HomeMy WebLinkAboutA001 - Council Action Form dated February 11, 2025ITEM #:14
DATE:02-11-25
DEPT:FIRE
SUBJECT:ADOPTION OF 2024 STORY COUNTY MULTI-JURISDICTIONAL
HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN
COUNCIL ACTION FORM
BACKGROUND:
The City of Ames participates in the Story County Hazard Mitigation Plan. A hazard mitigation plan is
a document that outlines:
1. The history of natural or human-caused disasters in a community
2. The likelihood that those disasters could occur in the future
3. Populations, properties, critical facilities, and infrastructure that could be affected by a disaster
occurrence
4. Strategies to protect those populations, properties, critical facilities, and infrastructure from
potential disasters
Although participation in a hazard mitigation plan is not mandated by law, a jurisdiction must
participate in an approved plan to receive certain forms of federal pre- and post- disaster funding. Those
funds can be used to address the vulnerabilities identified in the plan. Hazard mitigation plans must be
reviewed and updated from time to time.
The current Hazard Mitigation Plan expired January 1, 2025. The City joined the Story County
Hazard Mitigation Planning Committee in January 2023. City staff and representatives from 23 other
jurisdictions in Story County have been working with the County to revise the current plan. The update
process consisted of the following steps:
1. Planning for public involvement, including issuing a survey to the public, placing an article in
Tribune and issuing a press release
2. Identifying the hazards of the jurisdiction
3. Determining the risks presented by each hazard, using historical information as a context
4. Identifying assets, including critical facilities and infrastructure
5. Identifying the goals of the hazard mitigation plan
6. Developing mitigation actions to reduce the risk to critical facilities and infrastructure
Members of the Story County community participated in surveys where they were asked to indicate
their opinion regarding the likelihood for each hazard to impact their jurisdiction. In all, 50 surveys
were completed. After three Story County Hazard Mitigation Planning Committee meetings, which
incorporated community feedback, historical data, and a risk assessment, a draft plan was developed.
The final version includes 287 pages of discussion of the hazards faced by communities in Story
County. The goals of the revised plan are as follows:
1. Protect lives and reduce injury
2. Minimize or reduce damage to property, especially critical facilities and infrastructure
3. Strengthen communication among agencies and between agencies and the public regarding
hazard mitigation
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The revised plan includes descriptions of 17 mitigation actions specific to the City of Ames. Eight
of those actions are currently In Progress, two have Not Started, and seven were New to this plan. Iowa
State University has identified an additional 11 actions, and the Ames Community School District has
identified three actions. Other jurisdictions in Story County each developed their own mitigation
actions.
It is important to note that the City is not obligated to pursue any of these actions. However, in
order to receive federal funding for a mitigation project, the project must relate to one of these
actions in some manner. Therefore, the actions described below have been written very broadly to
give the City flexibility if it wishes to pursue federal funding for a future project.
The City’s actions are:
1. Develop and enhance capabilities to communicate hazard-related information to City employees,
other jurisdictions, and the public
2. Plan for and install backup power supplies to critical facilities
3. Identify security and environmental vulnerabilities in utility infrastructure. Develop procedures
and policies, install equipment, or modify facilities to reduce the threat of utility infrastructure
failure
4. Develop plans and preventative action, train personnel, and obtain equipment to be used to
address hazards in the community in concert with other jurisdictions. These jurisdictions include
other local, state, and federal agencies, and private organizations
5. Protect properties from river and flash flooding through construction of water storage areas,
building of flood protection structures, implementation of non- structural measures such as buy-
outs of flood-prone properties, implementation of policies, and other measures to reduce the risk
of property damage and threats to resident safety
6. Install equipment to protect critical facilities from fire
7. Evaluate sanitary sewer infrastructure for deficiencies and improve them to reduce potential
service backups in the sanitary sewer system and reduce peak flows to the treatment plant.
