In an effort to renew hazard mitigation plans for six area counties, including Stoddard, Bootheel Regional Planning Executive Director Hannah Barnett met with several school superintendents during Tuesday's commission meeting.
Currently, hazard mitigation plans are out of date within the county and Bootheel Regional Planning is in charge of updating those plans.
The 2012 hazard mitigation plans expired in 2017, when Barnett was not director of Bootheel Regional Planning.
"We have made significant improvement for all our counties," she said.
Hazard mitigation planning is the process used by state, local and tribal leaders to understand risks from natural hazards and develop long-term strategies to reduce the impacts of disasters on people, property and the environment.
Without a hazard mitigation plan in place, Barnett told superintendents from Bloomfield, Puxico, Richland and Dexter they would not be awarded Federal Emergency Management Agency or State Emergency Management Agency grant money in the event of a natural disaster.
To update the plans, Barnett needs participation from representatives of the counties, townships, cities and schools by attending meetings and filling out online paperwork.
Representatives must attend two of the three planned meetings hosted by Bootheel Regional Planning and fill out an online survey and PDF document. These documents can be found on Bootheel Regional Planning's webpage or from Barnett.
The first meeting, which was held in August, had three representatives from the city of Dexter, two from Stoddard County and one from the city of Puxico in attendance, according to Barnett. The second and third meetings have not been scheduled as of yet.
Once the next two meeting dates are set, Barnett will contact attendees.
Bloomfield Superintendent Toni Hill said her school has been without a plan for a year and that is "very concerning" for her, having been in a school district that experienced damage from an ice storm several years ago.
According to Hill, the school district received about $15,000 from FEMA after the ice storm.
"That's concerning for us, we are hanging out here and reliable for that money because we don't have a plan in place," she said if another weather event were to happen.
Barnett added she understood the concern and asked for the participation to help Bootheel Regional Planning get the plans done by completing the surveys and attending the meetings.
In 2012, the Dexter School District opted out of hazard mitigation planning, which also requires a letter be sent to Bootheel Regional Planning for submission.
Superintendent C.A. Counts, who took his position in 2017, said he planned on completing the steps for the district to be included.
"I hope you wouldn't opt out because that eliminates you from funding for five years," Barnett said.
Once the surveys are completed by each entity, Barnett said data would then be collected from the forms and sent to SEMA. Once they approve the information, it is then sent to FEMA for approval.
Barnett added she was not given a time estimate from SEMA on how long it would take for their office to forward the documents to FEMA.
"We hope to have all the counties done by December," she said.
Vehicle Bids Awarded
The Stoddard County Development Corporation approved bids opened last week for a vehicle for the assessor office and juvenile office.
After bids were read aloud last week, it was later found Autry Morlan Chevrolet Cadillac actually submitted the lowest bid of $32,524 for a 2018 Chevrolet 1500 Silverado, which was accepted for the assessor's office.
A bid of $30,959 for a 2019 Ford Explorer Police Interceptor from Harry Blackwell Ford was accepted for the juvenile office.
Arrangements will be made to have the vehicles ordered and are predicted to be received in seven to 10 days.
The vehicles are being secured by a grant and loan through the USDA Rural Development.