By Michael P.Walsh
Special to the Voice
The public is invited to participate in a meeting for the development of the South Central Region Multi-Jurisdiction Hazard Mitigation Plan.
West Haven, together with the South Central Regional Council of Governments and its municipalities, is helping to prepare an update to the plan, which aims to identify and assess natural hazard risks, such as flooding, hurricanes and winter storms, and to determine how to best minimize or manage those risks.
The public meeting is set for 7 p.m. Nov. 14 in the Harriet C. North Community Room on the second floor of City Hall, 355 Main St.
Mayor Edward M. O’Brien, who serves as treasurer of SCRCOG’s Executive Committee and sits on its Transportation and Emergency Management and Hazard Mitigation committees, said the plan is essential to the city’s efforts in identifying ways to lessen the impacts of natural hazards.
As an officer and Executive Committee member, O’Brien helps steer planning initiatives for the region’s 15 municipalities: Bethany, Branford, East Haven, Guilford, Hamden, Madison, Meriden, Milford, New Haven, North Branford, North Haven, Orange, Wallingford, West Haven and Woodbridge.
During the public meeting, City Engineer Abdul Quadir will introduce the plan’s contents through a PowerPoint presentation. Residents will then have the opportunity to discuss ideas regarding risk reduction.
To help increase public participation, SCRCOG has launched the South Central Connecticut Hazard Mitigation Plan Survey, which gives everyone in the planning area a chance to share their opinions and participate in the mitigation planning process, said its executive director, Carl J. Amento.
Amento said the information gathered from the survey will help the planning team to better understand local concerns and issues as expressed by the region’s residents. The information can also lead to mitigation activities that should help lessen the impacts of future disasters, he said.
The online survey, which takes about five minutes to complete, is available in English and Spanish athttps://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CTMitigation.
To learn more about the regional disaster planning project, visit http://scrcog.org/regional-planning/regional-hazard-mitigation/.
SCRCOG, based at 127 Washington Ave. in North Haven, provides a platform for intermunicipal coordination, cooperation and decision-making. Since its inception in 1985, the planning organization, whose region covers about 570,000 people, has addressed numerous issues, including those related to housing, transportation, land use planning and economic development.