Evaluate storm sewer infrastructure for deficiencies and improve them to reduce the potential for
localized flooding
8. Develop and enhance a Continuity of Operations Plan
9. Evaluate the costs and benefits and consider joining the National Flood Insurance Program
(NFIP) Community Rating System
10. Incorporate Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design strategies into future
enhancements and revisions to community design guidelines
11. Plan for river/stream/slope stabilization and restoration actions to protect infrastructure by
addressing erosion into waterways
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12. Evaluate locations and costs associated with building a community safe room, which could be
part of a cooling center project
13. Utilize the City’s Urban Tree Management Program to reduce electrical outages caused by
overgrown trees and remove diseased trees located in the right-of-way and on private property
14. Enhance the City’s Water System Resiliency by connecting with other water suppliers, replace
any remaining 4” water mains, construct a new 5-million-gallon ground storage reservoir,
improve communications within the Water Plant, update hydraulic flood model, and build a new
1-million-gallon water tower
15. Enhance electric metering infrastructure for load management and to identify outages in real time
16. Install a new 161kV transmission line to serve the City and Iowa State University
17. Evaluate the feasibility and construction of solar panels with battery storage capabilities at
Electric Distribution and Public Works Warehouse to provide both facilities with an independent
electrical power source that is not dependent upon fossil fuels, and will allow for a quicker
response during widespread power outages
The draft plan has been approved by FEMA and adopted by the Story County Board of Supervisors.
Once the participant jurisdictions all adopt the plan, it will be filed with the Department of Homeland
Security. The new plan will expire January 1, 2029. The plan calls for routine updates to add, modify,
or remove mitigation actions as needed. These updates will be the opportunities to add new actions that
the City may desire to have considered for federal funding.
Due to the length of the revised plan document, it is not attached to this report. However, it can be
retrieved by following this link.
ALTERNATIVES:
1. Adopt the 2024 Story County Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan.
2. Do not adopt the 2024 Story County Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan and forego
certain types of federal assistance for disaster mitigation.
CITY MANAGER'S RECOMMENDED ACTION:
A hazard mitigation plan is a critical document to establish the projects that the community plans
to undertake to protect itself from disasters. It is important to note. while the City is not obligated
to pursue any of the actions listed in the Hazard Mitigation Plan, having a current plan is a
requirement to receive many forms of federal disaster aid. The revised plan will be updated
routinely as the priorities of the City evolve.
Therefore, it is the recommendation of the City Manager that the City Council adopt Alternative No. 1,
thereby adopting the 2024 Story County Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan.
ATTACHMENT(S):
Sample Adoption Resolution.docx
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Multi-Jurisdictional Mitigation Plan Adoption Sample Resolution
Resolution # ______
Adopting the Story County
2024-2029 Hazard Mitigation Plan
Whereas, (name of county or community) recognizes the threat that natural hazards pose to people and property within our
community; and
Whereas, undertaking hazard mitigation actions will reduce the potential for harm to people and property from future hazard
occurrences; and
Whereas,an adopted Hazard Mitigation Plan is required as a condition of future funding for mitigation projects under multiple
FEMA pre- and post-disaster mitigation grant programs; and
Whereas,(name of county or community) resides within the Planning Area, and fully participated in the mitigation planning
process to prepare this Hazard Mitigation Plan; and
Whereas, the Iowa Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and Federal Emergency Management Agency,
Region VII officials have reviewed the Story County Hazard Mitigation Plan and approved it contingent upon this official adoption
of the participating governing body; and
Now, therefore, be it resolved, that the (name of board or council), hereby adopts the Story County Hazard Mitigation Plan, as
an official plan; and
Be it further resolved,Story County Office of Emergency Management will submit this Adoption Resolution to the Iowa Division
of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and Federal Emergency Management Agency, Region VII officials to enable
the Plan’s final approval.
Passed: ___(date)___
_________________
Certifying Official
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