Holmes County residents help shape new hazard mitigation plan

It is one thing for members of the Holmes County Local Emergency Planning Committee to sit down and hash out a solid hazard mitigation plan for the county.

However, the county recently went above and beyond that, instituting three separate work sessions inviting the county population to join them in an effort to garner as much critical information as possible, collect all that input and create a comprehensive plan built around what the people of Holmes County deem important.

In late July the Holmes County Emergency Management Agency teamed up with Resource Solutions Associates and leader Sandy Hovest for a trio of strategic planning sessions from which nearly 90 local Holmes County individuals from all walks of life provided input.

Jason Troyer, Holmes County EMA director, sent out a countywide invitation to residents, elected officials, village and city administrators, township trustees, health care, mental health, social agencies, and school leaders to join one of three sessions to develop a comprehensive hazard mitigation plan.

“Our soul interest in this entire process is developing a working mitigation plan that works for and represents the people of Holmes County,” Troyer said. “We need the partnership of all people of Holmes County because every situation and every disaster effects people differently. Most importantly, the people in our communities have lived through various disasters and understand where the real needs are.”

Hovest said getting community involvement in creating a plan is invaluable because they live and work throughout the county and understand the issues at hand as well as anyone. She also said the county couldn’t get federal approval for the plan without including locals.

What made getting local input even more valuable was their time spent at each of the three sessions went toward providing funds for the matching grant portion of the endeavor, and the turnout ensured the county would have more than enough funding.

Resident David Weiss attended because he felt a certain civic duty and was pleased to be able to add his two cents.

Weiss was a former member of the Holmes County American Red Cross chapter board, as well as an amateur ham radio operator.

“I was eager to see the current status of what’s going on,” Weiss said. “I think it’s critically important for the community to have a say into what our hazard mitigation plan looks like. People all have different opinions, perspectives and thoughts. If you only get people who do this for a living, they may overlook something important local people would see.”

Each session saw attendees participate in a series of three separate questionnaires, each providing in-depth information and insight into the relevance of all types and possibilities of disasters, from earthquakes and floods to fires, ice storms, and a host of other natural and manmade disasters.

Participants took time to fill out and rank a variety of questions that will then be calculated, the data collected serving as a focal point in the development of the hazard mitigation plan.

The work of creating a plan moves into Hovest’s hands, and her knowledge in taking all the data and developing an appropriate hazard mitigation plan should mean Holmes County will soon have a quality plan that prepares people for any type of disaster, should one occur.

“This is about creating a complete story,” Hovest said. “The average person doesn’t even know plans like this exist, but plans and strategies are critical for officials and responders when disasters occur.”

Her objective will be to assemble all the data and have a first draft completed by the end of October. The Holmes County public will then have an opportunity to review the plan through November, and the final plan will be submitted for approval by Thanksgiving.

Hovest said the anticipated plan approval should take place between the end of 2025 and the early portions of 2026.

Why is this mitigation plan so desirable?

Foremost, it helps the county prepare for any disaster, but it goes beyond that. Hovest said that for every $1 spent in mitigation, the county will save an estimated $13-$14 in response, a major return on investment that she said the world’s billionaires could appreciate.

“In order for Holmes County to be eligible for a grant, it has to be in the mitigation plan,” Hovest said. “We’re in a position where we don’t know exactly what money will be available, so we have to operate from the perspective that there will be money available when the time comes. We want to set Holmes County up to be eligible to apply for grants.”

Thus, bringing in all these people from different walks of life in the county is pertinent because it needs to be as comprehensive, detailed and forward-thinking as possible with as many answers to any given situation involved in the plan.