It’s about the Community by Matthew S. McCluney

The Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan (NHMP) team’s CSC project centers around the communities within Jefferson County, for whom the project was created, and upon whose shoulders the success of the project depends entirely.   The community and public agency representatives on our steering committee are the stakeholders who are essential to the process of the NHMP’s update.

The team’s task is to update Jefferson County’s Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan, in order to achieve eligibility for federal FEMA grant funding for mitigation projects with the County.  However, as graduate students from areas outside the County we are not there to dictate the process or dominate the discussion.  Our hope is quite the opposite.

We have worked hard to depend upon the feedback and expertise from our steering committee members who live in the County and know it well.  The steering committee is comprised of men and women from all areas of the hazard management spectrum: from Fire Chiefs, Public Works Directors, and Emergency Managers to Tribal representatives and Utility Company representatives.

Our intention is that our plan update appropriately reflects the specific needs and circumstances in Jefferson County.  We hope this community-based approach becomes a recipe for an efficient and relevant plan update.  Once we have completed the plan update, it is left for Jefferson County to put it into action.  Our underlying goal is that the community stakeholders will become invested in the process and see the plan through to implementation for years after we are gone.

Meet our Students: Matthew McCluney / Community and Regional Planning

More about the Community Planning Workshop(CPW)