[0:00] All right. I'd just like to I'd just

[0:05] like to say on behalf of myself and

[0:06] Ryan and the entire Merx management team, we

[0:08] appreciate all of you for joining, this public

[0:12] meeting today as we are working through this

[0:15] hazard mitigation planning process. Your input, your feedback,

[0:21] all of that is very important for us

[0:23] to help keep our community safe and resilient.

[0:25] And so, again, appreciate it. We're here for

[0:27] you if you have any questions. Awesome. Thank

[0:32] you. Well, I'll get started. My name is

[0:35] Peyton Morris. I'm with H2O Partners. We were

[0:38] contracted by McLennan County to assist in updating

[0:41] the McLennan County hazard mitigation plan. Today, we're

[0:44] gonna go over the really high overview of

[0:46] the planning process and purpose. Overall, hazard mitigation

[0:50] plans are FEMA documents that are approved by

[0:52] FEMA, and a crucial part of that process

[0:54] is to inform the community of what we're

[0:56] doing, why we're doing it, and give you

[0:58] an opportunity to provide some feedback. So that's

[1:01] what we're going to be doing here today.

[1:02] This is the first of two public meetings.

[1:05] The second one will be held on May

[1:07] 20. Here we go. And we've already done

[1:16] some introductions. So today, we're gonna, like I

[1:20] said, go over a fairly high level overview

[1:22] of what hazard mitigation is, what a hazard

[1:25] mitigation plan, why we're doing it, why we're

[1:28] engaging the public, give an give you all

[1:30] an opportunity for questions at the end. It's

[1:33] more interactive. So if you have any questions,

[1:35] feel free to leave the questions in the

[1:37] chat. We do have some other H2O partners

[1:39] representatives monitoring that chat, so if you have

[1:41] any questions, feel free to ask as as

[1:43] we go along. So what is hazard mitigation?

[1:48] Hazard mitigation is implementing actions to help reduce

[1:51] or eliminate long term risks caused by hazards

[1:53] or disasters. So here's some picture examples. So

[1:56] for instance, there's a rain garden which slows

[1:59] down and naturally filters storm water runoff by

[2:01] utilizing native plants. There's a flood mitigation project

[2:04] of a culvert in that top right corner,

[2:07] and then more popularly known is the prescribed

[2:10] burn, which is a wildfire mitigation project. So

[2:15] what is the purpose? So diving further in,

[2:18] a main point in hazard mitigation is community

[2:20] resilience, which is the ability to bounce back

[2:22] from a hazard event. The main goal is

[2:24] to prevent or reduce loss of life and

[2:27] property. We also look at reducing economic impacts

[2:30] and disruptions from natural disasters as well as

[2:32] lessening business interruption and revenue loss and speed

[2:35] restoration of community operations and services, like I

[2:38] said, bouncing back, after that hazardous event. So

[2:46] on the screen, this is what, the hazards

[2:49] that we are profiling in the plan. So

[2:50] dam failure, drought, earthquake, expansive soils, extreme heat,

[2:55] blood, hail, lightning, thunderstorm wind, tornado, wildfire, winter

[3:00] storm, and hazardous materials. A hazard mitigation plan

[3:04] is the process of going through an evaluation

[3:06] of various hazards that can impact your community

[3:09] and identifying sound mitigation solutions that can mitigate

[3:12] the risks from those hazards. This plan is

[3:14] meant to be a tool for McLennan County

[3:16] and all of the participating jurisdictions to get

[3:18] a better understanding of their risks and where

[3:20] their biggest losses are due to disaster events

[3:24] where they have been historically. So we do

[3:27] a deep dive on all of these types

[3:28] of events, history of events, where these events

[3:31] have occurred, where they could create the most

[3:34] impacts and such, including communities and infrastructure. We

[3:39] also look at what kind of losses the

[3:40] planning area has incurred in the past due

[3:42] to these events. And using that data, we

[3:44] can determine the probability of one of these

[3:46] events happening again in any in the near

[3:50] future. So we get all of that information.

[3:53] We determine how many events and what degree

[3:55] of losses can be anticipated going forward. And

[3:58] we take that analysis and that analysis is

[4:01] what makes up this plan. And it's a

[4:03] tool that allows you to begin to identify

[4:06] your higher priority hazards and what mitigation projects

[4:08] to implement when money is available. Here is

[4:15] a brief overview of the planning process. So

[4:17] there's four phases. We break it out. And

[4:19] so phase one is organizing the planning process

[4:21] and resources. Phase two, like I said, was

[4:24] assessing those risks and capabilities. Phase three, developing

[4:27] a mitigation strategy and coming up with those

[4:29] projects. And then phase four, adoption implementation. And

[4:33] there's a further in-depth timeline at the end

[4:36] as well. But within the next few months,

[4:41] the plan will be developed, and then once

[4:43] the plan is drafted, the public will have

[4:44] two weeks to review the plan. It will

[4:46] then go on to TDEM at the state

[4:48] and then on to FEMA. Once approved, the

[4:50] jurisdictions will adopt and it will be eligible

[4:52] for five years. And on the top of

[4:58] the screen, you can see all of the

[4:59] participating jurisdictions that are in the plan. Every

[5:02] five years, mitigation plans must be updated to

[5:04] reflect the current conditions and restrategize based on

[5:07] lessons learned. These documents can be rather large

[5:10] and, over a thousand pages in length sometimes

[5:13] and undergo an intensive state and federal review

[5:16] before approval. So McLennan County has brought on

[5:19] H2O partners, that's where a consulting firm that

[5:22] specializes in hazard mitigation plans to assist in

[5:24] the plan update. This document is a community

[5:28] driven living document. We don't want it to

[5:30] be something that just goes and sits on

[5:32] a shelf. We want it to be something

[5:33] that is catered towards y'all that benefits the

[5:35] community. Your local officials are putting in significant

[5:38] work to make this an accurate comprehensive plan

[5:40] that can be integrated into community decision making.

