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Hardwick Hazard Mitigation Plan Update and Community Engagement

Original title: 2/26/24 - HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN UPDATE

These meeting notes are AI-generated and unofficial. They are provided for convenience and are not official Town records or approved municipal minutes. Verify all details using the source video and official Town documents.

Meeting details

Date

February 26, 2024

Duration

45m

Decisions

None recorded

Action Items

8 assigned

Summary

The meeting provided an update on the Hardwick Hazard Mitigation Plan, detailing its purpose, development process, and benefits, including eligibility for pre-disaster mitigation funding. Discussions covered natural hazards, critical facilities, the integration of climate change impacts, and the importance of community involvement. Key aspects included the plan's structure, risk assessment methodology, and a consolidated list of mitigation actions, with an emphasis on public engagement and personal preparedness.

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Discussion Highlights

Meeting goals included understanding hazard mitigation, the plan's purpose, and reviewing the draft.
The consulting team is updating plans for over 30 towns on behalf of the state, in addition to independent work.
Hardwick Elementary School, a potential shelter, lacks air conditioning, posing a challenge for extreme heat mitigation.
Hazard mitigation is defined as actions to reduce risk from natural hazards, with a return of $6 saved for every $1 spent.
The plan requires FEMA approval and town adoption every five years to ensure eligibility for pre-disaster mitigation funding.
The plan's structure includes a Community Profile, Risk Assessment, Capabilities analysis, Mitigation Strategy, and Implementation/Maintenance.
The plan update process involves reviewing previous plans, state plans, and the municipal vulnerability preparedness plan, alongside community involvement.
A Hazard Mitigation Planning Committee was formed for community involvement, outreach, and identifying/prioritizing actions.
Risk assessment identifies hazards and analyzes their intersection with the community profile.
Human health and groundwater contamination are addressed within other hazard categories rather than as standalone hazards.
Climate change impacts are integrated across all hazards (except earthquakes) rather than being a standalone hazard.
The plan focuses exclusively on natural hazards, with hazardous materials typically covered in separate planning documents, though ripple effects are noted.
Hazard profiles detail occurrence, previous events, extent, probability, and vulnerability.
Discussion on how hazards impact the natural environment, including the importance of pollinating insects.
Topography, rocky soil, and local streams contribute to flood risk, exacerbated by increased heavy rain bursts due to climate change.
The environment provides essential life support, and human interventions can drastically alter its functions.
Hazard mitigation planning now considers both preventing trees from impacting power lines and actively planting/protecting trees.
Critical facilities include fire station, town hall, police, schools, water, wastewater, and libraries.
Criteria for listing facilities involve their specific role in emergency management.
Hazard mapping includes estimated losses, with a caveat about the estimation method.
Wildfire risk assessment identifies people, buildings, and roads at risk.
Maps and graphics, including "EJ Environmental Justice Maps," are used to identify and mitigate risks in lower-income communities.
Ambulance services are included as a resource in the plan.
Hazards are categorized into high, medium/moderate, and low risk based on a priority risk index formula.
Risk categorization prioritizes mitigation efforts towards the highest-risk hazards.
Factors contributing to risk include population changes (growing elderly, increased poverty) and land use changes (new development, impervious surfaces, tree removal).
Mitigation actions are projects designed to reduce current or future vulnerabilities, categorized into local plans/regulations, structured projects, natural systems protection, and education/awareness.
The new plan consolidates actions to 19-20 for manageability, including protecting open space, designating a heating/cooling center with AC, developing a culvert replacement plan, and creating a tree management program.
The plan document is several hundred pages, with Chapter 6 detailing mitigation actions (costs, responsible personnel, timelines, funding).
Personal preparedness, including signing up for Code Red alerts and assembling emergency kits, is emphasized.
The Ready.gov website is recommended for emergency information.
The town actively seeks various grant sources beyond FEMA for projects.

Transcript (7,421 words)

Lightly cleaned for readability. Each timestamp opens the video at that point.

00:00:00
Give you a little more information about myself and the Consulting team um I want you to come away from this meeting having a good understanding of what hazard mitigation is and what is a hazard mitigation plan um and I could add on to that why you have the plan
00:00:18
And we'll talk a bit about who's developed the plan um contributed to it at least and we'll review natural hazards and critical facilities that may hazards that can impact you as well as facilities uh that you rely upon we'll talk specifically about your
00:00:38
Goals and some mitigation actions those are these projects that you want to do and then I'll give you some information about how you can review the draft plan which is not quite ready but we're close um and you can uh interrupt me and ask questions um as you like so just to
00:00:58
Give you a sense of the Consulting team there are sort of four primary people I'm the lead for the effort it's my firm that has the contract with the state to update your plan um Bill Darren and David have participated through the
00:01:17
Entire process as well um and we are under contract to work with um a number of communities in the state the initial contract gave us um um 14 towns and the state has given us six more and intends to give a total of 17 new ones I guess
00:01:38
So I don't be well about 30 plans that we'll update on behalf of the state and then there's some other um communities in the state that we've worked with independently um but we do Hazard mitigation Nationwide we write these plans throughout the country including as far away as the territory
00:01:57
Of American Samoa and um the county of Maui so uh our experience is pretty vast we the four of us are all small business owners um and for me personally I like to keep my business small and and for each project that I take on I really

