THE TOWN OF NEWINGTON
NEW HAMPSHIRE
     Established 1713

        Office of Emergency Management
MINUTES OF MEETING
     September 6, 2018

 There was a meeting of the Emergency Management Co-Directors and members of the Town government to discuss updating the Hazard Mitigation Plan with Theresa Walker from the Rockingham Planning Commission.

PRESENT:  Co-Director Chief Michael Bilodeau, Co-Director Andy Head, Co-Deputy Fire Chief Darin Sabine, Theresa Walker, RPC, Selectman Michael Marconi, Newington School Principal Peter Latchaw, Road Agent Leonard Thomas, and Admin Assistant Diana St. Laurent. Building Inspector Kevin Kelley and Town Planner Gerald Coogan were unable to attend the meeting.

Theresa gave a brief overview of the reason for towns having a hazard mitigation plan in effect. She said that after hurricane Katrina, FEMA required every city/town to have a hazard mitigation plan in place. Initially the process was a type of “wish list” but now the process has changed considerably and each town/city has to prove to FEMA how it is becoming more resilient in mitigating hazards. If a disaster should occur and the town/city did not have a plan in place, they would not be eligible for money.

Theresa asked that everyone review the plan which was done in 2012 and be prepared with updates for the new plan. She said she will have some base maps at the next meeting for review of hazards that might be impacting Newington and any updates that might need to be done. Theresa said that after the draft plan is finished, the Selectmen will have to hold a public hearing on the draft plan and have a public comment period, after that it is sent to Homeland Security in Concord for review and they send it to FEMA for approval. After the plan is approved by FEMA, Theresa said she will come back to the Selectmen to adopt the plan and we will be good for another 5 years. Theresa said FEMA is interested in seeing if you have identified what natural hazards you are prone to, what you have in place to be responsive, an action plan of how you would change this and how you educate the public. The first part of the plan talks about what the hazards are in Newington, where they impact you and the second half of the plan is all the critical facilities in Newington, and the last section of the plan deals with what we have in place to deal with the hazards and this is what we would like to be doing to be better prepared.

There was a brief review of the current plan. Selectman Marconi asked that “drought” hazard be added to the plan and it was recommended that storm surges be added also.

Theresa said that adding those hazards requires the Town to have a plan in place to address the hazards. There was a discussion about extreme temperatures and it was decided not to add it to the plan. Theresa asked that the list of critical facilities in the last plan be corrected and/or updated and sent to her before the next meeting. Chief Bilodeau mentioned that Great Bay School is no longer there.

Theresa said she will e-mail the 2013 plan and Diana will distribute it to everyone. Theresa requested that any changes/updates be sent to her before the October 11, meeting so she can add the changes to the draft plan.

The next meeting is scheduled for October 11, 2018 at 10:00 a.m.