A public hearing was held for the City of Soldotna to adopt the All Hazard Mitigation Plan update. Ordinance 2021-005 states that undertaking hazard mitigation actions before disasters occur reduces the potential for harm to people and property and saves taxpayer dollars. The city cites multiple hazards that could pose threats to people, private property and the city’s investments into infrastructure and property.
In providing the update to the City Council, John Czarnezki, Director of Economic Development and Planning for Soldotna said, “This is something you tend to see every five years as updates are required and they’re required to ensure that we remain eligible for state and federal disaster assistance. As you probably know or have seen in the past, the hazard mitigation plans are pretty cookie cutter. They identify hazards. They identify mitigation strategies and give you an implementation schedule. They’re all pretty standardized and ours is really no different. This plan, if adopted, will become part of the Borough’s multijurisdictional plan. That allows for greater sharing of information, greater consistency between the plans. That is a good thing. It also will put our timelines at the same period. When theirs comes due, ours will come due and we’ll be available to use a lot of the data that’s collected at their level for inclusion in our plan.”
The city last drafted and adopted an All Hazard Mitigation Plan in 2016. The plan update provides a vulnerability analysis for up to 12 possible hazards and focuses on five that are considered the greatest risks to the community, which include floods, wildland fires, earthquakes, volcanoes and weather events.
Upon adoption, the plan will be submitted to the Kenai Peninsula Borough Planning Commission and the KPB Assembly for their consideration and approval. Upon approval, the City will submit the plan to the State of Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and FEMA for final review and approval.