[00:00:00] give you a little more information about [00:00:01] myself and the Consulting team um I want [00:00:04] you to come away from this meeting [00:00:07] having a good understanding of what [00:00:09] hazard mitigation is and what is a [00:00:12] hazard mitigation plan um and I could [00:00:14] add on to that why you have the plan um [00:00:18] and we'll talk a bit about who's [00:00:20] developed the plan um contributed to it [00:00:23] at least and we'll review natural [00:00:25] hazards and critical facilities that may [00:00:30] um hazards that can impact you as well [00:00:32] as facilities uh that you rely upon [00:00:35] we'll talk specifically about your um [00:00:38] goals and some mitigation actions those [00:00:41] are these projects that you want to do [00:00:43] and then I'll give you some information [00:00:45] about how you can review the draft plan [00:00:48] which is not quite ready but we're [00:00:51] close um and you can uh interrupt me and [00:00:54] ask questions um as you like so just to [00:00:58] give you a sense of the Consulting team [00:01:02] um there are sort of four primary people [00:01:05] um I'm the lead for the effort it's my [00:01:08] firm that has the contract with the [00:01:11] state to update your plan um Bill Darren [00:01:15] and David have participated through the [00:01:17] entire process as well um and we are [00:01:20] under contract to work with um a number [00:01:25] of communities in the state the initial [00:01:28] contract gave us um um 14 towns and the [00:01:32] state has given us six more and intends [00:01:34] to give a total of 17 new ones I guess [00:01:38] so I don't be well about 30 plans that [00:01:41] we'll update on behalf of the state and [00:01:43] then there's some other um communities [00:01:46] in the state that we've worked with [00:01:48] independently um but we do Hazard [00:01:50] mitigation Nationwide we write these [00:01:53] plans throughout the country um [00:01:55] including as far away as the territory [00:01:57] of American Samoa and um the county of [00:02:02] Maui [00:02:03] so uh our experience is pretty vast we [00:02:07] uh the four of us are all small business [00:02:09] owners um and for me personally I like [00:02:11] to keep my business small and and for [00:02:14] each project that I take on I really [00:02:16] like to pick who's going to work uh with [00:02:18] me and and these guys have tremendous [00:02:20] amount of expertise so we're doing a [00:02:23] good job I [00:02:26] think all right so I thought I'd kick it [00:02:29] off was seeing if um just to get you [00:02:32] engaged a little bit um my question [00:02:36] which is a little bit silly I guess is [00:02:37] would you rather be hot or [00:02:40] cold because you know when we talk about [00:02:43] hazards we think about extreme [00:02:47] temperatures what do you think Judith [00:02:49] hot or cold I'd rather be cold because I [00:02:52] know how to deal with [00:02:54] it I agree with you you can kind of [00:02:56] manage cold anybody else fought [00:03:04] definitely cold here yeah it's more [00:03:06] manageable and you can always layer up [00:03:09] it's true so one thing that's come up in [00:03:12] our planning process is that Hardwick [00:03:15] Elementary School which can be used as [00:03:18] what we would call a heating or cooling [00:03:20] center or it could even be a bit of a [00:03:22] shelter they don't have air conditioning [00:03:25] in that facility so that's the kind of [00:03:28] thing that we look for when we're [00:03:30] writing our Hazard mitigation plan is [00:03:32] sort of what is the town's capacity to [00:03:36] mitigate risk and if you're too hot or [00:03:39] too cold that is a risk especially to [00:03:42] vulnerable populations right so if we're [00:03:44] talking about elderly folks or people [00:03:46] with [00:03:47] disabilities [00:03:49] um we need to be nice temperate climate [00:03:53] right uh so that's the kind of thing [00:03:55] that we look for and then we develop [00:03:57] Maps like what's on the screen and I [00:03:59] know it's very small you can't really [00:04:00] see it but this is what we call your [00:04:02] base map and it's in the plan and um [00:04:05] you'll see it when you get a chance to [00:04:07] look at the [00:04:09] plan all right so let's talk about what [00:04:12] hazard M mitigation is FEMA technically [00:04:15] says it's any action that you can take [00:04:18] to reduce or eliminate risk to people in [00:04:22] property from natural hazards and their [00:04:24] effects so we focus only on natural [00:04:27] hazards we don't talk about terrorism or [00:04:30] anything like that [00:04:32] um and we're trying to understand all of [00:04:36] the different natural hazards and what [00:04:38] their impact may be and then based on [00:04:41] that what we could do about it so that [00:04:42] you don't have a disaster and it's been [00:04:45] proven that for every dollar you spend [00:04:48] mitigating risk lessening that impact if [00:04:51] you will you save approximately $6 on [00:04:54] future disaster losses or future costs [00:04:58] not to mention you can save lives right [00:05:01] so if you for [00:05:03] example uh don't fix a culvert those [00:05:07] things at the side of the road that let [00:05:08] water flow through if you let that [00:05:12] Culvert get blocked up and it blows out [00:05:15] and the road goes out then not only does [00:05:18] that impact people driving and getting [00:05:21] to work but it there's an economic [00:05:23] impact there could also be a real um [00:05:26] there could be injuries or other uh life [00:05:29] imp imp acting conditions from a road [00:05:31] blowing out and it's going to cost [00:05:33] exponentially more if you wait for that [00:05:36] disaster to happen so that's the kind of [00:05:37] thing we're looking at at identifying is [00:05:40] what can happen and what you can do [00:05:42] about it ahead of [00:05:45] time so in your plan and this is the [00:05:48] second um public meeting that we've had [00:05:51] so we give the public um three [00:05:54] opportunities to participate in our [00:05:56] planning process to uh meetings like [00:06:00] this one and then the chance to review [00:06:03] and comment