Chenango County's Flag (Photo by Tyler Murphy)

CHENANGO COUNTY – For the past few months, Chenango County, along with its 30 municipalities have been in the process of updating the County’s 2016 Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP) and the 2021 Update is now available for public review and comment.

The current HMP identifies natural hazards of concern in our county, assesses our specific vulnerabilities to those hazards, and seeks to identify projects and measures that may reduce damages from future hazards.

The HMP includes descriptions of potential consequences of the hazards of concern that may impact Chenango County and its municipalities, identifies assets that are subject to losses or damage, and provides an estimate of the potential losses of each hazard. The County and its municipalities have also developed a strategy to increase the resilience which includes a prioritized list of actions designed to reduce losses.

The County would like the public to contribute further to the planning process by reviewing the draft Plan and providing feedback and comments. The full, updated HMP is available for public review and comment at the Chenango County Hazard Mitigation Plan website at https://www.chenangocountynyhmp.com/.

Feedback from municipal officials, stakeholders, and members of the public is welcomed and encouraged during the public comment period, which will remain open until May 13, 2021. All feedback provided will be reviewed by municipal, state, federal and county entities, and incorporated, where appropriate. Please visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ChenangoHMPPublicComment to comment on the Plan.

The update and approval of this plan allows the County and participating jurisdictions to continue to be eligible for future pre-disaster mitigation funding from FEMA. Examples of grant-eligible projects include back up power for critical facilities, removal of houses located in the floodplain to generate open space and increase flood storage, long term tree management programs, and local flood control measures.

Additional information about the Hazard Mitigation Plan and the planning process is posted on the Chenango County Department of Planning & Development website at http://www.co.chenango.ny.us/planning/.

- Submitted by the Chenango County Planning Department