Montero board votes unanimously to join San Mateo County hazard mitigation plan
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Summary
The Montero Water and Sanitary District voted 5–0 to participate in San Mateo County’s 2026 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan and include the Sewer Authority Midcoast site in the district’s annex, a step the district says preserves eligibility for FEMA mitigation grants and pre-disaster funding.
The Montero Water and Sanitary District board on March 5 authorized participation in the San Mateo County 2026 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP) and agreed to include the Sewer Authority Midcoast site in the district’s annex.
District water engineer Tanya Yourofsky told the board the county coordinates a multi-jurisdictional LHMP and that jurisdictions must participate and update their annex every five years to remain eligible for certain FEMA pre-disaster mitigation funding. Tanya said the annex documents assets, risk assessments and proposed mitigation actions and requires public engagement during the update.
Tanya said that participation helped the Sewer Authority Midcoast site secure federal pre-disaster funds for a project to relocate electrical equipment at a treatment plant; she described the award as one recent example of how the program can move funding to the coast. She also told the board that FEMA grant awards for projects of this type can vary and that applying requires administrative work for reimbursements and documentation.
Directors asked three central questions: how much money might be available, what obligations accepting grants would impose, and how the board would be involved in deciding projects. Tanya said the district’s capital improvement program guides which projects are listed in the annex but that projects not on the list can still be eligible; she said grantees will need to document costs, submit reimbursement forms and ensure projects are completed as awarded.
A board member moved to authorize the district’s participation and to include the Sewer Authority Midcoast site in the district annex. The motion was seconded and approved in a roll-call vote, carried 5–0. The board will review a county-drafted annex in April, participate in the county’s public comment period in May and consider a resolution required by FEMA later in the summer.
The action keeps the district eligible to apply for federal mitigation funding and begins a multi-step process that includes county drafting, a public comment period and state and federal review before FEMA approval.