on the draft [00:06:05] plan now something that you should be [00:06:07] aware of is that the plans get approved [00:06:10] by the Federal Emergency Management [00:06:12] agency they then get adopted by the town [00:06:16] and as Eric mentioned in his [00:06:18] introduction you need to the town needs [00:06:20] to adopt uh the plan every five years so [00:06:23] you need to update and adopt the plan [00:06:26] every five years when you do have of a [00:06:30] plan approved by FEMA and adopted by the [00:06:33] town it's good for five years and the [00:06:35] town is eligible for what we call pre- [00:06:38] disaster mitigation funding so that's [00:06:41] the big motivation for people writing [00:06:43] these plans or towns having these plans [00:06:46] is that without them you're not eligible [00:06:49] for a significant amount of grant [00:06:52] funding so we're really looking for [00:06:55] projects that you might seek funding for [00:06:59] any your plan the plan starts with a [00:07:02] community what we call a community [00:07:04] profile it sets the stage what's what is [00:07:07] hardw who's there what's your built [00:07:10] environment like what's the natural [00:07:11] environment like we really just like to [00:07:13] get a big picture and then we look at [00:07:16] all the types of hazards that can impact [00:07:20] um the town and we do what we call a [00:07:22] risk assessment and I'll explain that to [00:07:24] you a bit more but we're really looking [00:07:25] at the [00:07:27] impacts then we look at your [00:07:29] capabilities Your Capacity to mitigate [00:07:32] risk um for instance you're a small town [00:07:35] with limited staff so that could be seen [00:07:39] as a challenge that you don't have lots [00:07:41] and lots of you know staff people at the [00:07:45] same time it's kind of a benefit in the [00:07:47] sense that you can work well together [00:07:49] you know what what's going on um so we [00:07:53] look at that and then the mitigation [00:07:55] strategy is the chapter of the plan that [00:07:58] talks about the those actions that [00:08:00] you're going that you want to implement [00:08:02] over the next five years that's the what [00:08:04] you're going to do about it portion and [00:08:06] then the Final Chapter will show you um [00:08:10] how to implement the plan and maintain [00:08:12] it everything that's in the plan um it's [00:08:16] all written in a way that is clear and [00:08:18] easy to understand um and it has to meet [00:08:22] certain federal requirements so we [00:08:25] really try and spell it out for FEMA [00:08:28] that what they want to see is in fact in [00:08:31] the [00:08:32] plan all right any questions so [00:08:38] far so we started our process back in [00:08:41] September um with a kickoff meeting and [00:08:45] uh by April we will be able to send the [00:08:49] plan to the Massachusetts Emergency [00:08:52] Management agency that's what Mima [00:08:54] stands for um that's our plan after Mima [00:08:57] reviews your plan it will um go to FEMA [00:09:02] the Federal Emergency Management Agency [00:09:04] for their review and approval when FEMA [00:09:07] is comfortable that the plan has Mitten [00:09:10] uh met the code of federal regulations [00:09:12] so all requirements are met they'll send [00:09:16] um a letter to Eric and to the town that [00:09:19] says that the plan is approved pending [00:09:23] adoption it's at that time that um the [00:09:26] town and select Board needs to formally [00:09:28] adopt the [00:09:30] plan and as the head of the Consulting [00:09:32] team I'll work with um Eric through that [00:09:34] entire [00:09:35] process looking at this um timeline what [00:09:39] you should notice is that that Top Line [00:09:43] really talks about how we engage with [00:09:46] you and the town through our entire [00:09:49] planning process so no matter what we're [00:09:52] doing whether we're you know collecting [00:09:54] data or updating your risk assessment or [00:09:57] coming up with these actions we've [00:09:59] included um the town through the [00:10:04] process all [00:10:07] right when we first develop a plan the [00:10:10] first thing we do since this is a plan [00:10:13] upd is we look to your previous plan uh [00:10:18] which was written by the um Regional [00:10:20] Planning Commission in [00:10:22] 2019 and that plan um we need to let [00:10:26] FEMA know based on that plan what [00:10:29] different now what's changed um for [00:10:32] instance suppose you put in a mall or [00:10:34] something or you had a new subdivision [00:10:36] or you implemented all your mitigation [00:10:38] actions or you didn't Implement them so [00:10:41] we give an update to what's going on uh [00:10:44] we also look to the state's plan um it's [00:10:48] a federal requirement that all local [00:10:51] plans be consistent with the um State's [00:10:54] plan and then we look to what's called [00:10:56] your Municipal vulnerability [00:10:58] preparedness plan um some of you [00:11:00] probably uh participated in that process [00:11:03] to develop that and since it's fairly [00:11:05] new um it was really useful towards uh [00:11:09] putting together this new [00:11:10] plan and then uh the cover of your plan [00:11:14] which in fact looks slightly different [00:11:16] than this slide um basically we look at [00:11:19] these three we come up with the new one [00:11:21] plus all of the involvement with the [00:11:26] community and one of the best ways for [00:11:28] us to involve the community is we put [00:11:30] together a hazard mitigation planning [00:11:33] committee so in addition to the kickoff [00:11:35] meeting we've had or will have four [00:11:38] Hazard mitigation planning committee [00:11:40] meetings uh this is a list of some of [00:11:42] the folks who um are on the committee [00:11:46] and it has been their responsibility to [00:11:48] provide the Consulting team with [00:11:50] supporting data and information and [00:11:53] we've really inundated them with [00:11:55] questions and surveys in the beginning [00:11:57] of our planning process [00:11:59] um and Eric and Sandy who's not here can [00:12:01] attest to [00:12:03] that and we then tasked them with [00:12:06] Outreach and um support to