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Committee adopts Pennington County Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan and Community Wildfire Protection Plan; mayor authorized to sign
Summary
The Legal and Finance Committee approved Resolution No. 2025‑030 on April 2, 2025, adopting the Pennington County Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan and the 2024 Community Wildfire Protection Plan and authorizing the mayor to sign required pages for grant eligibility.
The committee considered Resolution No. 2025‑030 on April 2, 2025, to declare the City of Rapid City’s support for adoption of the Pennington County Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan and the 2024 Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) and to authorize the mayor to sign the CWPP signature page.
Dustin Willett, the Rapid City – Pennington County Emergency Manager, told the committee the planning process began in 2022 with public engagement and stakeholder input. Willett said the plan is the first the county has published in an interactive, online Esri story‑map format rather than a static PDF and that the CWPP was incorporated within the broader natural‑hazards plan to streamline stakeholder engagement while preserving separate signature pages for grant eligibility.
Why it matters: formal adoption of the mitigation plan and CWPP unlocks federal funding sources. Willett told the committee the natural‑hazards plan enables access to FEMA mitigation grant dollars; the CWPP makes projects eligible for grant programs administered by federal land management agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service.
Committee response and adoption
Committee members praised emergency management staff. Council member Bill Evans commended Willett and his team for their work. A motion to approve the resolution was made and seconded (mover recorded as Bieber; second recorded as Maher); the committee voted in favor and the motion carried. The committee approved the resolution and authorized the mayor to sign the CWPP signature page.
Clarifying details from the meeting
- Planning timeline: the mitigation and CWPP process began in 2022 and included public listening sessions and stakeholder engagement, according to the emergency manager. - Format: the plan is delivered as an interactive, hosted Esri story map rather than a static PDF. - Grants: the natural‑hazards plan is tied to FEMA mitigation funding; the CWPP unlocks grant opportunities from federal land management agencies (BLM, U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service);
What happens next
With committee approval, staff will forward the plan and signature pages for mayoral signature and pursue applicable grant opportunities tied to the plans.
