Chelan County Hazard Mitigation planning process initiated and public open houses scheduled

CHELAN - Local government stakeholders in the Chelan County planning area are in collaboration on the update of the Chelan County Multi-jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan pursuant to state and federal requirements. Responding to federal mandates in the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-390), the planning partnership was formed to pool resources and create a uniform hazard mitigation strategy that can be consistently applied to the Chelan County planning area. The planning partnership is made up of Chelan County, the Cities of Wenatchee,  Leavenworth, Cashmere, Entiat and Chelan, Cascadia Conservation District, and local Fire Districts.

A hazard mitigation plan describes an area’s vulnerability to the various natural hazards present with the county, along with an array of actions and projects for reducing key risks. While natural disasters cannot be prevented from occurring, implementing mitigation strategies can make communities more sustainable and disaster-resilient, and protect people and property.

During this process, citizens will be asked to contribute by sharing local knowledge of an area’s vulnerability to hazards based on past occurrences.

Public involvement will be solicited via a multi-media campaign that will include public meetings, web-based information, questionnaires and updates on the plan’s progress. This process will be overseen by a Steering Committee made up of stakeholders from within the planning area. This Steering Committee will meet as needed on the third Tuesday of every month throughout the planning process. These meetings will typically run from 10:00 a.m. to noon and are open to the public. All meeting will be held at the Confluence Technology Center in Wenatchee unless otherwise noted on the meeting agendas.

Three public open houses are scheduled in October. During these meetings, the results of the risk assessment will be presented along with display maps. An update of the County’s Community Wildfire Protection Plan will also be presented. The meetings will be held in the evening, 6-8 p.m. in Wenatchee on October 9 at Wenatchee City Hall, in Leavenworth on October 10 at Leavenworth City Hall, and in Chelan on October 11 at Chelan County Fire District 7.

An informational website has been established at: https://www.co.chelan.wa.us/natural-resources/pages/natural-hazard-mitigation-plan
This website will serve as the primary means for the public to gain information on the plan and ways that they can participate in the planning process. Information on the public meetings and the Steering Committee meetings is also available on this website. The public is encouraged to provide input on all phases of this plan’s development.

Any questions or comments regarding this process are encouraged and should be directed to Hillary Heard at Chelan County Natural Resources Department - phone: (509) 667-6567 or (509) 630-5372 or via email: Hillary.Heard@CO.CHELAN.WA.US.