stakeholder [00:12:09] engagement so the fact that you all know [00:12:12] about this meeting is because the [00:12:14] committee did some Outreach um we [00:12:17] provided a press release and a um flyer [00:12:20] but they did the work to get the word [00:12:23] out pardon me and then we um asked them [00:12:26] to assist with identifying and [00:12:28] prioritizing your list of Hazard [00:12:29] mitigation actions and they'll review [00:12:33] and comment on the draft Plan before [00:12:35] it's available for public [00:12:39] review any thoughts or questions about [00:12:43] this [00:12:46] okay so when we look at um the risk [00:12:51] assessment what we're trying to do is [00:12:54] understand where hazards and Community [00:12:57] intersect and come up with a level of [00:13:01] risk so the first thing we do is is come [00:13:04] up with a long list of Hazards [00:13:06] everything we can think of that could [00:13:08] impact the town and again we're looking [00:13:11] to your previous plan and to the state [00:13:13] plan to help with that list and then [00:13:16] we're also looking at the community and [00:13:19] what's there like I mentioned the first [00:13:21] beginning part of your plan is that [00:13:23] planning area profile which talks about [00:13:26] the population and some demographic the [00:13:29] built environment your natural [00:13:31] environment and the [00:13:34] economy so this is our list of Hazards [00:13:38] um we did lump um hot and cold together [00:13:41] into extreme [00:13:43] temperatures um and I think you can see [00:13:46] that it's a fairly um comprehensive list [00:13:50] what's not listed here but is included [00:13:52] in your plan is climate change so we [00:13:56] look at climate change not as a hazard [00:13:59] um by itself but we look at how it [00:14:02] impacts all of these hazards and except [00:14:04] for earthquakes it does impact all of [00:14:07] them um so we and we want to pay close [00:14:10] attention to that because when we write [00:14:12] your plan we're not just looking [00:14:15] backwards or at today but we also want [00:14:17] to look into the future to what do we [00:14:20] expect to [00:14:23] happen um and does this feel to everyone [00:14:26] like a pretty comprehensive list is [00:14:29] anybody concerned there's something [00:14:32] missing well human health isn't in there [00:14:36] right so human health is not listed as a [00:14:39] hazard but we talk about it in the plan [00:14:43] in terms of how these hazards impact [00:14:46] human [00:14:47] health do that sense yeah and it's not [00:14:51] stated that bothers me okay yeah that's [00:14:54] a good [00:14:55] point I'm just making a note um [00:14:59] I think that you'll see in the plan that [00:15:01] it's stated but if it's not stated [00:15:04] adequately when you review the plan I [00:15:06] want you to let me know okay great [00:15:09] yeah yeah I want you all to be [00:15:12] comfortable with the [00:15:14] plan all right so when we look at Hazard [00:15:18] profiles um we start off with a [00:15:20] description oh I'm sorry you had a [00:15:23] question go [00:15:24] ahead okay um in that previous slide you [00:15:27] had there um my name is Sky uh um the [00:15:33] question I had was um where would um [00:15:38] groundwater contamination be in this [00:15:41] list of um squares here the yeah [00:15:46] groundwater contamination is going to be [00:15:49] um I'm just making a note that you're [00:15:51] asking that because I like to capture [00:15:54] everything um it's going to be included [00:15:56] in flooding um invasive species and [00:16:01] other things like severe weather or [00:16:02] severe storms um so we are gonna cover [00:16:06] groundwater contamination but we didn't [00:16:09] hold it as a hazard just by itself okay [00:16:12] thank you yeah no that's a good question [00:16:15] another one [00:16:17] uh is the effect of man-made molecules [00:16:22] on uh [00:16:26] natural on nature [00:16:32] you but you know man since uh um World [00:16:38] War I Mo mostly World War II has [00:16:41] invented many many uh molecules that [00:16:46] didn't don't exist in nature like uh and [00:16:49] Rachel Carson brought that up you know [00:16:51] the the uh um the car [00:16:56] hydrocarbonate Hydro oh well the [00:16:59] fluorinated hydrocarbons and things like [00:17:02] that okay those are those were [00:17:05] inventions of of humans not nature right [00:17:10] and we really focus only on the [00:17:14] nature [00:17:15] okay um and that is um a federal [00:17:20] requirement that we include all possible [00:17:23] natural hazards it's not um a [00:17:27] requirement that we omit the others um [00:17:30] but female doesn't review that and [00:17:33] typically you'd find um things like [00:17:35] hazardous materials which I think some [00:17:37] of those molecules that you're talking [00:17:39] about could fall into that could have a [00:17:42] plan unto [00:17:44] itself [00:17:46] yeah um that being said sometimes we do [00:17:49] sort of hold out different um facilities [00:17:54] that may have um hazardous materials in [00:17:57] them because for instance in in a [00:18:01] disaster with some of these hazards [00:18:03] those facilities may be impacted and you [00:18:06] know there'd be that ripple effect yes I [00:18:09] get you [00:18:11] okay all right I'm Gonna Keep Us going a [00:18:13] little bit so with the hazard profiles [00:18:16] each Hazard um has a section of the plan [00:18:19] um it includes starts out with a very [00:18:22] basic description I'm sorry that's okay [00:18:25] I muted you Judith so you don't have to [00:18:27] worry about your your phone [00:18:29] um so we give a basic description then [00:18:31] we describe where um the hazard may [00:18:34] occur some of those hazards are what we [00:18:36] would consider to be atmospheric right [00:18:39] things like extreme temperatures almost [00:18:41] equally through your town everybody will [00:18:43] be equally hot or cold right like the [00:18:46] temperature will be about the same [00:18:47] whereas things like flooding are going [00:18:49] to be um only in specific areas so we [00:18:53] try to identify that we look to previous [00:18:56] occurrences what's happened