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Holbrook approves Navajo County hazard mitigation plan update to preserve FEMA grant eligibility
Summary
Council adopted Resolution 24-09 to join Navajo County’s updated five-year hazard mitigation plan; county emergency management staff said FEMA approval will enable mitigation and disaster grant applications for projects such as levee repairs and resilient infrastructure.
Holbrook — The Holbrook City Council voted July 10 to adopt the 2024 Navajo County Hazard Mitigation Plan update, a multi-jurisdictional document the county and six cities revised for FEMA review and funding eligibility.
Katrina Jenkins, Navajo County’s emergency management director, told the council the five-year update integrates new hazard information and helps jurisdictions become eligible for mitigation and disaster grants once FEMA completes its review and issues an approval letter. "Once that's all approved we get a letter from FEMA that says you're free to go — the benefit of the hazard mitigation plan falls under mitigation grants and projects," Jenkins said.
Tim Kelly, who assisted with the update for the city, was acknowledged by Jenkins for his role in preparing jurisdiction-specific portions of the plan. Jenkins described the plan as the foundation for identifying grant opportunities to repair and harden critical assets such as the city's levee.
During the resolution reading council staff and members identified duplicate paragraphs in the draft; the council moved to remove duplicate paragraph two and paragraph five before approving the resolution. The motion passed on a roll-call vote with all members present voting in favor.
Adoption of the plan answers FEMA's multi-jurisdictional requirement and preserves the city's eligibility for mitigation project grants and disaster-related funding, officials said. The resolution also commits the city to review and update the plan no less frequently than every five years.
Next steps: County and city staff will finalize any clerical edits and submit the plan to FEMA for review; project-specific grant applications would follow if the plan receives FEMA approval.
