CURRENT Project STATUS

JUN 08, 2023 - After collating and publishing all municipalities adoption resolutions into the plan, BOLDplanning transmitted a final version of the Berrien County Hazard Mitigation Plan.  A link to the Final Plan is provided above this webpage section.  Some edits were made to the version used for adoption.  These edits were not substantive in nature.  They were related to spelling, adding proper titles to designate "Chartered" Townships that adopted Charters while the plan was being written, and correct a few copy/paste errors in agency assignments within the project table.

DEC 07, 2022 - After a technical review conducted by FEMA R5 staff, minor edits are being made to meet required elements.  A new draft is expected to be produced by DEC 23 to clarify content to better meet the planning requirements.

OCT 19, 2022 - After an additional technical review of the Michigan State Hazard Mitigation Officer, additional edits were made to the plan and it was resubmitted.  The Final Draft is published above the Meeting Schedule table above.

OCT 14, 2022 - After technical review of the Michigan State Hazard Michigan Officer, minor edits to the plan draft were made.  The draft after this state review is available at this link:  (SEP 28 Draft).  Anyone who would like to comment on this draft may do so by emailing [email protected].  

AUG 15, 2022 - The draft plan was released JUL 06 for public comment and was closed AUG 04.  A little over 4,000 people participated in the public review process.  The results and comments will be detailed in the draft submitted to the State of Michigan and FEMA.  The plan was submitted to the Michigan Emergency Management office for review.

JUL 06, 2022 -  The draft plan is now being offered to the public and our stakeholders for comment.  The comment period will end on AUG 08 at 12PM Eastern time.  Check back to this page for more instructions on how to leave a comment.  In the meantime, a copy of this draft plan is downloaded by clicking this link.  After reviewing the draft, comments will be gathered on this form.

MAY 30, 2022 - Several additional contacts with local units of government have occurred to complete the STAPLE+E analysis.  Some municipalities have adjusted their project descriptions and they will be submitted in the draft plan.  The draft is being reviewed for errors and continuity.  It is being readied to release to the public to facilitate the whole community's involvement.  As part of this, a survey and webpage are being built to collect these comments.

FEB 28, 2022 - Several one-on one meetings with local units of government have been conducted.  Many local municipalities have submitted project descriptions to potentially solve impacts associated with known and persistent hazards in their areas.  The project descriptions will be reviewed for detail and an analysis, called a STAPLE+E analysis, will be completed.  The STAPLEE evaluation method uses seven criteria for evaluating a mitigation action: Social, Technical, Administrative, Political, Legal, Economic, and Environmental. factors.

NOV 30, 2021 - Berrien County and Bold Planning have been leading one-on-one meetings with each local municipality to get their point of view on developing a strategy for mitigation.  Also included in that collaborative effort, was the solicitation of specific projects that should be included in the plan for the next five year term.  Materials that supported that effort were customized to discuss specific hazards and projects for each jurisdiction.  Those were sent to the liaisons for each municipality.  For those who may want or need to see generic versions of these materials may access the below files to get caught up on this phase of the project.

• Generic Video Narration of Meeting without participants (can be used for education).
• Instructions on how to fill out the project workbook
• Blank Project Workbook
• Berrien County Example Projects
• FEMA BRIC Mitigation Action Profiles Guide
• FEMA Hazard Mitigation Project Ideas Guide

SEP 11, 2021 - Berrien County and Bold Planning hosted a strategic planning session over a virtual meeting on SEP 10, 2021.  There were about 50 participants on the meeting from various community groups and local municipalities.  A project review was facilitated by BOLDplanning.  The next phase of the project was described and resources to help stakeholders prepare for providing input toward development of a strategy was included.  The following meeting materials are being provided for convenience:

• Slide Deck

JUL 07, 2021 - The Berrien County Hazard Mitigation Plan Survey officially closed on July 1, 2021, with 263 participants providing input for the project.  Since the June status update, BOLDplanning has started drafting the "Community Profile and Assess Risk" section of the plan draft for the project. BOLD created a Needs/Information document, and Berrien County has been working to collect that data and information for the plan draft.  Finally, BOLD will be providing Berrien County the base reference maps and map of essential facilities for the project to the County for our feedback and review.  A draft report of data from this survey is linked here.

JUN 03, 2021 - BOLDplanning worked with Berrien County to facilitate the HMP kick-off meeting on May 11, 2021. Berrien County advertised the meeting utilizing the meeting flyer (with virtual meeting registration link) to county stakeholders and through various mediums (print media, radio, and social media) for public involvement. Sixty-seven (67) people registered to attend the kick-off meeting, with 58 of the 67 participating in the session on May 11, 2021.

