DATE:
September 17, 2024
TO:
Paul Buddenhagen, City Manager
FROM:
Pedro Jimenez, Assistant City Manager
Lori Elefant, Human Resources Management Analyst - Annuitant SUBJECT:
Draft 2024 – 2029 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Update
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the City Council provide input on the draft 2024 – 2029 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Update.
Background
The Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA 2000) requires all communities to establish a Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP) as a condition to receive federal hazard mitigation funding through the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP), Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant Program (PDM), and the Flood Management Assistance Grant Program (FMA). In addition, as part of the DMA 2000, the LHMP must be updated every five (5) years.
Discussion
The City’s current Local Hazard Mitigation Plan was approved in October 2019 and is an amendment to the Safety Element in the General Plan. Staff along with the planning team have completed a draft update to the plan for 2024 – 2029 and present this plan update to solicit the City Council’s input.
FEMA issued new guidance in May 2023 on the planning requirements for Local Hazard Mitigation Plans. Requiring community involvement is still a major requirement but, under the new guidance, a jurisdiction needs to address climate change when discussing hazards, probability, vulnerabilities, and impacts.
The jurisdiction also needs to explicitly engage at risk, under-served and socially underserved populations when allowing any opportunities for stakeholders and the public to be involved to identify vulnerabilities, predict impacts, and determining mitigation strategies and actions. In addition, the plan needs to list state and federal major disaster declarations for the planning area since the last update when discussing previous hazard events.
In October 2023, staff published a Local Hazard Community Survey to obtain the community’s input on local hazards and mitigation ideas. Staff also solicited members of the community to be part of the planning team and received 97 responses to the survey with three (3) community members expressing interest in being part of the planning team.
The Planning Team is made up of a representative from each City department, a representative from Alameda County Fire Department, and two members of the community. The first planning team meeting was held on November 28, 2023.
At the first few meetings, the team discussed how the update process works, looked at the previously identified hazards in our 2019 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan, the hazards listed in the City of Berkeley’s and Oakland’s Local Hazard Mitigation Plans as well as the hazards identified in our Community Survey. As a result, the team was able to identify nine (9) hazards to be included in the plan update which are listed below in order of priority:
1) Earthquakes
2) Climate Change
3) Hazardous Materials Release
4) Utility/Infrastructure Failure
5) Floods
6) Fire
7) Biological Threats
8) Civil Disturbance
9) Terrorism
The team met an additional 5 times over the next 10 months. The team prioritized the hazards as listed above, brainstormed different mitigation ideas, and evaluated the proposed mitigation ideas for feasibility, social benefits, economic benefits, environmental improvement and community objectives. The team finalized the mitigation ideas that should be included in the plan update and then prioritized them into High, Medium and Low Priorities as set forth below:
High Priority
1. Building a bioswale
2. Earthquake Warning System for Fire Station Doors
3. Promote Mass Notification Systems
4. Training for Staff and Council Members
5. Police Substation
6. Promote increased earthquake awareness for residents
7. Draft Recovery Plan for City
8. Public Address System for the Peninsula for Tsunamis
9. Evacuation Route signs for Peninsula and City as a whole
10. Improve CERT training program
11. Work with EBMUD
12. Moving critical services to a more secure location
13. Fee waiver for Earthquake retrofit projects on single family homes (Braces & Bolts)
14. Update City web page with resources for emergency planning
15. Work with Alameda County identify labs in the City and their potential issues
16. Public Safety Microgrid
17. Structural update and maintenance of 2 pedestrian bridges
18. Seismic Update to 4060 Hollis Street
19. Seismic Update to Police Administration Building
20. Building living levee or other protective measures in the Emeryville Crescent Marsh
21. Restoration/Build Up of wetlands and the shoreline against sea level rise Medium Priority
22. Storm drain cleaning
23. Providing Tsunami information to retail, hotel and restaurant establishments
24. Undergrounding utilities
25. Leveraging our relationship with Berkeley and Oakland’s Offices of Emergency Services
26. Reach out annually to Cal OES, and other stakeholders for best practices on tsunami mitigation
27. Reduce vulnerability to severe storms and associated hazards through proactive research and planning
28. Coordinate with the County on their plans for Points of Distribution (PODs)
29. Alternative transportation
30. Provide information on grants to encourage renewable energy for businesses
31. Promote awareness of Oakland and Berkeley’s Public Address Systems
32. Public Address System for the City
Low Priority
33. Working with the Red Cross to install smoke detectors in single family homes
34. Promote locations of public disposal sites for hazardous materials
35. Provide links on the City’s web page for publicly available GIS resources
36. Film on windows of City Hall to prevent shattering
37. Encourage renewables for businesses by giving tax breaks or rebates
38. Update Flood Plan Map for the City
A community survey was published again in March 2024 to obtain the public’s input and comments on the proposed identified hazards and mitigation ideas. The team received 11 responses with comments to this survey.
Fiscal Impact
This report is information only and there is no fiscal impact.
Staff Communication with the Public
Staff has or will have presented the draft of the 2024-2029 Local Hazard Mitigation Update to the City’s Community Advisory Committees (Sustainability Committee, Public Safety Committee, Transportation Committee, Planning Commission) during the month of September.
Conclusion
Staff recommends that the City Council provide input and comments on the proposed draft plan update including the identified hazards and mitigation ideas included in the City’s Local Hazard Mitigation Plan update.
The City will submit the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Update to the State and FEMA for approval. Once approved, the plan will be brought before Council for adoption.
PREPARED BY: Lori Elefant, Human Resources Management Analyst - Annuitant Approved and Forwarded to the
City Council of the City of Emeryville:
Paul Buddenhagen, City Manager
Attachments
Attachment A – City of Emeryville Local Hazard Mitigation Plan 2024 - 2029 Draft Update DRAFT LHMP City Council Study Session
City Council Meeting | September 17, 2024
City of Emeryville
CALIFORNIA
MEMORANDUM