Placer County Hazard Mitigation Plan Update

The Placer County Office of Emergency Services is updating the county’s 2005 multi-hazard mitigation plan. The plan, which seeks to help reduce damages from natural emergencies such as floods, wildfires and severe winter storms, provides information and opportunities for greater planning.

The plan defines the kinds of emergencies that happen in this area, and where and when they have happened in the past.

Where possible, the plan identifies steps to avoid, reduce or alleviate disaster damages and additionally, could help lessen the cost of flood insurance within Placer County. The public is welcome to provide input to the draft plan, either now or when a new draft is available for public review on the Placer County website by clicking the following link: Hazard Mitigation Plan.

The public can also view a printed copy available at each of the county and city libraries, beginning May 11, 2009. Additionally, two public meetings are planned at the following times and locations. The public is invited to attend and provide feedback and comments, and ask questions on the draft plan. Additional meetings will be scheduled as needed. The meetings are:

June 9, 2009, 7 pm – 9 pm at the North Tahoe Public Utility District, Lakeview Room, 8318 North Lake Blvd, Kings Beach, CA
June 10, 2009, 7 pm – 9 pm at the Community Development Resource Agency, Planning Commission Hearing Room , 3091 County Center Drive, Auburn, CA

‘Updating this plan will provide additional information on how best to avoid, reduce or mitigate damages in future emergencies and, particularly, to identify where mitigation measures could have a high payoff in saving lives and property,’ said Rui Cunha, Placer County OES Program Manager. ‘The plan we wrote in 2005 has been useful in anticipating how particular emergencies will impact a particular region, and has been an excellent resource to the news media, the public and other agencies about emergencies in Placer County.’

Information in the 2005 plan has helped funding for address signage to help emergency responders find rural properties, to update and develop geographic information system database, and implement a hazardous vegetation abatement plan.

When complete the plan will cover all public agencies in Placer County, such as fire districts, water agencies and public utility districts, school districts, state and federal agencies, as well as the County and the cities of Auburn, Colfax, Lincoln and Rocklin, and the Town of Loomis. The City of Roseville is doing a separate plan.

Having an approved plan is now a requirement to maintain local eligibility for disaster-mitigation funding available from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which provided significant funding in Placer County following the floods in 1995 and 1997.

Residents and others who are interested may offer comments in various ways:

Mail written comments to Jeanine Foster, AMEC Earth and Environmental, Inc., 355 S Teller St., Suite 300, Lakewood, Co, 80226;
Fax written comments to Jeanine Foster, at 303-935-6575;
E-mail comments to [email protected];
Drop or mail comments to Placer County OES, 2968 Richardson Dr., Auburn, CA 95603; or
Bring comments to any of the public meetings.

For more information on this project, contact Rod Rodriguez, Placer County Office of Emergency Services at (530) 889-5300 or [email protected]

The final version of the plan will be reviewed by the California Emergency Management Agency and FEMA, then presented to the Board of Supervisors, city councils and the governing boards of the agencies involved.

*Placer County