in the the [00:18:58] past and for a plan update we can bring [00:19:01] forward what was in the last plan and [00:19:03] really focus on over the last five years [00:19:06] what's occurred um we look at what we [00:19:09] call extent which is the um the range of [00:19:13] what's possible basically so if you [00:19:15] think about an earthquake for instance [00:19:18] um you can have little earthquakes to [00:19:22] maybe mediumsized earthquakes but you're [00:19:24] not going to have earthquakes like what [00:19:26] we would see necessarily in California [00:19:30] um we also think about the probability [00:19:32] of future events right are we going to [00:19:35] have drought next year maybe are we [00:19:37] gonna have a winter storm guaranteed um [00:19:40] are we gonna have a heat wave this [00:19:43] coming summer almost definitely right so [00:19:46] we try and understand that and then the [00:19:48] vulnerability that's where we begin to [00:19:51] look at that interaction with of these [00:19:54] hazards with the environment whether [00:19:57] that be people buildings your economy [00:20:00] the natural environment so we want to [00:20:02] see how there's an impact [00:20:06] there all right when we talk about [00:20:08] Community assets um we think in these [00:20:11] four categories and I wanted to give a [00:20:14] chance for all of you if there was [00:20:17] something you wanted to say about your [00:20:20] community um whether it's the population [00:20:23] the natural environment something that [00:20:25] really stands out to you that you think [00:20:26] is especially relevant [00:20:28] um in what we're talking [00:20:32] about as we look at how these hazards [00:20:35] impact all of these [00:20:38] areas I don't know if this falls into uh [00:20:41] any of these categories but I'm [00:20:44] concerned with uh pollinating bugs and [00:20:47] other [00:20:49] useful um bugs insects for our our um [00:20:56] food sources and [00:20:58] does that fall into any of these [00:21:01] categories I think it can fall into [00:21:03] those categories be with the natural [00:21:05] environment and certainly if we don't um [00:21:08] support your having these natural areas [00:21:12] then you're not going to have the bugs [00:21:14] and the food sources right right so yeah [00:21:19] and for me in terms of with my [00:21:21] mitigation planning hat I think about [00:21:23] ways to protect the natural environment [00:21:25] which could be something like zoning [00:21:27] right regulations right you can't you [00:21:30] know you don't want to build in a [00:21:32] wetland for instance you want to leave [00:21:34] it that kind of thing that's a really [00:21:37] good comment other thoughts about [00:21:40] this um I think [00:21:44] topography and you want to say more [00:21:46] about it yeah um well the the town has [00:21:51] um very rocky [00:21:53] soil and [00:21:56] um I just my person observation is that [00:21:59] our local streams tend to be very [00:22:03] sensitive to heavy [00:22:05] rainfall so they they uh they rise [00:22:08] rather quickly when we [00:22:10] experience uh large thunderstorms and [00:22:13] such so I think that um a large portion [00:22:17] of the town is over a thousand feet in [00:22:21] elevation so um I think that having a [00:22:24] lot of um [00:22:26] Highlands um [00:22:28] can cause a lot of the streams to uh run [00:22:31] off rather quickly so you can get sort [00:22:34] of flash [00:22:35] floods yeah okay and I would say based [00:22:40] on climate and what we're seeing today [00:22:43] as well as what we anticipate we're [00:22:45] seeing more of that you know these [00:22:48] sudden you know real bursts of heavy [00:22:51] rain um I think we have that in a way [00:22:53] that we didn't used to [00:22:56] right all right anybody else with some [00:23:02] thoughts go for it oh let me unmute you [00:23:06] did just have to unmute [00:23:12] Judith see did she get [00:23:18] it okay yeah [00:23:24] um we can hear you go ahead I can't [00:23:27] remember remember what I was going to [00:23:28] say it's about it's about the [00:23:31] environment uh as uh well I have a whole [00:23:36] there's a whole concept about it I've [00:23:39] lost the exact point I wanted to make [00:23:42] but well we can come back to it yeah [00:23:44] thank of [00:23:47] course is our life [00:23:50] support right is our oxygen our water [00:23:56] our soil which produces our food which U [00:24:01] you know shelters us right and includes [00:24:06] shade and so on and and the point I'm [00:24:11] worried about is how man's interventions [00:24:15] alter our environment drastically and [00:24:18] don't take into [00:24:21] consideration um that what they're [00:24:24] altering has indeed provided us with for [00:24:28] instance when you cut trees you're [00:24:30] taking away coolness and the ability for [00:24:35] the natural environment to cool the [00:24:37] Earth in a time of global heating so I [00:24:40] don't know how you put that down but um [00:24:44] that's a good point and it it's [00:24:45] something that does um does come up and [00:24:48] I can tell you um since I've been doing [00:24:51] Hazard mitigation for you know at least [00:24:53] 25 years um we used to think about [00:24:57] cutting trees because we wanted to [00:25:01] prevent um trees falling and taking out [00:25:04] power lines and now we talk a lot not [00:25:07] just about making sure that trees don't [00:25:09] impact power lines but planting trees [00:25:12] because they're providing shade and how [00:25:15] can we protect trees from invasive [00:25:18] species because of some of these um [00:25:20] health benefits that we [00:25:22] have I think you see both um in the [00:25:26] hazard mitigation plan which is good [00:25:29] great all right I'm going to keep going [00:25:32] um we've identified these as what we [00:25:35] would refer to as your critical [00:25:37] facilities so I think if I asked you [00:25:39] about your critical facilities you would [00:25:40] quickly say you know fire station Town [00:25:43] Hall police that kind of thing um but we [00:25:46] also look to your infrastructure so we [00:25:48] thinking about water [00:25:51] Wastewater um we've got the