By JEFF EPSTEIN
[email protected]
LUDLOW, Vt. — The town and village of Ludlow, together with the Southern Windsor County Regional Planning Commission, have released a draft of a new hazard mitigation plan for public comment. Comments are due by Oct. 8, but the plan is also expected to be addressed by the town select board at its meeting Oct. 1. Ludlow has a link to the draft plan on the town website (although it was not available at press time).
The plan is intended for review by Vermont Emergency Management and Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The goal of hazard mitigation planning is to make sure a jurisdiction understands its vulnerabilities and can deal with them in an emergency. The introduction to the report notes: “It is less expensive to prevent disasters than to repeatedly repair damage after a disaster has struck.”
The regional planning commission also has a multi-jurisdictional hazard mitigation plan that Ludlow has been a part of up until now. The new plan is a stand-alone plan designed specifically for Ludow.
One thing that affects disaster planning is population. Ludlow’s regular residential population has been declining for years, the report notes. On the other hand, Ludlow is home to the popular Okemo Mountain Resort, which brings in more than 600,000 visitors over the winter season. Accordingly, much of the local economy is based in service work based on this tourism.
One thing that Ludlow would like to do is have a backup power supply at the Ludlow Community Center, which also serves as a Red Cross shelter in an emergency. The town has been looking for a grant to do this for some time under the existing plan, and this item is carried over to the new draft.
Flooding is a concern, and Ludlow has applied for grant money to retrofit the existing drainage system at the “Commonwealth Intersection” to allow for greater water passage. Ludlow also is trying to buy up properties along Route 103 that have flooded in the past. The town has acquired some of these properties and wants to continue as they become available.
For the seasonal and tourist population, Ludlow provides fire safety information under the program “Be Firewise Around Your Home.” These brochures have been distributed to condominium and seasonal renter associations, and the new plan would expand the program.
The plan also included other information goals that have not been completed, such as developing winter weather travel preparedness information and creating a contact database of vulnerable persons who may need special attention in an emergency.
The risk of an earthquake exists, but it is a low-priority hazards and most mitigation efforts are dropped in the new plan.
Finally, Ludlow realizes that dealing with hazards at the Okemo Mountain Resort itself requires working together with it. The town has encouraged the creation of setbacks to the forest canopy to help slow the spread of a major fire on the mountain. Some of that work has reportedly been done, but “the south face may still be an issue,” the plan states.
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