NORWICH – A consultant was on hand at the Chenango County Board of Supervisors meeting Monday to review the procedures for implementing a $100,000 multi-jurisdictional all-hazard mitigation plan.
In addition to 20 town supervisors, mayors from the following villages were present: Sherburne, Greene, Oxford, New Berlin, Afton and Bainbridge.
The document is designed to help individuals and governmental sectors recover damages from a whole gamut of natural disasters, whether or not the disaster is declared “official” by the federal government. It will demonstrate the county’s overall commitment to reducing risk and serve as a guide for decision makers as they commit resources to minimize the effect of natural hazards.
The Federal Emergency Management Association has such plans a pre-requisite in order to claim damages in the future.
Tetra Tech EM Inc. was hired last month by the county at a cost not to exceed $95,000. County leaders appropriated $23,750 of general surplus funds from the Public Works Department to help cover the expenses, and hope to cover the remainder of the cost with a New York State Emergency Management Office grant and/or federal funds available for pre-disaster mitigation planning.
The New Jersey-based consulting firm recently completed similar plans for Thompkins, Delaware and Broome counties. Chenango’s plan is expected to be finished in six months.
Each jurisdiction will be asked to assign a point person who will provide regional details. FEMA, The New York State Emergency Management Office, Cooperative Extension, Soil & Water Conservation, Army Corps of Engineers and residents will be consulted. The plan is designed to “complement” any emergency management and disaster-related plans already in existence.
“This is intended to be a holistic plan done with cooperation of all people coming together to address potential problems and existing problems,” said Jonathan Raser, the consultant. Sheriff Thomas J. Loughren said the Chenango County Emergency Management Office would oversee the consulting firm.
Ongoing mitigation following the May 2005, June 2006 and October 2006 flooding would not be hindered by the new plan, Raser said. “The document will include all past, present and future problems from natural disasters and take into consideration local ordinances, zoning, home rule, political situations and civil will.”
Towns adopting the plan would do so via resolution, not local law.
“This is not supposed to be a ‘get money out of FEMA’ plan,” Raser said. “We will be finding strategies that would help get grants through all available programs.”
Supervisor David Law, R-Norwich, asked if the plan would make it easier to work with emergency management officials.
“Is there anyway to reduce the number of people we have to work with? We’ve talked to nine different men and taken nine different photos of the same situation. It’s so time consuming. There are so many obstacles,” he said.
Raser said the plan would oversee the process, but not be able to “get rid of the bureaucracy.”
Town of McDonough Supervisor Homer Smith asked whether the plan would help his town move along a bridge mediation project. The bridge has been out since 2005. Raser said it should move along the project. “The plan won’t get in the way of past mitigation strategies and ongoing problems,” he said.
Supervisor Rick E. Chase, D-Bainbridge, said his town board has been approached to be bought out by an individual who suffered extensive damages in the June flood.
“Is six months a good number? I need to be able to say this,” he said. Racer said both SEMA and FEMA believe his firm’s plans are aggressive, but six months would be enough time to do it.
The Department of Environmental Conservation’s’ new flood plain designations for Chenango County would become a part of the plan.