Events

50th Anniversary Commemorative Brick Walkway

The City of El Lago will be 50 years old next year! In honor of this special occasion, we are going to build a 50th Anniversary Commemorative Brick Walkway which will extend from the south side of the McNair Park Pavilion to the planned El Lago Community Center at the El Lago Swim and Racquet Club. Help us celebrate this momentous occasion and have your name or special inscription as a permanent part of our city’s future. Please complete this flyer and bring to City Hall to purchase your brick.

Halloween Carnival

It was such a disappointment last year when the Halloween Carnival was rained out! We are hoping, rain permitting, to put on the Halloween Carnival this year. Please stay tuned to the City’s website for forthcoming information. We are definitely looking for volunteers to help so if you are willing, please contact City Clerk Kate Parker at 281-326-1951, ext. 11.

Is Your Flood Insurance Premium Increasing Dramatically?

Submitted by El Lago resident Don Peterson

If you live in certain areas within the City of El Lago (mostly south of Willow Vista Dr.) and it is time to renew your flood insurance, beware! In 2007, the Federal Emergency Management Agency updated their flood zone maps and much of the older section of El Lago was re-zoned in a higher risk flood zone. If your property was previously in Zone X and is now listed as Zone AE, your annual flood insurance premium may dramatically increase. If your zone has changed and you have not already received notification you will when the time approaches for you to renew your flood insurance.

This recently happened to me, but my flood insurance company made a suggestion that might result in a substantial reduction in my premium. Their suggestion was to have a licensed surveyor survey my property and prepare a "Certificate of Elevation." This Certificate of Elevation verifies your actual elevation and the insurance company can use it in determining your flood zone rather than using the FEMA Flood Zone map. Upon submitting a copy of the Certificate of Elevation to my insurance company, my premium was reduced from more than $1,200 per year to less than $450 per year. My cost for the survey was only a couple hundred dollars, but my premium reduction will return more than three times that much savings in one year.

Depending on the elevation of your house, this may or may not work for you. However, I have been told that the elevation of many houses in the above mentioned area are high enough to result in a considerable decrease in annual flood insurance premiums.

The City of El Lago is requesting that if you have or do get an elevation survey completed, submit a copy to City Secretary Ann Vernon at City Hall, 98 Lakeshore Drive. She will be collecting the information and forwarding it on to Representative Pete Olson's office who has shown an interest in the FEMA map elevation discrepancies.

For more information on FEMA's flood zone designations and to obtain a flood map, go to the FEMA Map Service Center at msc.fema.gov.