REGIONAL

The South Central Regional Council of Governments (SCRCOG) and its municipalities are announcing a collaboration to prepare an update to the Multi-Jurisdiction Hazard Mitigation Plan. According to SCROG, the purpose of the plan is to identify and assess the Region’s natural hazard risks, specifically flooding, winter storms, and hurricanes and determine how to best minimize or manage those risks.

Public participation is essential to this process and SCROG is requesting area residents to participate in an on-line survey. The organization has launched the South Central Connecticut Hazard Mitigation Plan Survey that is providing an opportunity for everyone in the planning area to share their opinions and participate in the mitigation planning process.

According to SCROG officials, the information provided will help the Planning Team to better understand local concerns and issues as expressed by citizens. The goal being a process that will lead to mitigation activities that should help lessen the impacts of future disasters.

Participation in this survey is voluntary and none of the information provided will be attributed to individuals directly, according to Town and SCROG officials. The survey is located on the SCRCOG website and will only take about 5 minutes to complete. It is available in English and in Spanish.

Guilford town officials are also requesting that residents participate in the survey and make their opinions known.

The funding for this project is coming from the Connecticut Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, according to SCROG. The plan serves as an essential strategy for reducing current and future risks to natural hazards and improving the emergency preparedness in all fifteen municipalities.

Updates are required every five years, and this update is scheduled for completion in January 2023, according to State regulations.

A Regional Plan with Local Focus Updating the Hazard Mitigation Plan requires involvement from each of SCRCOG’s 15 municipalities and the public, according to Town officials. The SCRCOG Hazard Mitigation Plan Update will focus on the identification, assessment, and mitigation of natural hazards such as winter storms, hurricanes, and coastal flooding and the plan will result in a list of mitigation actions or projects each municipality can take to save lives and reduce damages.

It will also double as a creditable “floodplain management plan” under FEMA’s Community Rating System (CRS), according to SCROG statements.

An Advisory Committee with representation for each municipality has been formed to guide the planning process and facilitate local engagement. This Committee is hosting meetings in each municipality with a diverse group of local leaders to local government staff. Virtual public meetings will be held in September 2022 and January 2023; details will be announced on the project webpage and through news media.

The survey will be open through the fall, according to SCROG, but no firm survey expiration date has been set. The organization encourages residents interested in this matter to take the survey at the earliest possible convenience.

The SCROG survey can be accessed at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SCRCOG2023 or https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SCRCOG2023espanol

For more information, call Rebecca Andreucci, Senior Transportation Planner at 203-466-8601, email randreucci@scrcog.org, ro visit scrcog.org/regional-planning/regional-hazard-mitigation.