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Council forwards regional Hazard Mitigation Plan draft to state and FEMA after public hearing
Summary
After a public hearing, the Town Council authorized submission of a multi-jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan to the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency and FEMA for review and comment.
The Fort Smith Town Council held a public hearing and authorized staff to forward a draft regional Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP) for Aquidneck Island to the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency and FEMA for review.
Town planning staff said the draft plan is the product of a multi-jurisdictional process involving Portsmouth, Middletown and Newport, municipal emergency managers, the Navy and technical consultants. The plan, funded in part through the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank and FEMA's BRIC (Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities) program, updates the island's priorities for mitigation and makes the jurisdictions eligible for pre-disaster and post-disaster funding.
The council heard questions about priorities such as road elevation, stormwater controls and structural safety of critical gathering points (the town's older high school gym was discussed as a potential shelter site). Emergency management staff and the plan team said specific mitigation actions identified in the draft will be refined in response to public and municipal comments and that the plan will return to the council for formal adoption after state and FEMA review.
The council voted to forward the draft to the state and FEMA for review; staff noted numerous technical edits and municipal comments will be incorporated during the review process and that the final, FEMA-approved plan would come back for council adoption.