[5:46] So here's some more mitigation goals. So like

[5:48] I said, protecting public health and safety is

[5:50] number one. Build and support local capacity and

[5:53] commitments to continuously become less vulnerable to hazards.

[5:57] Increase public understanding, support, and demand for hazard

[6:00] mitigation, protect new and existing properties, maximize the

[6:05] resources for investment in hazard mitigation, promoting sustainable

[6:08] growth through nature based mitigation solutions, and promoting

[6:11] equity and protect vulnerable populations and underserved communities

[6:15] through hazard mitigation activities. So like I said,

[6:18] your community officials are creating actions with these

[6:20] mitigation goals in mind. The point of these

[6:22] goals is to provide a broad and overarching

[6:25] statement of what we aim to achieve with

[6:27] the actions we list out in each plan.

[6:30] Every action in the plan will tie back

[6:31] to one of these goals. So identifying mitigation

[6:39] solutions. There's, like I said, many benefits to

[6:41] creating hazard mitigation plan, such as looking at

[6:44] a community and identifying mitigation solutions. We can

[6:46] take a look at previous disasters or hazardous

[6:49] events and calculate the probability of future impacts.

[6:51] And with this information, locals are better equipped

[6:54] for decision making. And they can do things

[6:56] like consideration of alternatives and then also, like,

[7:00] look at cost effectiveness and things like that.

[7:05] And lastly, grant eligibility. So once the hazard

[7:08] mitigation plan is FEMA approved, the participating jurisdictions

[7:11] can apply for several state and federal grant

[7:13] opportunities. And the next slide will go over

[7:16] some of those opportunities. But basically, it's HMGP,

[7:20] which is hazard mitigation grant program, flood mitigation

[7:23] assistance, hazard mitigation grant program post fire, which

[7:27] is FMAC, and then high hazard potential dam

[7:30] HHPD grant. So on average, every $1 spent

[7:34] on mitigation saves $6 in future losses. So

[7:38] it's important to take a closer look at

[7:41] your risks and understand them so you can

[7:42] make informed decisions when you have the money

[7:44] and resources to implement a mitigation project. So

[7:48] for example, if you have an intersection that

[7:50] floods every time there's a relatively normal rain

[7:52] event due to undersized culverts and emergency services

[7:55] need to be called to block off that

[7:57] road, repairs need to be done to the

[7:59] drainage system and roadways there repeatedly. If you

[8:02] look at the resources it's taken up to

[8:04] address that problem repeatedly, it might become apparent

[8:06] that the needs to be there needs to

[8:08] be a higher priority and have a better

[8:11] return on investment than some larger scale, expensive

[8:13] projects would. Like I said, and here's those

[8:18] grant programs and incentives. I won't read through

[8:21] everything, but HMGP, FMA, FMAP, and HHPD are

[8:25] just some of the grants funding sources. And

[8:30] again, these are the grants that are that

[8:31] you are eligible to apply for with an

[8:34] approved and adopted hazard mitigation plan. And there

[8:40] are some previously funded projects. So as you

[8:43] can see, McLennan County completed a safe room

[8:45] project in 2013. And then also city of

[8:48] Moody also did one in 2015, which some

[8:51] of you may be aware of. City of

[8:52] West, had two generator projects approved in 2020,

[8:56] and Cross Country Water Supply had a generator

[8:58] project approved in 2024. So how to contribute

[9:06] to the planning process? Y'all can take the

[9:10] survey, if you have not done so already.

[9:12] The QR code is on the public notice

[9:14] flyer, and it's also going to be at

[9:16] the end of this presentation. You can attend

[9:18] a meeting. We'll have the second and last

[9:20] one in person next week, May 20 at

[9:22] 06:30. And you can also review the draft

[9:25] plan once it becomes available provide feedback on

[9:29] that draft hazard mitigation plan. And then here

[9:35] is that detailed timeline. So we already had

[9:38] the hazard mitigation kickoff back in April. We're

[9:41] doing the first public meeting today, second public

[9:44] meeting next week. We'll submit the draft plan

[9:46] to TDEM in August, and then that public

[9:48] draft will be available for comment in September

[9:51] for two weeks. And then here is I'll

[9:56] come back to this slide as well, but

[9:57] if you have any questions, here is my

[10:00] contact info on the left and then our

[10:02] program leadership, Heather and Stevie Ann, on the

[10:04] right. And then there is that public survey

[10:09] QR code. But I will check the chat.

[10:13] Do we have any questions? Hey, Peyton. There's

[10:19] no questions that came in through the chat,

[10:21] but if anyone online does have any questions,

[10:23] feel free to unmute yourself and you can

[10:25] ask our team or OEM directly. And I

[10:31] have two more things to add. The survey

[10:33] will be open until June 20. I forgot

[10:35] to mention that. And then if you came

[10:37] in and have not signed into the chat,

[10:39] please do so. Leave your name and jurisdiction

[10:44] as well so that we can get you

[10:45] signed in on the sign in sheet. There

[10:54] will also be a recording of this presentation

[10:57] available that we will provide OEM with should

[11:00] yourselves or any other colleagues or other agencies

[11:03] that you work closely with would like to

[11:06] review this public meeting or have any questions

[11:08] again they can contact us here at H2O

[11:11] directly or our leads over at Waco McLennan

[11:14] OEM. Awesome. Well, there are no questions, I

[11:29] will go ahead and mute myself and leave

[11:31] this up. But like we said, feel free

[11:33] to reach out if you have any questions.

[11:35] Thank you.

McLennan County Hazard Mitigation Plan Public Meeting Video

Transcript