LAKE COUNTY
LCOES starts Hazard mitigation pans, encourages public participation
In coordination with the City of Lakeport and the City of Clearlake, Lake County Office of Emergency Services (OES) has begun the 2024-2025 Lake County Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan project. Lake County OES, the City of Lakeport, and the City of Clearlake have hired The Resiliency Initiative (TRI) consulting firm to support the update process.
About the Plan
Hazard mitigation plans provide community members and officials with information regarding the community’s hazards and outline the long-term strategy to reduce disaster-related losses.
FEMA requires state, local, tribal, and territorial governments to have approved and adopted hazard mitigation plans to be eligible for certain types of non-emergency disaster assistance, including mitigation projects. FEMA must approve these plans every five years to maintain eligibility.
Previously, Lake County, the City of Lakeport, and the City of Clearlake each had their own local hazard mitigation plan (LHMP). The LHMPs for the City of Lakeport and the City of Clearlake were last updated in 2018 and currently require updating. Lake County updated its LHMP in 2023. After thorough discussion, the leadership of these jurisdictions determined it would better serve the community needs to combine the plans into a multi-jurisdictional hazard mitigation plan (MJHMP). This MJHMP would encompass all three jurisdictions and satisfy the updating requirement for the City of Lakeport and the City of Clearlake.
Public Participation Encouraged
Public input is vital to designing an MJHMP that accurately reflects the community’s needs. To begin the update process, Lake County OES, the City of Lakeport, and the City of Clearlake plan to host three public information sessions. These sessions are co-sponsored by the Lake Area Planning Council (Lake APC), which is currently preparing a wildfire evacuation and preparedness plan. The sessions will provide the public with information regarding both projects
and solicit public input.
The dates, times, and locations are:
• Clearlake
Wednesday, October 23, 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Clearlake City Hall
• Lakeport
Thursday, October 24, 5:30 – 7 p.m. Lakeport City Hall
• Virtual – Visit htttps://www.lakesheriff.com/about/oes/hmp for details.
Wednesday, October 30, 12 to 1 p.m.
Resources for additional opportunities for information and feedback:
Follow www.facebook.com/lakecountyOES, https://www.clearlake.ca.us/facebook, and https://www.facebook.com/CityofLakeport/ for ongoing public information and important updates regarding the project.
• Attend in-person meetings. These meetings will be announced on social media and posted to the website.
• Visit htttps://www.lakesheriff.com/about/oes/hmp to learn more about hazard mitigation, the planning process and progress, upcoming events and more.
• Visit any Lake County Library branch to review hard copies of all planning components during the planning process.
Questions about the plan or process can be emailed to lakesheriffoes@lakecountyca.gov.
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LAKEPORT
Business Walk Program launches for 2024
The Business Walk program in Lakeport is designed to familiarize the business community with resources available to them. City staff, members of the Lakeport Economic Development Advisory Committee (LEDAC) and community volunteers gathered this week to form teams that will contact local business owners and managers during October and November.
The program’s purpose is to demonstrate the city’s commitment to supporting businesses while gaining information about challenges and barriers to their success. Findings from the visits will be compiled by LEDAC and presented to the City Council.
The City’s Economic Development Strategic Plan identified annual in-person visits as an important element in the support and retention of existing local businesses. LEDAC is an advocate for a strong and positive business community and serves as a conduit for communicating the goals, activities and progress of Lakeport’s economic and business programs.
The Guide to Doing Business in Lakeport will be distributed during the visits. The publication includes information and contacts for services aimed at assisting new businesses; other materials include details of business loan programs and information from other agencies. The guide is available at City Hall, through the Lake County Chamber of Commerce, and on the City’s website, https://www.cityoflakeport.com/economic_development/doing_business_in_the_city_of_lakeport.php.
The 16 teams are comprised of 10 staff members from the City and Lakeport Police Department, eight members of LEDAC, and seven community volunteers representing the Lake County Economic Development Corporation, Economic Development & Financing Corp., California Employment Development Department, the Clear Lake Environmental Research Center, and Community Development Services.
The Committee meets bi-monthly at City Hall on the second Wednesday, 7:30 to 9 a.m. The next meeting is on November 13; all meetings are open to the public.
Contact City Manager Kevin Ingram for more information, (707) 263-5615, ext. 104.
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