Public Input Needed For Benton County Hazard Mitigation Planning
May 27, 2020
Public input is sought for revision of the 2016 Benton County Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan (MJHMP) which the county is beginning the process of updating. The update must be completed and submitted to FEMA by February 1, 2021. The purpose of a Hazard Mitigation Plan is to identify what natural and manmade disasters a community is vulnerable to and then to also identify steps that may be taken to lessen the impact of such events upon the citizens, their property and community resources.
Benton County’s MJHMP was originally developed in 2011 by Consultant Steve Meyer and was updated in 2016. Both the original plan and the update were completed with grant assistance from FEMA. FEMA requires the plans to be updated every five years. The current update is being funded by the county without assistance of a grant. Benton EMA Coordinator Scott Hansen is serving as the project lead. The County has contracted with Emergency Management Consultant Steve Meyer to facilitate development of the plan. Community and County officials will also be facilitating development of the plan.
A copy of the current plan can by going to the Benton County Emergency Management website at https://www.bentoncountyiowa.org/departments/public-safety/emergency-management or by the following link: https://www.bentoncountyiowa.org/webres/File/Public%20Safety%20%26%20Legal/EMA/BENTON%20COUNTY%20MJHMP%20FEMA%20APPROVED%202016.pdf
The updated plan will accomplish three things:
Determine where and how the citizens; public, private and commercial property in Benton County are vulnerable to hazards and disasters. This was originally documented in the 2011 and 2016 plans. Any changes will be established and documented in the revised plan.
Determine measures or mitigation activities that can be undertaken to reduce or eliminate the detrimental effects of these hazards and disasters. This was established in the 2011 and 2016 plan. Any changes such as accomplishment of mitigation actions or addition of new mitigation actions will be determined and documented in the 2021 update plan.
Keep Benton County and its communities qualified to receive federal funds that are available for mitigation related projects.
Any comments or suggestions regarding the update can be e-mailed to bentoncountyema@fmtcs.com. Please type HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN COMMENTS in the subject line.
At this time due to the impact of COVID 19 and social distancing recommendations no public meetings are planned in association with this update.