McHenry Times

McHenry County Hazard Mitigation Committee met November 29. 

Here is the minutes as provided by the committee:

Introductions: David Christensen/Director McHenry County EMA welcomed everyone.

-This is the first annual review of this plan.

-The Village of Lakewood would like to join the plan; the state gave OK to amend the plan.

-Our original Hazard Mitigation National Coordinator/Molly O’Toole wished us well in this update process; stating McHenry County is head and shoulders above much of the rest of the country; good work everyone.

Review Process: The Natural Hazard Mitigation Committee formed in 2008, the plan was adopted by resolution in 2010, updated from 2015-2017 and adopted by resolution again in 2017. The approved plan is to be reviewed every year for changes and updates to the action items, with a full plan update every 5 years.

County Actions

Project Updates

       Action Item 5 Expand Stream Gaging Network/Dave Christensen: Received notification of gage shut downs in the county; we raised red flag of the dire consequences of this action with the Army Corps, IDNR, USGS; funding had been pulled; after debate, investigation, and persistence the result: funded for another year; trying to expand network.

       Action Item 14 Mitigation of Floodplain Properties/Joanna Colletti (P&D): Received 1.2 million in funding for 12 properties to begin the purchase process; voluntary property owner participation; McHenry Township/Nippersink Creek and Route 12 parcels-looking for property owner interest; Nunda Township is also looking into this.

       Action Item 16 Community Rating System Participation/Joanna Colletti (P&D): McHenry County is now a CRS Class 7; residents (unincorporated areas) are able to receive a 15% discount on their flood insurance because of this new rating.

       Action Item 19 Strengthen Building Codes and Code Enforcement Training, UDO/Dennis Sandquist (P&D): Adopted updated Building Code requirements, which assisted in increasing CRS rating; P&D personnel have been trained on these new requirements; P&D has a certified Flood Plain Manager.

Future Projects

       None

Jurisdictional Actions

Project Updates

       Action Item 17 Participation in Tree City USA/Dave Christensen: All existing cities are in the fray.

       Action Item 18 Participation in StormReady/D/C Boulden: Lake in the Hills became StormReady in 2018; NWS made the process easy.

       Action Item 25 Power Outages for the Community of Algonquin/Vince Kilcullen: No report.

       Action Item 30 Develop a Reliable Means for Citizens in Crystal Lake to receive official information from the city/Chief DeRaedt: Reverse 911 Notification System is no longer funded by ETSB; city looked for simple system-mobile AM radio possibly-to provide emergency information to residents that would cover Crystal Lake, Lakewood and rural areas; funding has a way to go. May be a way to get Hazard Mitigation Grant dollars to assist.

Future Projects

       Dave Brandt/McHenry County Conservation District: Discussed flooding problem in SW corner of Seneca Township; met with Marengo and Kishwaukee Community Group; said would be a great project; asked how this can get into the county plan; Director Christensen said we would need to amend the plan to add this annex; steps are being forwarded to us by the state; will pass along.

State of Illinois Updates

       None

       State Contacts:

            o Sam Al-Basha sam.m.al-basha@illinois.gov

            o Vera Small vera.small@illinois.gov

Public Comments

       Mary McCann/County Board: Suggested idea of having two flood watchers for each township in the repetitive flooding areas.

       State Funding: Government affairs may be requested to petition the state to allow federal passthrough dollars to flow, even if the state has no budget. For many years, these funds have been held up due to state funding / appropriations issues.

       Joanne Colletti/P&D: Lake and Kane County’s collaboration with GIS for LIDAR mapping which will enhance our flood mitigation, response and recovery.

       2019 NWS Training: March 5th, 2019 the National Weather Service will conduct its Outdoor Event Exercise and Severe Weather Spotter Training for McHenry County; sign up on EMA website after 1/1/19 (mchenrycountyil.gov).

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