Minutes

Brownsville, KY

February 17, 2005

A public meeting was held in the Edmonson County Fiscal Courtroom on Thursday, February 17, 2005. The meeting was conducted by Jack Eversole, Services Coordinator, Barren River Area Development District, with Alfonso Casana , Technical Services Director, and Kyle Key, Safety Coordinator.

Those attending were provided with a sign-in card, an agenda, and other materials including worksheets for identifying hazards. The meeting was characterized as informal with questions and discussion encouraged. Mr. Eversole discussed the Stafford Act and the work of FEMA and the State Division of Emergency Management (KDEM) in organizing the planning process. He described how the BRADD Board had encouraged local governments to join in the process and how local officials had helped in forming the five Special Purpose Committees to work with State Climatologist, Dr. Stuart Foster, in determining the natural hazards prevalent in the region.

Alfonso Casana , Technical Services Director, reviewed the data available through the BRADD website created to support the planning effort. Dr. Foster’s 2001 study of natural hazards in the BRADD, FEMA documents, and much of the State’s Hazard Mitigation Plan, are available. The website also provides citizens with the opportunity to review data and the work done and to make comments or ask questions via the internet. For persons who do not have

Internet access, the local libraries have the data on hand and also will provide citizens with assistance in connecting to the BRADD and other related websites. The information also is available through the County Judge/Executive’s office.

Mr. Casana discussed the earthquake damage potential from the New Madrid fault. Edmonson County's vulnerability rankings in the State plan were reviewed and discussed. It was noted that Edmonson County may have had more events than had been recorded and that the vulnerability scoring seemed to be perfunctory. Judge Reed pointed out that there had been three landslides affecting county roads, one of considerable severity. Ms. Conway observed that Edmonson County had been hit by a storm path that seemed to follow the Edmonson/Grayson County line. She said that since much of the county's land area is in Mammoth Cave National Park, the population is concentrated in a smaller area.

Kyle Key, Safety Coordinator, reviewed the process for identifying hazards, profiling hazard events, inventorying assets, and estimating losses. The severe cold weather in wintertime was stressed. Karst sink holes were not. Flooding problems from the Green River and karst sinkholes were discussed. He said that the FEMA process was directed at assessing property risks, the BRADD Board stressed the saving of lives and reducing injuries as a mission Those attending were asked to participate in the identification of hazards affecting Edmonson County and the region, and the risk of damage each presented. (The consensus list is Attachment A)  

Mr. Eversole reviewed a list of goals adopted in other counties and discussed their applicability. The participants in the meeting agreed that the goals represented aims with which they concurred. He noted that one of the goals was to have a public much better informed on hazard pre-mitigation activities. The list was adopted by consensus.

Mr. Eversole said the discussion could be continued via the internet. The Special Purpose Committees will review the materials and comments from this and the other countywide meetings in the region. Their work will be formulated into a draft plan and brought back for another round of public discussions in the spring.

The meeting was adjourned.