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Rutland planning team presents final draft hazard mitigation plan; public comment period opens through Feb. 11
Summary
Rutland Regional Planning Commission presented a final draft of the town’s local hazard mitigation plan and opened a public comment period running through Feb. 11; the plan will be submitted to Vermont Emergency Management for review pending board authorization.
Rutland town planning staff and consultants presented a final draft of the town’s local hazard mitigation plan to the Select Board on Jan. 28 and began a final public comment period that runs through Feb. 11.
Stephanie, a planner with the Rutland Regional Planning Commission who led the update process, told the board the update completes the risk assessment and mitigation action planning the select board reviewed at an earlier milestone meeting. "This tonight's meeting pretty much kicks off, the final public comment period on your plan, which will run through February 11," Stephanie said. She advised residents and officials to review the plan and the state review tool included in the meeting packet and to email comments to her address; the planning team will assemble responses and return revisions to the board if necessary.
The update documents community attributes, identifies high-priority natural hazards, and lists specific mitigation actions the planning team judged reasonable and practical for the town to pursue over the five-year plan cycle. The document also explains how the town can maintain and update the plan annually and includes appendices with previous plan actions and a public-engagement summary. Stephanie said the planning team expects Vermont Emergency Management to provide an "approval pending adoption" review and that the state often requests minor finessing; the board will be asked to adopt the plan after the state’s review is complete.
Why it matters: an approved local hazard mitigation plan can increase a municipality’s share of state match on federally declared disaster public-assistance funds and helps prioritize actions to reduce community risk from natural hazards.
The board directed staff to post the draft on the town website and to include the plan on the Feb. 11 meeting agenda for final review and to submit the plan to the state for review pending adoption. The planning team solicited comments from town department heads and community partners and said it will incorporate any substantive input received during the public comment period.
Speakers who led or contributed to the plan presentation included Marty (planning team member) and Stephanie (Rutland Regional Planning Commission planner).
