Upland receives draft local hazard mitigation plan funded by Cal OES grant
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Summary
Council received a draft update of Upland’s local hazard mitigation plan and heard from Atlas Planning Solutions about hazards, priorities and grant opportunities; staff said the draft was funded by a Cal OES grant of about $90,000 and will be submitted for state and FEMA review before coming back for adoption.
The Upland City Council received a draft update of the city's local hazard mitigation plan on March 23, a document staff said is needed to remain eligible for certain federal disaster‑mitigation grants.
Assistant City Manager Damian Arula said the update was prepared using a Cal OES grant of roughly $90,000 and presented by Atlas Planning Solutions. "This allows us to essentially get reimbursed by FEMA and other agencies with respect to potential disasters," Arula said.
Tanya Garcia, the city's management analyst for emergency management, described the plan’s five‑year update requirement under the federal Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 and said Upland’s plan had last been refreshed in 2016. Consultant Aaron Fanonsteel (Atlas Planning Solutions) said the update identifies priority hazards — seismic and geologic threats, severe wind, wildfire and wildland‑urban interface fire, flooding, infrastructure failure and climate change — and ties mitigation strategies to those priorities.
"This plan sits nicely in between your general plan and your emergency operations plan," Fanonsteel told the council. He said the plan is intended to support grant applications such as BRIC (Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities) and hazard mitigation grant programs administered by FEMA; those grants can fund planning and capital improvements but are competitive.
Fanonsteel and city staff described outreach steps including an online survey (32 responses to date), stakeholder meetings with neighboring agencies and utilities, and a public meeting. Staff said the draft will be sent to the California Office of Emergency Services for state review and then to FEMA; adoption will return to council once the review process is complete.
Council members asked about ranking and probability of hazards, including discussion of dam inundation (ranked low in probability but high in potential consequence) and water‑system infrastructure risks. Staff noted water infrastructure receives focused risk and resilience assessment under separate requirements.
What happens next: staff will post the draft and an online comment form, complete outreach and submit the plan to Cal OES for review. If accepted by state and FEMA, the plan will be returned to the council for formal adoption and will make Upland eligible for related mitigation grant opportunities.
