Local Mitigation Strategy Plan (LMS)
PUBLIC NOTICE
The St. Johns County Local Mitigation Strategy Working Group meeting will take place at 9:00 A.M. on Thursday, May 18, 2023 at the Emergency Operations Center. All interested persons are invited to attend. For more information please call 904-824-5550 or email LNelson@sjcfl.us.
In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, persons needing special accommodations to participate in the proceedings should contact St. Johns County Emergency Management at 904-824-5550.
In the spring of 1998, the Florida Department of Community Affairs initiated a program to assist local government in developing plans to reduce or eliminate risks to people and property from natural and man-made hazards known as the Local Mitigation Strategy (LMS).
The primary objective of the Local Mitigation Strategy is to remove, if possible, or otherwise to limit the losses of life and property due to a disaster. In August of 1998 a St. Johns County LMS Taskforce was organized from a broad cross-section of the County including elected officials, County Staff, representatives from the cities of St. Augustine, Hastings, and St. Augustine Beach, Flagler Estates Road and Water District, Florida Department of Health – St. Johns, Florida Forest Service and Flagler Hospital alongside local businesses and residents. The LMS Taskforce, led by the St. Johns County Division of Emergency Management, has been responsible for developing all work products for the Local Mitigation Strategy including the development of a set of guiding principles, identification of potential hazards affecting the community; identification of people and infrastructure which are vulnerable to hazards; identification of critical facilities which are necessary for maintaining health, safety and welfare of residents before, during, and after a catastrophic event; and the development of a prioritized list of pre and post hazard mitigation initiatives (projects) eligible for funding. The Local Mitigation Strategy is intended to provide one unified program for St. Johns County and its incorporated municipalities.
The original Local Mitigation Strategy was presented to the St. Johns County Commission, City of St. Augustine, St. Augustine Beach, and Town of Hastings Councils in 2004 for their approval and adoption. After the LMS was approved at the local level it was forwarded to the State of Florida and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for approval. FEMA requires the Local Mitigation Strategy to be updated and submitted for approval, and then re-adopted, every 5 years. The most current St. Johns County LMS received its five year approval from FEMA in June of 2015.
Since the initial creation of the first St. Johns County Local Mitigation Strategy, the St. Johns County LMS Taskforce has worked continuously to maintain and update the LMS as needed and to add new mitigation initiatives as projects are completed and new projects are initiated. The St. Johns County LMS Taskforce meets quarterly to review the LMS and mitigation projects. These meetings are announced in the St. Augustine Record two weeks prior to the meeting date and all interested individuals are invited to attend.
For any questions or suggestions regarding St. Johns County Local Mitigation Strategy please contact:
Laura Nelson
lnelson@sjcfl.us
(904) 824-5550
Hazard Mitigation Assistance
For more information on Hazard Mitigation Assistance please read the:
Hazard Mitigation Assistance Program Fact Sheet
Plan
The purpose of this document is to provide an annual progress report of activities associated with St. Johns County Local Mitigation Strategy.
St. Johns County Floodplain Management Plan2020/2021 Annual Progress Report
