The goal of an updated plan is to identify natural and human-caused hazards and vulnerabilities in Salem and decide on a course of action to reduce hazards and where to focus resources when they arise. Planning helps the town formulate decision-making during disasters to reduce damages to lives, property and the municipality’s economy.
The town’s plan expired in 2023. The new hazardous mitigation plan will be valid for five years following the Town Council’s adoption of it. The planning process is funded by a $18,000 grant and $2,000 by the town.
Fire Chief Craig Lemire took over the process from Chief Larry Best started before he retired in August. Lemire said he expects the plan to be completed by December.
Lemire said the plan is being updated to ensure it’s relevant to Salem’s needs.
An updated plan will also keep the town eligible for grants related to public works projects. The Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 requires municipalities to have a completed mitigation plan in order to receive Federal Emergency Management Administration funds.
The town contracted Mapping and Planning Solutions of Whitefield, New Hampshire, to help with the update. The contracted service, which works with other New Hampshire municipalities on the issue, has been involved with Salem’s hazardous mitigation plans in 2012 and 2018.
Salem has formed a Hazard Mitigation Planning Team. The committee is composed of the fire chief, police chief, planning director, public works and residents. It will hold five to six meetings in 2024 as it develops an updated plan.
The hazard mitigation plan also differs from the town’s emergency operation plan. It’s a proactive plan to minimize impact while the emergency plan is a handbook for how to respond to natural disasters or pandemics as they are happening.
Lemire said he sees the biggest hazard risks in Salem involve natural ones such as weather-related events like ice storms, extreme temperatures and localized inland flooding as well as power outages and transportation accidents.
“Those events continue to be the highest probability of risk we need to prepare for,” Lemire said.
Members will look at what can be improved in the town’s infrastructure such as bridges, roads and culverts. They will also consider any new risks and hazards for developments such as Tuscan Village.
When the last update occurred in 2018, Tuscan Village had not been constructed yet.
“Our community has changed and there’s been a lot of development,” Lemire said.
The committee performed a hazard threat analysis at its first meeting on Monday. Human, property, and business impacts were looked at along with the probability of any happening in town.
Ratings on natural hazards were similar to the analysis done in 2018. Human-caused hazard ratings changed with pandemic and epidemic risks have grown in the last five to six years.
“It was our lowest rated hazard before,” Lemire said. “But after the COVID pandemic, it’s now far higher on our list.”
Lemire and the Hazard Mitigation Planning Team will hold the next meeting on Aug. 26.
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