libraries [00:25:53] listed here senior you don't have do you [00:25:56] have you don't have a senior Senior [00:25:58] Center I was gonna say you don't have a [00:25:59] senior center that's a [00:26:01] mistake um used to have a senior center [00:26:05] we used to have one when did it go [00:26:10] like um probably 10 years ago was shut [00:26:14] down okay good for me to know all right [00:26:18] um and then the schools are listed [00:26:21] because again we want to point out which [00:26:23] buildings are most um important to the [00:26:25] town sort of before during an after um a [00:26:30] uh Hazard event can you list [00:26:34] churches we can list [00:26:42] churches um yes when you make a critical [00:26:45] facility list um the town can list [00:26:48] whatever they want um so that's [00:26:50] something that we can um certainly [00:26:54] consider all right yeah we have about [00:26:57] four four of them or five maybe okay it [00:27:01] tends to be hard to identify all of them [00:27:04] and it and you end up a little bit at [00:27:06] risk of omitting some um and it and [00:27:10] typically we can list it whatever you [00:27:13] want but typically we don't list them [00:27:15] unless they're playing a specific role [00:27:17] in emergency [00:27:20] management for instance one list has [00:27:23] houses the food pantry so there's access [00:27:27] to food right that's [00:27:30] good cool all right we can certainly [00:27:33] consider [00:27:34] that so what we do with your um list is [00:27:40] um we want to map as much as we can each [00:27:44] Hazard and this is just an example of us [00:27:47] mapping the flood risk and um uh your [00:27:51] built environment we can that's not on [00:27:54] this map but we have um data for all of [00:27:57] the uh buildings in town and you can see [00:28:01] here we see that approximately 23 single [00:28:05] family homes are exposed to flood um [00:28:10] obviously a number of culverts um and [00:28:12] Roads and then we get an estimated loss [00:28:15] so if you had a flood um this is just an [00:28:19] it's a big estimate because this is if [00:28:23] the whole town floods at the exact same [00:28:26] time which is obviously not what happens [00:28:28] um you know it's it's possible but [00:28:31] that's just how the modeling [00:28:32] works but this is the kind of thing that [00:28:35] you'll see in the plan and the legend is [00:28:37] small but you can see that we um call [00:28:40] attention to what we feel are the [00:28:41] critical [00:28:44] facilities all right and then I wanted [00:28:46] to show you the Wildfire risk as well um [00:28:50] again it's not super high um but we do [00:28:54] look at which people building roads Etc [00:28:58] can be at [00:29:03] risk all right not [00:29:05] Wildlife no not Wildlife you're right [00:29:09] why [00:29:11] not I've never seen that in a hazard [00:29:13] mitigation plan that's a good question a [00:29:17] loss that's a big loss yeah it [00:29:24] is yeah that's interesting [00:29:29] I've never seen um a [00:29:31] plan call a lot of attention [00:29:35] to in the profile what's there for [00:29:38] instance we would in our profile we [00:29:41] would say you know here are forested [00:29:44] areas Etc but not and we talk about [00:29:48] trees but we don't typically say too [00:29:50] much about [00:29:52] animals yeah well consider so easy to do [00:29:56] that now because we have all the [00:29:59] data I'm wondering what Maps or Graphics [00:30:02] you're using because there's a new one I [00:30:05] recommend that we use the uh EJ [00:30:08] environmental justice Maps that's in [00:30:11] your plan the environmental justice map [00:30:14] are in your plan because we make a big [00:30:17] point to make sure that for instance [00:30:19] like in Gilbertville there might be some [00:30:22] a lower income compared to some other [00:30:24] places in the community and we want to [00:30:26] make sure that we're [00:30:28] emphasizing um mitigating risk to those [00:30:32] communities so that is in there I'm glad [00:30:34] you mentioned so my point would be in [00:30:37] this discussion about um the like the [00:30:41] animals or other Wildlife species you [00:30:44] could just layer that too because those [00:30:48] are [00:30:49] resources that [00:30:56] contri I don't think we're m [00:30:58] y I'll mention it tomorrow morning to um [00:31:02] Bill who does the risk analysis on our [00:31:04] team and we'll we'll have a conversation [00:31:06] about that Janus I'll let you know what [00:31:08] we figure out um and um somebody asked [00:31:12] in the chat uh in the chat about [00:31:14] ambulance and yes we do include that as [00:31:17] a [00:31:18] resource so that's a good question so [00:31:21] what we did [00:31:22] oops is come up with this is your list [00:31:26] of Hazards [00:31:28] and we look at um we put them into [00:31:31] buckets basically of high medium or [00:31:34] moderate and [00:31:35] low and this is your risk and remember I [00:31:39] showed you that graphic where we took [00:31:41] the natural hazards and the community [00:31:45] profile and they where they intersected [00:31:47] was risk and when we're thinking about [00:31:49] that we're looking at probability like [00:31:52] How likely it is to have these hazards [00:31:56] occur um what their impact would be um [00:32:00] the spatial extent remember I explained [00:32:02] some hazards for instance like our [00:32:05] winter storms is a sort of an [00:32:06] atmospheric Hazard it's going to impact [00:32:08] a whole area whereas flooding is going [00:32:10] to be in a smaller area the amount of [00:32:13] warning time that you have um for these [00:32:16] things to occur the duration of the [00:32:20] hazard and then um we come up with a [00:32:23] value there's a whole formula here um [00:32:26] and then we put into these buckets and [00:32:28] the reason that we do it besides the [00:32:31] fact that um okay I'm moving it along [00:32:34] there the the reason that we do it is [00:32:38] that we want to make sure that when you [00:32:41] mitigate your risk you're putting your [00:32:43] energy to your highest risk Hazard so I [00:32:46] don't want you to get concerned with [00:32:50] well should we