10-2148 Local Mitigation Strategy Update

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Seminole County Local Mitigation Strategy (LMS) 01. n rl . Hazard mitigation is any action taken to permanently reduce or eliminate long-term risk to people and their property from the effects of hazards. The key to successful long- term hazard vulnerability reduction through mitigation is using a fundamental, well- conceived planning process. The LMS Working Group has been established to make the population, neighborhoods, businesses and institutions of the community more resistant to the impacts of future disasters. The LMS Working Group has been undertaking a comprehensive, detailed evaluation of the vulnerabilities of the community for all-hazards in order to identify ways to make the communities of the planning area more resistant to their impacts. ~~ The primary purpose of the LMS is to establish an ongoing process that will make hazard mitigation part of the daily routine for the entire community. The LMS process had the County assess its vulnerabilities to all types of hazards, identify a comprehensive list of goals, objectives, plans, programs and projects in an effort to decrease or eliminate the effects of those vulnerabilities and then prioritized the implementation of those initiatives. . ~ The LMS Working Group is made up of a number of local government agencies, business interests, community organizations, and institutions. This section describes the local jurisdictions and organizations participating in the LMS Working Group and discusses the organizational structure used to complete the planning process. It also provides a summary of the current status of planning activities by the participants, documenting the level of participation by the jurisdictions making up the LMS Working Group. The LMS Working Group by-laws and operating procedures, given in Tab 2 of the plan, further define how participation in the planning process is determined. On a periodic basis, the LMS Working Group solicits, electronically, the continuing involvement in mitigation planning by each local jurisdiction in the planning area. In this solicitation, the jurisdictions are encouraged to identify agencies and organizations that should represent the jurisdiction. This solicitation, sent out from the Seminole County Department of Public Safety, Division of Emergency Management, states the many benefits to local governments from participation in the mitigation planning. Subsequently written solicitation was issued by the Division of Emergency Management to local jurisdictions, adjacent counties, and organizations with facilities or responsibilities in the county for them to attend a LMS Review and Update meeting on March 6, 2009 and April 8, 2009 in the Public Safety Building. Those organizations not directly associated with state, regional or local governments, such as large businesses and industries, and volunteer agencies are also solicited on an annual basis to join the planning process, as well as through periodic public information efforts through the LMS Working Group. With a positive response to these solicitations from the LMS Working Group, each local jurisdiction and its agencies, any state, federal and regional agencies, and/or any interested community groups, are considered to be participants in the Seminole County planning process and requested to engage in the meetings and planning activities necessary to develop, maintain and implement the plan. Page 4