CRANBERRY TWP — The Federal Emergency Management Agency is updating its flood plain maps for Butler County for the first time in 30 years.

Township engineer Tim Schutzman briefed the township supervisors at a meeting earlier this month, saying that nearly 200 homes in Cranberry could no longer require flood insurance under the new maps.

However, the federal agency in charge of the revisions has only issued preliminary findings, and final versions of the maps won’t be approved until August of 2015, according to Schutzman.

“These are still preliminary maps, but what we’re seeing is far fewer homes included in the flood map,” Schutzman said.

He said a “significant chunk” of those affected under the preliminary maps are on Chadborne Court, which is part of the Fernway neighborhood in the southwestern portion of the township.

Another area of change under the maps could be for homes along the Cole Run Creek, which runs along Rochester Road before running parallel to Rowan Road.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency last updated its maps in 1982, Schutzman said.

He said technological advances such as GIS devices, or geographic information systems, have helped researchers better map the contours and elevations of the land, which in turn has helped some homes escape the flood plain designation.

Schutzman cautioned that these preliminary maps aren’t the final say in whether a resident has to buy flood insurance.

“At the end of the day it still comes down to the mortgage company,” he said. “If the flood boundary crosses a property line, they’re going to want to protect themselves. But by the (FEMA) guidelines, they won’t be required to have it.”

David Johnston, director of the Butler County Planning Commission, said that the process has “dragged on and on” since FEMA first broached the topic several years ago.

Johnston also agreed with Schutzman’s assertion that the time for revising the maps is past due, if only because the old maps were “quick and dirty” and didn’t show buildings or property lines.

Johnston said the preliminary maps don’t represent a massive shift in the flood plain, but that doesn’t mean they’re insignificant.

“When you consider the entire county, it’s not an overly significant amount but it does represent some changes,” he said.

Johnston also agreed that it will take about a year and a half until the new maps are put up for consideration.