Palmerton plans to stay the course in an attempt to find relief for a group of residents who pay substantially higher flood insurance rates.

Several residents affected by hefty flood insurance premiums again voiced their displeasure with their current set of circumstances to borough council on Thursday.Raberta Hans, of 435 Franklin Ave, who resides in the primary area where residents have been affected, asked council for an update on the situation.Borough Manager Rodger Danielson told Hans that a meeting was held earlier this month at borough hall in which various state and borough officials formulated a plan to assist residents in that area with their National Flood Insurance Premiums.Also as part of that meeting, the group took a walk to the borough park to get a firsthand look at the park stream, as well as the 40-plus homes located in the flood zone.It was determined at that point that the borough would be sent a "privacy release form" to the borough, which would in turn authorize an "elevation study" to be conducted by its engineering firm, Keystone Consulting. Keystone Consulting would then issue "elevation certificates" to all affected homeowners, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency will use the elevation certificates to conduct a "fact-finding mission."Danielson said the borough has the "privacy release form, and we'll execute it when we've got something to submit."He said that if the applications meet with success, then the work will continue on. If not, then further measures would likely be discontinued.Hans said that while she understood, the situation was "becoming an epidemic in our neighborhood."Council President Terry Costenbader weighed in on the matter."We're not walking away from this, we're not sugarcoating this, we're on it," Costenbader said.It was also noted that in addition to Franklin, a study will be conducted for those homes affected on portions of Lafayette, Lehigh and Delaware avenues as well, where the floodplain carries on.Greg Aaron, who resides at 426 Franklin Ave. said he just received a statement that his flood insurance rate has increased from $1,800 to $1,900.Pat Bodor, who lives at 428 Franklin Ave., said if the problem isn't resolved, a lot of those homes will have to go into foreclosure, which she said wouldn't bode well for the borough."It's a shame, because Palmerton is a very nice town," Bodor said. "It's a shame this has to come to this, people moving, people putting up their homes for foreclosures."For several months, residents primarily along the first half of the 400 block of Franklin Avenue, east of Park Creek have brought their concerns over their mounting flood insurance premiums to council.The area is in an A 01 floodplain, the most severe plain that exists under FEMA.After the federal government raised the rates about a year ago, flood insurance has risen astronomically for some borough residents to the tune of $200 to $300 per month.Borough officials previously said the last time a study was conducted at neighboring Park Creek was by air in 2002.As defined by FEMA, a floodplain is any land area susceptible to being inundated by floodwaters from any source.