Draft Plan Available for Public Review and Comment

The draft of Southbridge’s Hazard Mitigation Plan is available for public review and comment. This draft is an update of the 2019 version of the Plan, and incorporates public feedback provided during February 2024. After this review, Southbridge will finalize this draft and submit it to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for review and approval.

The Hazard Mitigation Plan update is being completed under a Direct Technical Assistance (DTA) grant that Fire Chief Normandin received from FEMA in 2023. Under this grant, the Town will receive direct assistance from FEMA to apply for hazard mitigation grants.

This Hazard Mitigation Plan update identifies the natural hazards facing the Town, assesses the vulnerabilities of the Town’s critical facilities, infrastructure, residents, and businesses, and presents recommendations on how to mitigate the negative effects of natural hazards.

You can help refine this draft further by providing feedback on:

• How well the Plan captures natural hazard risk and vulnerabilities in Southbridge
• What projects and activities the Plan should prioritize
• Anything else you feel might be missing

You can review the draft plan under “Supporting Documents” here: https://southbridge.civilspace.io/en/projects/update-to-southbridge-s-hazard-mitigation-plan. A survey to collect any feedback you may have is available here: https://southbridge.civilspace.io/en/projects/update-to-southbridge-s-hazard-mitigation-plan/engagements/hmp-public-review-survey. The survey will be open until May 10th, 2024.