Minutes

Edmonton, KY

February 25, 2005

A public meeting was held in the Metcalfe County Fiscal Courtroom on Friday, February 25, 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. He said the BRADD website and the local libraries provided

access to the planning process. Judge/Executive Don Butler said he and Mayor Howard Garrett had begun the process for a joint planning commission to develop a comprehensive plan and this appeared to be a planning effort that would fit in with the work of the commission. Mr. Eversole said it would be good to make it a part of the plan, particularly when they began influencing building codes.

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. Metcalfe County's vulnerability rankings in the State plan were reviewed and discussed.

Kyle Key, Safety Coordinator, reviewed the process for identifying hazards, profiling hazard events, inventorying assets, and estimating losses. Mr. Key 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 identifying hazards affecting Metcalfe 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.