On JUN 03, the Hazard Mitigation Survey had been open to receiving feedback from plan stakeholders and the public for almost one (1) month. The  stats for the survey as of JUN 03 were as follows: 632 views, 230 participants, 5,277 responses, 519 comments, and 61 subscribers.  BOLDplanning will begin drafting the "Community Profile and Assess Risk" section of the plan draft over the next month.

MAY 11, 2021 - The project kick-off meeting was held on May 11 with 55 participants.  Materials from the meeting, including a recording are listed below.  The key action item resulting from this meeting is the request for any community members and leaders to submit a survey to provide information that will inform our hazard analysis and crowd source mitigation project ideas.  For those who are on the planning team, a new website was also launched to facilitate access to the program used to edit the plan.  That website is called BerrienPREPARED.com

• Video Recording
• Slide Deck
• Survey Link

MAR 17, 2021 - A kick off meeting to describe this planning project, goals, data collection methodology, and outcomes has been set for May 11, 2021 to be held virtually via Zoom.  The link to register for this meeting is in the above meeting schedule table.  The general public is invited and encouraged to attend.  Municipal leaders and community planners will also be in attendance to learn more about the project and what data is needed to be supplied by each planning partner to make this a successful plan.  

JAN 28, 2021 - BOLDplanning Inc, Franklin, TN, was selected by the Board of Commission on JAN 28 as a professional contractor to facilitate the planning process.  We thank all contractors who provided proposals and participated in this highly competitive process.  BOLDplanning provided the following information about their company:  

"BOLDplanning Inc. is the leading developer of online software for Emergency Operations Planning (EOP), Continuity of Operations Planning (COOP), Business Continuity Planning (BCP) and Hazard Mitigation. Our comprehensive online system walks planners through each step of the continuity and emergency planning process, becoming the central resource for an organization’s plan development, training and on-going maintenance. Its support team is unrivaled in its knowledge, experience and planning certifications.  The BOLDplanning approach provides an unparalleled platform for both the public and private sector, making the critical process of contingency planning easy and efficient. Currently, BOLDplanning is the solution of choice for more than 10,000 organizational plans."

JAN 27, 2021 - A committee was assembled to make a recommendation to the Board of Commissioners.  Their recommendation to select a contractor has been placed on the Administration Committee's Agenda for JAN 27, 2021.  With their concurrence, the Administration Committee's recommendation will be placed on the full Board of Commission meeting agenda for JAN 28, 2021 to make a decision to select a contractor.

DEC 23, 2020 - 5 Bids were transmitted to the Finance Committee and opened.  They were submitted to the Sheriff's Office, Emergency Management Division for review.  The Emergency Management Office has scheduled a workgroup meeting to review the extensive bids on JAN 8 and JAN 19.  It is expected that a recommendation will be made to the Board of Commission on JAN 21 or if the Board's agenda is full JAN 28.

DEC 22, 2020 - Proposal submissions were due and closed yesterday (12/21).  The Finance Committee was able to add opening of the bids to their next meeting agenda.  They will be opened on DEC 23, 2020 at 0900hrs.  The meeting is being held virtually due to COVID19.  The meeting details are posted on the Finance Committee's Calendar.

NOV 25, 2020 - The Financial Services Department posted the bid opening notice on their webpage.  The offering number is 2020-074.  Bids will be accepted until 12/21/2020.  The bid specifications are included in the bid offering details.

OCT 28, 2020 - A contractor of professional services to develop a new plan will be sought by January 2021.  Bid specifications are being developed and will be posted on this page for convenience.  Official requests for proposals will be posted in accordance with the Financial Services Department policy.

BID QUESTIONS

NOV 30, 2020 - A potential bidder found the web posting on the bid offering page to have an inconsistent closing date of 12/2/2020.  

ANSWER:  The posting was made using 12/2 in error.  The due date is 12/21/2020 as indicated in the bid specifications.

DEC 11, 2020 - A potential bidder found the web posting on the bid offering page to have an inconsistent closing time of 4 PM.

ANSWER:  The posting was made in error using 4PM.  The due date is 12/21/2020 and the time is 1PM as indicated in the bid specifications.  

DEC 11, 2020 - A potential bidder asked if paper submission is required due to COVID19 or if total electronic submission is allowable.

ANSWER:  The County of Berrien has adopted safety protocols for COVID19 to limit the spread of SARS-CoV-2 to staff and the public.   Paper copies are required as specified and staff will handle proposals with due care.  Mailing is preferred however an appointment may be made with our financial services department to hand deliver if necessary.

"OLD VERSION" OF THE PLAN

The version of the plan that is being updated can be reviewed by clicking this link.