Public Service Announcement
Aransas County Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Action Plan
Proposed Annexation of the Aransas County Navigation District
March 1, 2018
Aransas County is sponsoring an annex of the Aransas County Navigation District to the adopted Multi-Jurisdictional Mitigation Action Plan, or Plan. Mitigation is defined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as sustained actions taken to reduce or eliminate long-term risk to people and property from hazards and their effects. The goal of the Plan is to address natural hazards that could potentially affect the county-wide area. The purpose of the mitigation plan is twofold: to protect people and structures and to minimize the costs of disaster response and recovery.
FEMA approval of the Plan occurred on February 1, 2018. Plan participants include unincorporated Aransas County, and the cities of Aransas Pass, Fulton and Rockport. Upon approval, the County and participating jurisdictions became eligible to apply for certain FEMA grant funding under the Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) program. The Aransas County Navigation District (ACND) wishes to be annexed into this Plan, and become a participating jurisdiction. Upon approval by FEMA, ACND would become eligible to apply for certain FEMA grant funding under the Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) program. These grant funds may be used to identify and implement mitigation projects to reduce risk from natural hazards such as flood, tornado, and wildfire.
HMA grant funding may be available for critical projects such as buyouts and structural elevation of repetitive flood loss structures, breakwater, shoreline stabilization, bulkheads, drainage projects, and hardening critical facilities to minimize future damage from natural disasters that affect the planning area. Funds from these federal grant programs may be awarded to local governments to implement mitigation projects identified as part of a FEMA-approved Mitigation Action Plan.
The hazard mitigation planning process involves multiple steps to analyze past and future hazard events that impact the area, and how these hazard risks and events affect people, buildings, and critical infrastructure. Another key component of the risk assessment will be to assess the potential future impact of hazards based upon the current and projected development trends and plans for Aransas County and participating jurisdictions.
Public participation is critical to the success of the mitigation planning process. The general public will be invited to participate in the hazard mitigation planning process from beginning to end. The Aransas County Navigation District will encourage public input through meeting announcements, information disseminated on the website, and social media. Public meetings will be used to solicit input, participation, and feedback from all interested attendees. These public meetings can help further define the hazards and actions to be taken to reduce hazard risk and protect people and property. Aransas County Navigation District will seek to ensure that the general public, businesses and other stakeholders remain aware of the planning process and are given an opportunity to participate and comment. This includes making components of the Draft Annex Plan available for public review and comment in advance of any formal consideration or approval.
For more information on this proposed Annex to the Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Action Plan and the upcoming public meeting please visit The Aransas County Navigation District Website Aransas County Navigation District Website.
Upcoming announcements of public meetings related to this annex can also be found at The Rockport Pilot.
