Emily Huber, director of the Lincoln County Emergency Management Agency, and Emily Rabbe, executive director of the Lincoln County Regional Planning Commision, present the updated hazard mitigation plan to the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday, Jan. 6. From left: Emily Huber, Emily Rabbe, and Lincoln County Commissioners David Levesque, William Blodgett, and Evan Goodkowsky. (Claire Taylor photo)
The Lincoln County Board of Commissioners adopted an updated hazard mitigation plan at their meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 6.
The plan was presented to the board by Emily Huber, director of the Lincoln County Emergency Management Agency, and Emily Rabbe, executive director of the Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission.
The hazard mitigation plan is a way for municipalities and the county to work together to identify infrastructure, engineering, and education projects that will mitigate against natural disasters.
The plan is updated every five years. The previous iteration was approved in 2021.
The updated version of the plan, which the board approved unanimously, had added focuses on flooding, severe storms, drought, and wildfire, due to recent needs.
Prior to the Jan. 6 meeting, the 2026 plan received approval from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, pending adoption by the county, municipalities, and special districts.
Now that the plan has been adopted on the county level, it can be adopted by the select boards of each of the 18 towns and one plantation within the county.
Board Chair David Levesque asked if Huber anticipated any difficulty getting towns to adopt the plan.
Huber was confident the plan will receive approval from municipalities.
“I don’t believe that there’ll be any issues with them signing on,” she said. “Signing on to our hazard mitigation plan gives coverage to every single town in Lincoln County, if they were to adopt the plan, but it also gives them an opportunity for federal grant monies to help with building mitigation projects and working towards mitigation projects in their own towns.”
She explained that the plan was made in collaboration with towns throughout the county through meetings with the municipal emergency management directors and workshops in which the directors and interested members of the municipalities brainstormed together.
“Every town had some part in the plan,” Huber said.
Huber praised the hard work and team effort which resulted in the plan’s completion.
“We want to recognize everyone who played a role in the plan … Everyone played a huge role in just, getting the work done.” Huber said.
She emphasized how grateful she was for the “robust” participation from the local municipalities in formulating the plan.
“Thank you for putting all that time into doing it,” Levesque said.
The Lincoln County Board of Commissioners will next meet on Tuesday, Jan. 20, at 9 a.m. in the Lincoln County Courthouse. For more information, go to lincolncountymaine.me or call 882-6311.
