City of Whiteville recently issued the following announcement.
The Whiteville City Council Tuesday unanimously adopted the regional hazard mitigation plan. In the only other action item on the meeting agenda, they also passed a resolution to join the American Flood Coalition.
Whiteville essentially adopted the Bladen/Columbus/Robeson Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan as its own. Whiteville Emergency Services Director Hal Lowder, who will be the city’s plan administrator, walked council through highlights of the 1,000 page document Tuesday night. Tuesday’s action completed an update that must take place at least once every five years in order to maintain eligibility for FEMA hazard mitigation project grant funding.
The purpose of mitigation planning is to identify policies and actions that can be implemented over the long term to reduce risk and future losses. Mitigation Plans form the foundation for a community’s long-term strategy to reduce disaster losses and break the cycle of disaster damage, reconstruction, and repeated damage. The intent of mitigation planning, therefore, is to maintain a process that leads to hazard mitigation actions. Mitigation plans identify the natural hazards that impact communities, identify actions to reduce losses from those hazards, and establish a coordinated process to implement the plan.
Local governments benefit from mitigation planning by:
Identifying cost effective actions for risk reduction that are agreed upon by stakeholders and the public
Focusing resources on the greatest risks and vulnerabilities
Building partnerships by involving people, organizations, and businesses
Increasing education and awareness of hazards and risk
Communicating priorities to state and federal officials
Aligning risk reduction with other community objectives
A local jurisdiction must review and revise its plan to reflect changes in development, progress in local mitigation efforts, and changes in priorities, and resubmit it for approval within five years in order to continue to be eligible for mitigation project grant funding.
The American Flood Coalition is a nonpartisan Section 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that brings together elected officials, cities and counties, military groups, businesses, local leaders, and civic groups to advance national solutions that support flood-affected communities and protect our nation’s residents, economy, and military installations, and council members will consider a resolution on whether to join the coalition.
The coalition advocates for policy changes and practical national solutions to address the issues posed by rising seas and flooding. It supports policies that strengthen the economy, invest in our communities, and safeguard our national security.
Advantages to membership include educational resources, effective communication with other members, networking and advocacy for flooding issues. There is no cost to the city to join, membership is informal, and the city may withdraw at any time.
In other business, City Manager Darren Currie updated council members on the Mollies Branch sewer project, construction of the new ABC store, work on the West Whiteville Park and the McKenzie Woods storm water project. Currie also told council that two air conditioning units at Vineland Station need to be replaced at a cost of $20,000-$25,000.
Original source: https://whitevillenc.gov/news/2020/10/28/whiteville-adopts-hazard-mitigation-plan-vineland-hvac-units-need-replacement
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