
trestle threatened by flood erosion
Winter Storms Resulted in excessive cleanup costs
Over history resulted in closure of major local
roadways isolating part of the borough, disrupting
Sinkholes school transportation, water main breaks with water
outage, disruptions and boil water advisories. Also
including evacuation of apartment complex

DMA 2000 Hazard Mitigation Plan Update – Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania 9.4-3
March 2013
SECTION 9.4: CATASAUQUA BOROUGH
D. HAZARD RISK/VULNERABILITY RISK RANKING

The following relative ranking of natural and non-natural hazard risks in this municipality was developed
using PEMA’s Risk Factor methodology described in Section 4, “Risk Assessment”

RISK ASSESSMENT CATEGORY RISK
HAZARD NATURAL
FACTOR
RISK HAZARDS SPATIAL WARNING
PROBABILITY IMPACT DURATION (RF)
EXTENT TIME
H Winter Storm 3 2 4 1 3 2.7
G
HI Flood 3 2 3 3 3 2.7
Subsidence /
2 3 3 2 1 2.4
Sinkholes
Radon Exposure 4 1 2 1 4 2.4
Extreme
4 1 2 1 3 2.3
E Temperatures
T
A Drought 2 1 4 1 4 2.2
R
E
D Wildfire 3 1 2 3 3 2.2
O
M
Hailstorm 3 1 3 2 1 2.1
Wind, incl. Tornado 1 3 2 4 1 2.1
Lightning 4 1 1 2 1 2
W Earthquake 1 1 4 4 1 1.9
O
L Landslide 1 1 1 4 1 1.3

RISK ASSESSMENT CATEGORY RISK
HAZARD MAN-MADE
FACTOR
RISK HAZARDS SPATIAL WARNING
PROBABILITY IMPACT DURATION (RF)
EXTENT TIME
Fire
4 2 1 4 2 2.6
(Urban/Structural)
H Environmental
G 3 2 2 4 3 2.6
HI Hazard and
Utility Interruption 3 1 3 4 3 2.5
-E Transportation 4 1 1 4 1 2.2
D T Accident
ORA Mass Gathering and
M 3 1 1 4 2 2
E Civil Disturbance
Terrorism 1 3 1 4 1 1.9
Building Collapse 1 3 1 4 1 1.9
W
O Dam Failure 1 2 2 4 2 1.9
L
Nuclear Incident 1 1 1 4 2 1.4
Levee Failure 0 0 0 0 0 0

DMA 2000 Hazard Mitigation Plan Update – Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania 9.4-4
March 2013
SECTION 9.4: CATASAUQUA BOROUGH

E. CAPABILITY ASSESSMENT

This section identifies the following capabilities of the local jurisdiction:
 Planning and Regulatory Capability
 Administrative and Technical Capability
 Fiscal Capability
 Community Classifications
DMA 2000 Hazard Mitigation Plan Update – Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania 9.4-5
March 2013
SECTION 9.4: CATASAUQUA BOROUGH
E.1 Planning and Regulatory Capability

Status
Effect on
Change
Loss
Since Last
Date Under Dept./Agency Reduction:
Tool / Program Plan: Comments
Adopted or Develop Responsible + Support
In Place + Positive
Updated -ment O Neutral
- Negative
- Hinder
Lehigh County
Emergency
Hazard Mitigation Plan X 4/2006 + +
Management Agency
(EMA)
Updated
Adopted annually; major
Emergency Operations Plan X X Catasauqua EMA + +
6/2003 update in
progress
Disaster Recovery Plan
Part of
Emergency
Evacuation Plan X Catasauqua EMA
Operations Plan
(EOP) rewrite
Part of EOP
Continuity of Operations Plan X Catasauqua EMA
rewrite
FEMA Borough
NFIP X 7/2/2004 +
Zoning
NFIP – Community Rating System
Floodplain Regulations (spec. NFIP Flood Borough Zoning and
X + +
Damage Prevention Ordinance) Building
Floodplain Management Plan
Borough Zoning
Zoning Regulations X 2/2/2001 + +
Office
Borough Zoning/
Subdivision Regulations X 12/19/2011 + +
Engineer
Comprehensive Land Use Plan (or Borough Planning
X 8/2/99 + +
General, Master or Growth Mgt. Plan) Commission
Open Space Management Plan (or