put tornadoes above [00:32:52] invasive species or maybe we should flip [00:32:54] them the other way like it really [00:32:55] doesn't make any difference the the idea [00:32:57] is to get a big picture and get a sense [00:33:00] of like okay here are the highest [00:33:02] priority whereas like you wouldn't want [00:33:04] to spend a lot of time and and energy [00:33:06] mitigating the earthquake risk compared [00:33:09] to Wildfire risk for [00:33:12] instance and go ahead J I hate to I [00:33:15] don't understand the numbers is there a [00:33:18] scale that you're using yes and it's in [00:33:21] the plan it's called we call it a [00:33:23] priority Risk Index and and there's a [00:33:26] form [00:33:27] so I haven't broken it out to show you [00:33:30] that formula but it is in the plan and [00:33:33] so you will see how we came up with [00:33:36] this yeah but it should be on any [00:33:39] graphic clear as day and is Hazard is [00:33:43] ranking and okay so I think that you [00:33:47] probably mean the probability of [00:33:50] flooding from precipitation and DMO is [00:33:53] four mean and four would probably be the [00:33:56] highest [00:33:57] Pro yes where is the highest number yeah [00:34:01] so you just have to explain that on this [00:34:04] piece of paper okay that's good [00:34:07] information for me I'll do that I'll do [00:34:09] a better job of that next [00:34:11] time all right I'm Gonna Keep Us going [00:34:14] so we look at what um contributes to [00:34:17] risk and uh we want to consider changes [00:34:21] in population and so we''ve [00:34:24] um uh consider the fact that um Hardwick [00:34:27] has a growing elderly [00:34:29] population um and the number of people [00:34:32] living below the poverty line has also [00:34:35] um increased and then we also want to [00:34:39] consider any changes in land use not [00:34:42] only what has happened in the last five [00:34:44] years but what we think is going to [00:34:47] happen moving forward um and things for [00:34:50] you all to consider so if you have new [00:34:53] development that can increase um [00:34:56] flooding because you're going to have [00:34:58] more impervious surfaces right so you [00:35:02] know anytime you pour concrete you can [00:35:04] increase flooding um you're increasing [00:35:07] new development would increase demand [00:35:09] for limited water resources and the heat [00:35:13] island impacts if trees are removed is [00:35:16] something to consider as well so this is [00:35:18] all pointed out in the [00:35:21] plan and for all of the hazards we look [00:35:24] at what we call problems or impacts and [00:35:27] we come up with with a list of problems [00:35:29] and I made just a short list for you as [00:35:32] some [00:35:33] examples um and I won't read them all to [00:35:36] you but for instance wind can cause [00:35:38] trees to fall into structures and [00:35:40] infrastructure and on roadways so for [00:35:43] instance if if high winds are the [00:35:45] problem the solution or the mitigation [00:35:48] action may be to trim those trees right [00:35:54] um so it's it's that kind of thing we're [00:35:56] trying to um make sure that we sort of [00:35:58] have the plan flow together and make [00:36:00] logical sense in how we're going from [00:36:02] the hazards to the [00:36:07] actions all right I'm G to keep us going [00:36:10] just for [00:36:11] time so these are your goal statements [00:36:15] um we put them into categories that you [00:36:18] can see there in the colors um we always [00:36:20] put saving lives and property first um [00:36:23] we do have mitigating risk to your [00:36:26] infrastr structure and critical [00:36:28] facilities there increasing the town's [00:36:31] capacity to mitigate risk um is uh [00:36:35] essential uh protecting your natural [00:36:38] resources and then of course educating [00:36:40] all stakeholders whether that be Town [00:36:42] employees or residents or business [00:36:46] owners all right and then your [00:36:48] mitigation strategy and I told you this [00:36:50] is kind of the key part of the plan and [00:36:53] those mitigation actions those are going [00:36:55] to be these projects that hopefully will [00:36:57] reduce your um current or future [00:36:59] vulnerabilities to risk we look to your [00:37:03] um current impacts as well as we look to [00:37:06] what's going to happen in the [00:37:11] future all right so we put it all [00:37:14] together in this way we take these the [00:37:16] list of Hazards in the three [00:37:19] buckets we look at problems and the [00:37:22] problems can be to people to your [00:37:25] structures to sort of systems of how the [00:37:27] town functions to your uh natural or [00:37:30] historic resources and to any activities [00:37:34] that could be like you have a Town Fair [00:37:36] every year that kind of thing and then [00:37:39] we start thinking about mitigation [00:37:41] actions the what you're going to do [00:37:42] about it and there are four categories [00:37:45] for mitigation [00:37:47] actions and these are the four uh local [00:37:51] plans and regulations this would be [00:37:53] things like zoning regulations so you're [00:37:55] not building um um in high Hazard areas [00:37:58] for instance your structure and [00:38:00] infrastructure projects that could be [00:38:02] like a culvert [00:38:03] replacement natural systems protection [00:38:06] this could be preventing erosion or [00:38:09] something and then education awareness [00:38:11] is fairly [00:38:13] self-explanatory so when we look to your [00:38:15] problems we look for Solutions in these [00:38:18] four [00:38:20] categories you guys are with me y all [00:38:24] right we're almost done so this this is [00:38:26] just an example of some of the [00:38:29] mitigation actions that are in your plan [00:38:32] your previous plan had about 30 plus [00:38:36] actions your MVP plan that Municipal [00:38:39] vulnerability uh preparedness plan had [00:38:42] about 30 something actions your new [00:38:44] mitigation plan is going to have um I [00:38:47] believe [00:38:48] 1920 mitigation actions so we tried to [00:38:51] kind of consolidate you're a small town [00:38:54] don't take on more than you can handle [00:38:57] um and