Committee approves county hazard mitigation plan as emergency manager flags uncertain federal funding

The Public Property and Law Enforcement Committee approved the county—inal hazard mitigation plan and forwarded it to the full County Board for its September agenda after Emergency Manager Christina told the committee FEMA had already received and accepted the document.

Christina, the county—mergency manager, said the plan had been completed and sent to FEMA and that the county was "grandfathered in because it was already completed and turned in," so the committee could move forward with approval. She told the committee that the plan must list all potential hazards to preserve eligibility for FEMA disaster funding: "Everything has to be in here. So if there is a disaster ... it has to be in here. Otherwise, we cannot get disaster funding from FEMA."

The plan was developed by Northwest Regional Planning with input from county departments and municipalities, Christina said, and has already been approved by Mellon City, Ashland City and the Mellon School. The county must refresh the plan every five years; Christina said the county is "about a year behind" because of staff turnover.

Christina also described grant and program status tied to emergency operations. She said the county has started the two-step pre-application process for EPRA and that the EMPG grant (which funds roughly half of her position) was uncertain: "so far, FEMA is not putting any money into EMPG... we know nothing if theyare going to fund half of our salaries or not." She noted a Senate appropriations committee included $33,155,000 for an emergency services radio infrastructure project, which would be the program she hopes to apply to if it passes Congress.

Committee members questioned process and timing; one member said the document had been reviewed in a long, multi-meeting process with many stakeholders. The committee voted to approve the plan; a motion to approve was made and seconded and the vote carried. The committee placed the plan on the County Board agenda for September.

Because FEMA funding and EMPG support remain uncertain, Christina said she will continue pursuing small grants for public outreach items such as "when thunder roars, go indoors" signage and other preparedness materials. The committee did not make further fiscal commitments at the meeting.

The committee approved the plan by voice vote and will schedule the item for the County Board. No formal amendments were recorded at the committee meeting.