- Communicate with your SHMO early and often. Discuss with your SHMO whether it would be appropriate to share drafts of the plan or portions of the plan prior to a formal review to ensure that the plan is complete. Also, you will want to ensure your plan meets any additional state requirements, which are noted in Element F of the Local Mitigation Plan Review Tool.
- Keep stakeholders informed. The relationships you have already established with stakeholders, elected officials, and government agencies will be important assets during the adoption process. To facilitate adoption of the plan, periodically brief community decision makers throughout the planning process on the progress of the planning team’s efforts. When presenting the final draft for adoption, invite the planning team to the meeting and ask supporting agencies to provide testimony regarding their support of the plan.
- Allow for sufficient time. Build time into your planning process to meet state and FEMA procedures for review. Task 2 describes the development of a scope and schedule for the planning process, which may involve a lengthy timeframe for review, approval, and adoption. Your local governing body may meet only once a month and may require agenda items to be submitted well ahead of time.