The East Central Iowa Council of Governments will hold a meeting on the University of Iowa campus Thursday, Oct. 31, to gather information as part of an effort to develop a comprehensive, multi-jurisdictional hazard mitigation plan for Johnson County.

The meeting will be held from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in University Capitol Center Room 880 (the UI Department of Public Safety training room). The public is invited to attend.

A second meeting will be held from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 5, at the same location, and is also open to the public.

Alicia Presto, a planner with the East Central Iowa Council of Governments, will guide the discussions. She said the initiative, funded through a grant program from the Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Division, seeks to create a unified hazard mitigation plan for the UI, and all schools, municipalities and unincorporated areas of Johnson County.

Currently, the university and municipalities have their own mitigation plans (the UI’s more recent plan is available here). Presto says that by updating and unifying their plans, organizations in the county will continue to be eligible to apply for funding through Homeland Security’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program.

Presto says a draft of the county plan should be ready in early December and will be made available for public comment.

For more information, contact Presto at alicia.presto@ecicog.org.