County eyes hazard squad

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McHenry County, like all county and municipal governments, has a plan for how to react to natural disasters.

Thanks to a federal grant, it will develop a countywide plan on how to lessen their effects.

The county Emergency Management Agency is convening a team made up of county and municipal authorities to draft a natural hazard mitigation plan. The plan, if successful, will identify projects and practices that could help limit the damage wrought by natural disasters.

Agency Director Barry Valentine said flooding and heavy snowfall – two disasters that have afflicted the county in recent years – would get significant focus. Governments that have a mitigation plan, he said, could qualify for federal grants to help pay for projects that might lessen damage, such as adding drainage to flood-prone areas.

“We’re making this open to all the government entities in McHenry County so they can be a part of this,” Valentine said.

“The broader the area, the more chance we get to get the grant money to do these projects, Valentine said.”

Development of the plan will be funded by a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The team’s first meeting will be at 10:30 a.m. Nov. 16 at the county Administration Building, 667 Ware Road, Woodstock. Meetings are open to the public under the Illinois Open Meetings Act. Valentine said that the plan could take several months to a year to develop, depending on the level of participation.

County Board Chairman Ken Koehler, R-Crystal Lake, said that other stakeholders could include agriculture, education, business, heath and utility interests.

“We may come up with ideas that nobody ever thought of,” Koehler said.

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