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ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: October 19, 2004 <br />Action Agen a <br />Item No. -q <br />SUBJECT: Orange County Hazard Mitigation Plan -Public Hearing and Decision <br />DEPARTMENT: Planning and Inspections PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) Yes <br />ATTACHMENT(S): <br />Draft Resolution of Adoption <br />Revised Orange County Hazard <br />Mitigation Plan (under separate cover) <br />INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />Craig N, Benedict, ext 2592 <br />TELEPHONE NUMBERS: <br />Hillsborough 732-8181 <br />Chapel Hill 968-4501 <br />Durham 688-7331 <br />Mebane 336-227-2031 <br />PURPOSE: To hold a public hearing and consider adoption of the Orange County Hazard <br />Mitigation Plan, <br />BACKGROUND: In June 2001, the North Carolina General Assembly passed Senate Bill 300: <br />An Act to Amend the Laws Regarding Emergency Management as recommended by the <br />Legislative Disaster Response and Recovery Commission, Among other provisions, the bill <br />requires that local governments have an approved hazard mitigation plan which includes a <br />community assessment and mitigation strategy in order to receive state public assistance funds, <br />Participating municipalities would be part of the county-wide plan to aid in coordination and <br />consistency. <br />The towns of Carrboro and Hillsborough decided to participate with Orange County to produce <br />a multi-jurisdictional hazard mitigation plan, The Town of Chapel Hill opted to produce its own, <br />separate plan. Staff from the participating municipalities and Orange County Planning and <br />Inspections and Emergency Management Departments (the "Hazard Mitigation Team") met on <br />numerous occasions to develop the draft plan. In 2002, the draft plan was twice brought before <br />the Board of County Commissioners --once for public hearing and once for adoption. <br />Subsequently, the State did not accept the plan because it was waiting for further guidance <br />from FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) regarding Federal Requirements for <br />hazard mitigation plans. <br />In early 2004, the State received new information from FEMA and developed more specific <br />requirements for local governments to follow in compiling their hazard mitigation plans. The <br />State imposed a deadline of November 1, 2004 for local governments to submit adopted plans. <br />The State also asked local governments to submit draft plans for adequacy review prior to <br />asking local governing bodies to adopt the plans, The Hazard Mitigation team, comprised of the <br />staff mentioned above, has worked closely with the State reviewers to produce a plan that has <br />