CHENANGO COUNTY – With a goal to have an updated county-wide mitigation plan in place as soon as possible, the Chenango County Planning Department is making headway working with local municipalities to identify at-risk areas in times of natural disaster.
Given the number of natural disasters, namely flooding in Chenango County in recent years, the department has been working closely with municipal leaders and highway superintendents to update the county’s 2008 hazard mitigation plan. The plan is a necessary effort for the county and municipalities to maintain eligibility for state and federal funding that benefits residents, businesses and other institutions reeling from natural disaster.
Each municipality in the county is responsible for submitting their own plan to the county Department of Planning before the compiled document is submitted to the feds for review.
“We’re trying to have all the municipalities and general public take a look at it and give extra feedback,” explained Rena Doing, planner at the county Department of Planning and Development. “We have been reaching out to them and working with them to fine-tune some of the details in their plans.”
The Federal Emergency Management Agency requires that a hazard mitigation plan be updated every five years in order to qualify for federal assistance. Since the existing plan was last updated in 2008, the five-year bench mark has come and gone, though that doesn’t mean the county will not receive funding should a disaster occur before the updated plan is completed, Doing noted.
“As long as we are actively trying to update it and can show that, we have been told that we would be eligible for funding if something happens,” she said.
To help in the project, the county has contracted with the New Jersey based company Tetra Tech, Inc., a provider of consultation, engineering and technical services. Tetra Tech is also the architect of the 2008 mitigation plan; and while the agreement comes at a $70,000 price tag for local taxpayers, county officials say the possible payoff of FEMA funding is well worth the investment.