Parks/Rec or Greenways Plan)
Stormwater Management Plan / Borough Planning
X 10/4/2004 + +
Ordinance and Building
DMA 2000 Hazard Mitigation Plan Update – Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania 9.4-6
March 2013
SECTION 9.4: CATASAUQUA BOROUGH
Status
Effect on
Change
Loss
Since Last
Date Under Dept./Agency Reduction:
Tool / Program Plan: Comments
Adopted or Develop Responsible + Support
In Place + Positive
Updated -ment O Neutral
- Negative
- Hinder
Natural Resource Protection Plan
Capital Improvement Plan
Economic Development Plan
Historic Preservation Plan
Farmland Preservation
Borough Building
Building Code X 6/7/2004 + +
Official
Borough Building
Fire Code X 6/5/1995 0
Official
Firewise
MEG regulation
Storm Ready X Catasauqua EMA
w/ EOP rewrite
Other
DMA 2000 Hazard Mitigation Plan Update – Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania 9.4-7
March 2013
SECTION 9.4: CATASAUQUA BOROUGH
E.2 Administrative and Technical Capability

Staff/Personnel Resources Yes No Department/Agency Comments
Planners (with land use / land development Borough planning committee and
X
knowledge) engineer
Planners or engineers (with natural and/or human Borough planning committee and
X
caused hazards knowledge) engineer
Engineers or professionals trained in building and/or
Borough planning committee and
infrastructure construction practices (includes X
engineer
building inspectors)
Emergency Manager X Catasauqua EMA
NFIP Floodplain Administrator X Borough Manager
Land Surveyors
Scientists or staff familiar with the hazards of the

community
Personnel skilled in Geographic Information

Systems (GIS) and/or FEMA’s HAZUS program
Grant writers or fiscal staff to handle large/complex
X Borough Manager
grants
Staff with expertise or training in Benefit-Cost
X Borough Manager
Analysis
Other

DMA 2000 Hazard Mitigation Plan Update – Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania 9.4-8
March 2013
SECTION 9.4: CATASAUQUA BOROUGH
E.3 Fiscal Capability

Financial Resources Yes No Department/Agency Comments
Capital Improvement Programming X Borough Council/ Manager
Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) X Lehigh County Very limited opportunities
Special Purpose Taxes
Gas / Electric Utility Fees
Water / Sewer Fees X Borough Council
We are not authorized to impose these
Stormwater Utility Fees X fees at current. Could develop
appropriate ordinances.
We are not authorized to impose these
Development Impact Fees X fees at current. Could develop
appropriate ordinances.
General Obligation, Revenue, and/or Special Tax
X Borough Council/ Manager All but “Special Tax Bonds”
Bonds
Partnering Arrangements or Intergovernmental Can partner with almost any
X Borough Manager
Agreements government in USA
Other
DMA 2000 Hazard Mitigation Plan Update – Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania 9.4-9
March 2013
SECTION 9.4: CATASAUQUA BOROUGH
E.4 Community Classifications

Program Classification Date Classified
Community Rating System (CRS) NP N/A
Building Code Effectiveness Grading Schedule (BCEGS) TBD TBD
Public Protection TBD TBD
Storm Ready Lehigh County TBD
Firewise NP N/A
N/A = Not applicable. NP = Not participating. TBD = To Be Determined.

The classifications listed above relate to the community’s effectiveness in providing services that may
impact it’s vulnerability to the natural hazards identified. These classifications can be viewed as a gauge
of the community’s capabilities in all phases of emergency management (preparedness, response,
recovery and mitigation) and are used as an underwriting parameter for determining the costs of various
forms of insurance. The CRS class applies to flood insurance while the BCEGS and Public Protection
classifications apply to standard property insurance. CRS classifications range on a scale of 1 to 10 with
class one (1) being the best possible classification, and class 10 representing no classification benefit.
Firewise classifications include a higher classification when the subject property is located beyond 1000
feet of a creditable fire hydrant and is within 5 road miles of a recognized Fire Station. Storm Ready
communities are better prepared to save lives from the onslaught of severe weather through advanced
planning, education and awareness.
Criteria for classification credits are outlined in the following documents:
 The Community Rating System Coordinators Manual
 The Building Code Effectiveness Grading Schedule
 The ISO Mitigation online ISO’s Public Protection website at
http://www.isomitigation.com/ppc/0000/ppc0001.html
 The National Weather Service Storm Ready website at
http://www.weather.gov/stormready/howto.htm
 The National Firewise Communities website at http://firewise.org/
F. MITIGATION STRATEGY

F.1 Past Mitigation Activities/Efforts

The following table identifies progress on the mitigation actions identified in the 2006 plan for the
Borough of Catasauqua.

2006 Initiative
Status Review Comments
Description  Location 
In Progress / Not Yet Project expanded upon within
Flood control Wastewater treatment plant
Complete this plan
Flood control - homes and
10th St. between Union and In Progress / Not Yet Project expanded upon within
businesses at risk from
St. John Streets Complete this plan
flooding
Race St. at Catasauqua No progress / Recent flash flooding events
Raise bridge level
Creek Bridge Unknown confirmed need however no
DMA 2000 Hazard Mitigation Plan Update – Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania 9.4-10
March 2013