Boundary County

 All Hazards Mitigation Plan

Section 12

Mitigation Goals, Objectives & Mitigation Actions Summary

Strategic Planning  Boundary County has established strategic goals and objectives for the purpose of reducing the negative impact of natural hazards.  During the strategic mitigation planning process, LEPC considered what planning could be done, what policies and programs should be developed, what projects have been completed and what projects should be completed in an effort to

·        Save lives and reduce public exposure to risk

·        Reduce or prevent damage to public and private property

·        Reduce adverse environmental or natural resource impacts

·        Reduce the financial impact on the public

Although LEPC recognizes that the county is vulnerable to many hazards, the following goals and objectives reflect a strategy for counteracting the impact of hazards to which Boundary County is most vulnerable, namely wildfire, urban fire, flood, landslide, and winter storm.  In future planning cycles, when more resources are available, the scope of planning shall expand to include additional hazards.  Pursuant to the requirements of the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000, the strategy also includes earthquake risk, even though earthquake was not determined to be a high priority concern for Boundary County.

Boundary County will provide oversight of the All-Hazard Mitigation Plan. As the coordinating entity for many of the mitigation actions prioritized in the plan, the county has limited authority.  Many hazard mitigation initiatives that result from the mitigation goals and objectives rely on the cooperation of local agencies, businesses, and others for planning and project implementation.

Goals, objectives and actions were developed through the following strategic planning process:

1.      LEPC completed the hazard identification and vulnerability assessment process.

2.      The County Planning and Zoning Administrator provided citizens with existing mitigation-related policies and the county’s goals for implementing mitigation-related ordinances.

3.      LEPC provided data prior to the Strategic Planning Workshop, such as:

·        Hazard identification documents

·        Lists of neighborhoods and critical facilities most at risk

·        List of mitigation actions from existing county mitigation documents

·        List of actions that were brought up during the hazard identification and vulnerability assessment process

4.      The Planning and Zoning Administrator reviewed the results of the workshop and refined the first draft of the goals, objectives and actions developed by the LEPC.  Actions provided by the County Planning & Zoning Administrator were added.

5.      The second draft of the proposed goals, objectives, and actions were disseminated to the LEPC and all participants in the Strategic Planning Process. 

6.      Goals, objectives, and mitigation actions were presented at the second public meeting on April 25, 2005.

7.      Final revisions were made to the mitigation strategy and presented to the County Commissioners for final approval.

MITIGATION GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

All Hazard Mitigation Goals and Objectives

GOAL AH1    Establish a comprehensive, on-going All Hazards Mitigation planning and project implementation structure that can effectively address multiple natural, technological and societal hazards.

Objective AH.1   Establish an administrative position within county government for the purpose of carrying out the action items of the All Hazard Mitigation Plan and provide information to the Commissioners to facilitate the decision making process.

Objective AH1.2   Complete an All Hazards Mitigation Plan that is feasible, beneficial and simple enough to provide effective guidance to the county for hazard mitigation.

Objective AH1.3   Enhance coordination of local agencies and consistency in addressing natural, technological and societal hazard issues by creating a Local Emergency Planning Committee that oversees and coordinates emergency management preparedness and pre-disaster mitigation.  (This committee has been established.)

Objective AH1.4   Increase local knowledge of hazards and hazard mitigation approaches by improving and maintaining the existing system of disseminating information to the public.

Objective AH1.5   Establish a system of recording and updating mitigation-related data.

GOAL AH2   Strengthen hazard preparedness and response.

Objective AH2.1   Ensure that the county has a facility adequate for incident command.

Objective AH2.2 Improve response capacity through on-going, comprehensive emergency preparedness training.

Objective AH2.3   Improve communication capabilities.

Objective AH2.4   Create a system for quickly locating people and property threatened by a hazard.

GOAL AH3   Improve county policies and practices that effectively reduce the risk of hazards to people on private and public property, buildings, and infrastructure.

