Last year Schenectady announced the city had received FEMA funding to help mitigate the impact of flooding in the Stockade neighborhood.

This week, residents learned more on how this will be done.

Extreme weather and ice jams have caused the flooding on several streets over the years. Stockade property owner John Samatulski owns three buildings on Ingersoll Avenue and has been waiting for answers to the issues.

“As a small developer, I just wanted to kind of roll up my sleeves and hopefully save the properties long enough for a solution like this to come along,” Samatulski said.

This would the Stockade flood mitigation project. Samatulski is one of many taking part in a multiple day design workshop this week, part of phase one of the $1.2 million FEMA funded project.

“It’s really a time to take steps toward building that census around what does this community want to happen,” said Kristin Diotte, Schenectady director of Planning & Development.

The project consultants laid out 10 options and the one drawing the most interest is the managed retreat. That concept would relocate houses out of the floodplain, while expanding riverside park.

“It’s a pretty bold move but we think it is something we can look further into,” Diotte said.

Other concepts residents ranked high were the elevation and relocation of certain houses, raising streets and buildings, or developing a levee.

“For me the only real solution is to move them out of the floodplain because without that we’re just kind of like a half solution,” Samatulski said.

Once a concept is selected, the project can receive up to $7.5 million for phase two of this project, which would be construction. But the plan would require a certain number of homeowners to buy-in for it to be feasible.

“It’s mainly the people that live in the floodplain that have to make the decision because it affects them the most,” said Stockade neighborhood resident James Zautner.

A concept will be selected by the end of this year with a report to FEMA due in June of 2020.