Regional planner outlines 10 new recommendations for Adams County hazard mitigation plan

Daryl, representing the North Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, presented the final recommendations section of Adams County's all-hazard mitigation plan and highlighted 10 new proposals for the county and its municipalities to consider. He said the plan is multi-jurisdictional and that recommendations are discretionary for the individual towns, villages and cities that participated.

The most immediate proposals include brush clearing along road rights-of-way to reduce wildfire fuels and blocked roads, a detection system at a problematic rail crossing to alert dispatch when crossings are blocked, and creating brush drop-off sites to reduce wildfire fuel loads. Daryl also described options to identify power lines that could be buried, a functional needs registry to help emergency planners identify residents with access and functional needs, and embankment stabilization projects to reduce road and bridge washouts.

"There are about 40 recommendations," Daryl said, "and many of them are carried over from the last plan. I'm going to highlight the 10 new recommendations that have been added." He told the committee the new items grew from town surveys, agency meetings and regional outreach.

Daryl also said pandemic-related planning is now included in the countywide mitigation plans. "Epidemic or pandemic is new to the plan," he said, noting prior regional COVID-19 assessments and a recovery plan that could inform local work on pandemic preparedness.

The policy committee was asked to rank the recommendations so the planning commission can average the results and assign priorities. Daryl asked members to return completed rankings to Jane, county staff, and said he expects to present the full report with averaged rankings at a future meeting in April or May.

Committee members asked procedural questions about the ranking handouts and timing. Daryl clarified that a slide shown during the presentation represented a single person's submission, not the committee average, and promised the averaged priorities would be included in the final report.

Next steps: committee members should submit priority rankings to Jane by the date requested by staff to allow incorporation into the final plan; Daryl will bring the completed plan back to the committee for review and approval.