TOLLAND – Residents of the town of Tolland will be able to learn more about the completed draft of the hilltown’s first hazard mitigation plan and to ask questions of town officials Monday at 7 p.m. at the Tolland Public Safety Complex on West Granville Road.
Topics for the meeting will include an introduction to the planning process, a summary of existing mitigation initiatives, and an outline of recommended strategies for addressing natural hazards in Tolland, such as flooding, severe snow and ice storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc.
“This planning process is part of a federal program that makes the town eligible for grant funding, so having one of these plans in place is a primary purpose. It makes the town eligible for federal funding,” said Josiah Neiderbach of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC).
Neiderbach added that not all of the municipalities in the PVPC’s area – which includes Hampden and Hampshire counties – have hazard mitigation plans, but that these communities are in the process of developing them.
When asked how hazard mitigation plans for rural towns differ from more urban western Mass. areas, Neiderbach said they’re functionally the same.
“The processes are largely the same, in terms of identifying hazards that could impact a community and looking at existing mitigation strategies and their effectiveness and how they could be improved upon,” he said before clarifiying the difference between hazard mitigation and the emergency preparedness measures communities already take.
“Emergency preparedness are the things you do after an emergency has occurred and how you respond, while hazard mitigation are measures you take prior to emergencies occurring to reduce the impact they’ll have on a community,” he said. “(Hazard mitigation) plans go into emergency strategies that are already in place.”
A mitigation action is defined by the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission as “any action taken to reduce or eliminate the long-term risk to human life and property from hazards” and the purpose of the hazard mitigation plan is to help the town assess the risks faced from natural hazards, identify action steps that can be taken to prevent damage to property and loss of life, and prioritize funding for mitigation efforts.
Tolland officials have produced the plan with help from the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and will be funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA). Municipal officials and staff from PVPC will be available to answer questions and listen to comments on the draft plan.
The plan can be viewed on the Town of Tolland’s website at www.tolland-ma.gov or the PVPC website at www.pvpc.org.
