REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Note and File the 2021 Evaluation Report of the Hazard Mitigation Plan
Report
COUNCIL PILLAR
Deliver and Enhance High Quality Efficient Services and Infrastructure
BACKGROUND
The City of Santa Clara's Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP) was adopted by the City Council on December 19, 2017 as Annex L of the City's Emergency Operations Plan. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) determined Volume 2 of the HMP to also be the City's Floodplain Management Plan during the 2018 audit of the City's National Flood Insurance Program's (NFIP) Community Rating System (CRS). Consequently, an Annual Evaluation of the HMP is required by FEMA as part of their annual audit of the City's CRS.
The CRS is a voluntary incentive program that recognizes and encourages floodplain management activities that exceed the minimum NFIP requirements. Flood insurance premium rates for residents and businesses are discounted to reflect the reduced flood risk. The City is currently designated as CRS Class 7, which means the City's residents and businesses in a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) are eligible for a 15% insurance premium discount, and others in the City not in a SFHA are eligible for a 5% insurance premium discount.
DISCUSSION
The Evaluation Report of the HMP documents the City's progress on hazard mitigation objectives that were determined in 2017. The report was prepared by the City's Office of Emergency Services with input from the Hazard Mitigation Review Committee comprised of City Department leaders and private sector partners who met on January 25, April 26, and June 28, 2021. Although quarterly meetings had been in recess during 2020, they resumed in 2021 once Emergency Operations Center activities decreased in response to the current COVID-19 pandemic.
Flood preparedness will continue to increase as the newer objectives reach completion. These involve restoring the original storm water storage capacity of the Eastside Retention Basin, ...
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