this is just an example of of [00:38:59] what you have um in your plan now so you [00:39:02] can see protecting open [00:39:04] space um designating that heating and [00:39:07] cooling center and making sure obviously [00:39:09] that it can um have air [00:39:13] conditioning uh developing a culvert [00:39:15] replacement plan reducing erosion behind [00:39:18] beaver dams and tracking Beaver [00:39:21] activity creating a tree removal and [00:39:24] maintenance program um developing a [00:39:28] health department public education [00:39:30] program for infectious disease and [00:39:33] developing the town's website and so [00:39:35] this is just an example of what's going [00:39:37] to be in your new [00:39:41] plan right now when you get um if you [00:39:45] choose to look at the plan um and it'll [00:39:48] be available to you [00:39:51] probably by the middle of March [00:39:55] um [00:39:57] seven chapters a lot of it's It's it'll [00:40:01] be a couple hundred Pages um a lot of [00:40:04] the content in there is written for FEMA [00:40:06] it really spells out to FEMA here's the [00:40:09] requirement they're looking for here's [00:40:10] the information because the ideas to get [00:40:13] them to approve the plan so you're [00:40:14] eligible for [00:40:16] funding um I think I've given you a [00:40:18] pretty good understanding of what's in [00:40:21] all of these chapters those mitigation [00:40:23] actions that strategy is chapter six [00:40:27] so that's where you'll see all those um [00:40:29] really detailed actions um included and [00:40:32] each one includes an approximate cost [00:40:35] who from the town is going to be [00:40:37] responsible for implementing the action [00:40:39] the timeline some examples of where uh [00:40:42] funding can be accessed um Etc so the [00:40:47] longest chapter will definitely be the [00:40:49] risk assessment um I think it's around a [00:40:51] 100 Pages [00:40:53] now um but hopefully having this will [00:40:56] give you a sense of of sort of how to [00:40:58] look through it and uh get a sense of [00:41:00] what's interesting to [00:41:03] you all right I just wanted to show you [00:41:07] one slide I kind of threw this together [00:41:10] just for personal preparedness because [00:41:12] it's important um and I think when you [00:41:15] talk start talking about a town [00:41:16] mitigating risk you should also consider [00:41:19] how you can personally be prepared or [00:41:21] mitigate risk to your own property or [00:41:24] what have you so one of the first things [00:41:25] to do if you haven't already is sign up [00:41:28] for code red and that's that um yeah [00:41:32] residents can read the whole document um [00:41:35] code red this is on your website um if [00:41:38] you go to Hardwick ma.gov you can sign [00:41:41] up for COD red and that's how the town [00:41:43] can send an alert um you know if a [00:41:48] heating or cooling center is open I'm [00:41:50] sure that's a way that they'll let you [00:41:52] know um I think people frequently are [00:41:55] con confused is it a watch or is it a [00:41:59] warning what does that mean um I like [00:42:01] the ready.gov website there's a lot of [00:42:04] good information on there um and then [00:42:07] two things that you can do just on your [00:42:09] own is put together emergency kits and [00:42:12] um and have some kind of emergency plan [00:42:15] and it can be basic like my kids are [00:42:18] little I told them if there's a fire get [00:42:21] out of the house go to the [00:42:22] mailbox wait there a first responder [00:42:25] will find you there don't go wandering [00:42:27] off wherever you know like little things [00:42:30] but it can make a world of [00:42:32] difference um so I don't know it's sort [00:42:35] of my public service address I [00:42:38] guess all right and that's all I have [00:42:41] but I'm happy to answer any questions [00:42:43] that you have um you can spend a couple [00:42:47] minutes on questions go ahead Judith um [00:42:51] how does this dovetail with um the um [00:42:56] epa's Hera uh Health uh environmental [00:43:01] risk assessment process of big process [00:43:05] that uh talks to risk I just learned [00:43:08] about it and there are grants for it and [00:43:12] I think it's going to be under the [00:43:14] inflation reduction act and all that [00:43:17] stuff so I'm not sure I'd have to look [00:43:20] into that yeah it's uh on risk [00:43:24] management uh [00:43:26] from the feds okay I'll check it out [00:43:31] um I don't know if it's [00:43:34] duplicative or or how we can make them [00:43:38] both work together for our advantage at [00:43:41] the local [00:43:43] level I don't know I have to look at [00:43:45] what it is um when we create your plan [00:43:49] one of the things we do is look at all [00:43:51] the other plans that the town has um and [00:43:54] then as we come up with with um projects [00:43:58] with you we look for Grant many [00:44:00] different Grant sources um not just to [00:44:04] FEMA so we I'm always looking for more [00:44:07] Grant [00:44:08] sources anybody else with a question or [00:44:11] a [00:44:14] comment all right well hopefully this [00:44:17] was helpful um that's my email so if you [00:44:19] want to send a note you're welcome to if [00:44:21] you didn't put your um name into the [00:44:25] chat please do before we get off and if [00:44:28] you want a copy of this if you put your [00:44:31] email address in the chat I will send a [00:44:33] copy to you um otherwise Eric's got um [00:44:37] copies that he can always um send out or [00:44:40] post um and we did [00:44:43] uh we did um record the session so [00:44:47] tomorrow Eric I'll send you in Sandy a [00:44:49] copy of the [00:44:51] recording thank you I'll I'll be giving [00:44:53] you a call I appreciate you doing this [00:44:56] uh uh get the word out it's great yeah [00:44:59] no problem it's my pleasure anybody else [00:45:02] with [00:45:05] question all right well have a good [00:45:07] evening you guys and thank you so much [00:45:09] for the time I appreciate it thank you [00:45:12] very [00:45:12] much thank you thank you take care [00:45:16] everyone take it easy Jamie I will talk [00:45:19] to you [00:45:24] mark [00:45:45] you