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(March. 13, 2023) The San Luis Valley Region and its six participating counties (Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Mineral, Rio Grande, and Saguache) are in the final stages of updating their Hazard Mitigation Plans. A Hazard Mitigation Plan analyzes vulnerabilities to natural hazards and identifies mitigation actions that can be taken to minimize property damage and public safety risks. An up-to-date Hazard Mitigation Plan is required under the Federal Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 to be eligible to receive certain federal disaster assistance and grants for hazard mitigation projects. These plans must be updated every 5 years. The updated plan sets priorities for mitigation projects in the San Luis Valley region for the time period of 2023-2028.

The planning process began in February 2022. It has resulted in an update to each county’s existing Hazard Mitigation Plan into one cohesive, regional plan. This update combines the six county Hazard Mitigation Plans drafted independently in 2017 & 2018 into one unified region-wide plan. The process followed a methodology that adheres to federal guidance. It consisted of two levels of planning teams; a coordinating Planning Team made up of the County Emergency Manager Coordinators, and six County Planning Teams consisting of local government representatives – one for each county. Every municipality within each county was invited to participate.

A virtual public workshop was held on January 4th, 2023, to introduce the updated plan and mitigation strategies. Following the workshop and public comment period, the plan was then submitted to both the State of Colorado and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for their review and approval.

The Saguache Board of County Commissioners will adopt the updated Hazard Mitigation Plan on March 21, 2023.

Read the updated Hazard Mitigation Plan

(Feb. 21, 2023) The Saguache County Board of Commissioners, on behalf of the Colorado Emergency Management Association (CEMA), presented David Frees the 2022 “Emergency Manager of the Year Award” for the San Luis Valley region. David Frees has served as the Saguache County Office of Emergency Management’s Deputy Director since 2020. In that time, Mr. Frees drastically improved the emergency management program for Saguache County and helped coordinate one of the most robust emergency management programs in the region.

The Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management’s Field Manager, David Osborn, commented; “Mr. Frees is a team player and robust community advocate. Saguache County was the new host for the Live Nation Multi-day Music Festival which included Headline Music Performers. This event was the single largest pre-planned incident ever experienced within the six-county San Luis Valley Region. Because of Mr. Frees’ intimate involvement in the planning and operational response to this event, we enjoyed excellent situational awareness that contributed significantly to the lessons learned and accomplishments. We would like to thank Mr. Frees for his professionalism, leadership, and strong emergency management support.”

Last year, David was also awarded the Colorado state-wide “Mike Gelski Award for Outstanding Volunteer Achievement” by CEMA.

More about Dpty. Dir. Frees