MONMOUTH COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE, OEM CONTINUES HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN UPDATE PROCESS
Freehold: Sheriff Shaun Golden is pleased to announce that work continues on the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office, Office of Emergency Management (OEM) Hazard Mitigation Plan update process. The plan is a documented evaluation of the hazards to which a community is susceptible and the extent to which these events will occur.
On Thursday February 27, OEM held two workshop sessions as part of the ongoing Monmouth County Multi-Jurisdictional Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan update process. The work sessions included a presentation from the consulting firm URS Corporation, who was hired through a FEMA grant. The sessions provided municipalities with assistance on the development and documentation of the mitigation strategy. Monmouth County’s mitigation strategy is designed to reduce and eliminate risks to people and property from natural hazard events. The need for mitigation strategies has increased due to the increase in natural hazard occurences.
“As a result of Superstorm Sandy, this plan and the information contained within it has never been more important,” said Sheriff Shaun Golden, whose agency oversees the Office of Emergency Management. “Based on the hazards and risks, the projects identified by each town and Monmouth County will help shape the mitigation planning for the next several years.”
The current Hazard Mitigation Plan was adopted by Monmouth County and municipalities in 2009. Under FEMA guidelines it is required to be updated every five years. The County has taken the lead on the overall planning process to guide the fifty-three municipalities in an effort to meet the FEMA requirements and therefore be able to officially adopt the plan.
Upon completion, Monmouth County OEM will submit the plan to New Jersey OEM and FEMA for final approval. Once approved by those two agencies, each municipality will be required to formally adopt the plan. They will then continue to be eligible for pre and post disaster mitigation grant funding. The County anticipates the draft plan will be available and ready for public comment by late spring of 2014. It will then be posted to the Office of Emergency Management’s website.
