February 2026 Monthly Dinner Meeting

Description

Join us for our February Monthly Dinner Meeting, featuring a highly anticipated one-hour CSL approved presentation on evolving floodplain regulations and their real-world impacts on residential construction on Cape Cod. This timely session will provide builders and industry professionals with practical insights, regulatory updates, and guidance to help projects stay compliant and on track, followed by dinner and networking with fellow members.

Understanding evolving floodplain regulations is essential for builders working in coastal and flood-prone communities. This course will provide industry professionals with practical guidance on current floodplain standards, regulatory updates, and their real-world impacts on residential construction on Cape Cod.

Eric Carlson of the Department of Conservation and Recreation and Shannon Hulst of Barnstable County Cape Cod Cooperative Extension and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Sea Grant will provide a brief overview of floodplain conditions specific to Cape Cod, followed by a review of floodplain-specific provisions of the Massachusetts State Building Code. There will be an emphasis on changes in the 10th Edition, including V-Zone standards in the Coastal A Zone and additional freeboard in V and A Zones.

Participants will gain insight into how changes in floodplain management, sea level rise considerations, and hazard mitigation requirements affect project planning, permitting, and compliance. The presentation will also cover best practices for working within the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) framework and the Community Rating System (CRS).

The session will include opportunities for members to ask questions and apply the information to their current and upcoming projects in coastal and floodplain environments.

Speakers

Shannon Hulst, CFM (she/her)
Deputy Director | Cape Cod Cooperative Extension
Floodplain & CRS Specialist | Cape Cod Cooperative Extension & Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Sea Grant

Shannon Hulst is a floodplain specialist with expertise in floodplain management, coastal storms, sea level rise, and hazard mitigation. She works extensively with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and the Community Rating System (CRS), supporting communities across Cape Cod with floodplain administration, regulatory guidance, and coastal resilience planning.

Eric Carlson
Environmental Engineer | Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation

Eric Carlson is an Environmental Engineer with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). DCR serves as steward of one of the largest state park systems in the country, managing approximately 450,000 acres of forests, parks, greenways, historic sites, seashores, lakes, reservoirs, and watersheds. The DCR Flood Hazard Management Program (FHMP) acts as the State Coordinating Office for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).