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Lee County EM official urges council to adopt regional Hazard Mitigation Plan to secure BRIC eligibility
Summary
Rita Smith of Lee County EM/EMA told the Opelika City Council the regionally coordinated Hazard Mitigation Plan must be adopted locally so municipalities can seek a federal declaration and remain eligible for Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant funding.
Ms. Rita Smith, identified during the meeting as a representative of Lee County EM/EMA, explained to the Opelika City Council why the East Alabama Regional Multi-Jurisdictional Hazardous Mitigation Plan must be adopted by each municipality to preserve eligibility for federal assistance and for BRIC grant applications. "It is necessary to have that signed and on file as a precautionary method and to make you eligible for that BRIC grant," she said.
Smith said the plan now covers 11 counties and that while many counties have already signed the regional plan, each city must pass its own resolution and keep the plan available in the event a natural or man-made disaster requires a federal declaration and claim. She advised council members that the plan is a large document and offered to send a compressed digital copy or provide a full copy to staff for council review.
Council members confirmed the mitigation-plan resolution would appear on the consent agenda as item six and noted the plan must be adopted every five years; Smith said the last adoption was January 2021. Smith also explained that interruptions in FEMA operations in recent years had delayed some processing but did not change the local adoption requirement.
The council approved the consent agenda unanimously, which included the mitigation-plan resolution. The action means Opelika will have the local resolution on file, a procedural requirement the presenter said is necessary to pursue BRIC grant funding.
Next steps: staff will make the mitigation plan available to council members per Smith’s offer and the council will proceed with the formal consent resolution already placed on the consent agenda.