Objective AH3.1  Establish a regulatory structure for fairly and equitably establishing zones that address All-Hazard concerns.

Objective AH3.2  Establish property owner incentives that encourage prudent land use practices in hazard areas.

Urban/Wildfire Mitigation Goals & Objectives

GOAL U/W1    Increase the county’s fire fighter capacity.

Objective U/W1.1  Develop county-wide training opportunities to accommodate both wildland and structural fires to increase safety for firefighters.

Objective U/W1.2  Address recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters through legislation and public education.

Objective U/W1.3  Train rural fire district volunteers, contractors, loggers and private industry people to increase the number of certified firefighters.

GOAL U/W2  Increase the actions homeowners take on their own to reduce their vulnerability to urban fire and wildland fire.

Objective U/W2.1   Develop funding and continue to assess homes for defensible space issues.

Objective U/W2.2   Help residents to identify safety zones.  Develop evacuation routes if wildfire threatens their property or themselves.

Objective U/W2.3  Educate the public on areas that lack fire protection. Assist individuals and communities in establishing fire districts. Use fire districts as a vehicle for disseminating information on unprotected areas.

Objective U/W2.4   Establish a “FireSafe” program. (Completed)

Objective U/W2.5   Encourage "clean up" activities every year.  Educate the public on outdoor burning and on "burn permit" requirements.

Objective U/W2.6   Coordinate public service announcements between various agencies.

GOAL U/W3   Improve fire suppression infrastructure.

Objective U/W3.1   Identify water supplies and map water sources with annual updates. Make information available to fire suppression services.

Objective U/W3.2  Identify areas that are lacking in water supply. Develop fire department fill sites with year-round access.

Objective U/W3.3   Establish building codes.  Make sure policy addresses wildland fire risks.

Objective U/W3.4  Access power sources in each community to assure that each community has a backup system for powering their water system. 

GOAL U/W4   Reduce hazard fuel sources that increase risk to people and property.

Objective U/W4.1  Continue to develop "defensible space" around communities and homes to protect communities from a wildland fire event.

GOAL U/W5   Improve response capability by ensuring that the county has sufficient and well-functioning equipment.

Objective U/W5.1  Allow local fire districts direct access to screening for federal surplus equipment.

Objective U/W5.2 Develop a county-wide equipment listing capabilities with a prioritized list for future upgrades.

GOAL U/W6   Improve knowledge of past hazard events.

Objective U/W6.1  Improve and increase reporting of historical data on urban and wildland fire incidents.

Landslide Mitigation Goals & Objectives

GOAL L1  Reduce the threat of landslide to people, property, structures and systems in county.

Objective L.1.1  Reduce vulnerability to landslides through growth management planning efforts, improved design and construction standards, and programs that address current risk planning with improved design and construction.

Objective L.1.2  Strengthen and improve hazard preparedness, response, and education.

Flood Mitigation Goals & Objectives

GOAL F1  Reduce the vulnerability of county residents and property to flooding.

Objective F1.4  Develop a flood “early warning” system.

GOAL F2  Decrease flood damage to public and private non-structural systems and structures throughout county.

Objective F2.1  Increase property owners’ mitigation actions.

Objective F2.2  Improve the county’s readiness to protect property during a flood event.

Objective F2.3  Improve the county’s storm water system.

Objective F2.4  Improve floodplain management.

Earthquake Mitigation Goals & Objectives

GOAL E1  Reduce the earthquake risk to people, property, structures and systems.

Objective E1.1  Improve existing policies that guide building construction and land use development.

Objective E1.2  Strengthen and improve hazard preparedness, response, and education.

Winter Storm Mitigation Goals & Objectives

GOAL WS1  Reduce the health and safety risk to people and reduce the property damage that results from a winter storm event.

Objective WS1.1  Strengthen and improve hazard preparedness, response, and education.

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