Public can comment on county hazard plan

Washington County Emergency Management announced the beginning of a public review and comment period for the draft update of the county’s hazard mitigation plan.
 The current draft of the plan can be viewed online on the Washington County website under the “Emergency Management” link or under the “Public Notices” link.
 The purpose of the public review period is to give residents of Washington County and interested parties an opportunity to review a draft of the hazard mitigation plan update.
 Anyone interested can also ask questions or submit comments to Washington County Emergency Manager Tony Buthman. This public review period will end on Sept. 13, 2019.
 The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) requires counties to update this plan every five years to remain eligible for federal funding for hazard mitigation projects.
 Since December the planning team has been working with Emergency Management to update the previous plan.
 The team consists of representatives from local agencies, organizations, governments and groups, as well as consultant Northwest Management, Inc. This update project is funded by a grant from FEMA.
 Public meetings were held in May in Cambridge and Weiser to further explain the Hazard Mitigation Plan and its functions, and to describe the update process.
 Once a final draft of the plan is agreed upon by the planning team and reviewed by all pertinent parties, it will be submitted to the Idaho Office of Emergency Management and FEMA.
 Tony Buthman is the county’s director of emergency management.