TUNBRIDGE HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN Adopted by Selectboard: February 19, 2015 Formally Approved by FEMA: __________________ TUNBRIDGE, VERMONT 2014-19 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Tunbridge Planning Commission Tunbridge Selectboard Dan Ruddell Nancy Chapman Ingrid Van Steamburg Sue Clark Sarah Ballou Gary Mullen Gary Mullen Ingrid Van Steamburg Bob Dunkle Liz York Ben Wolfe Erin Gooch Ted Hoyt Brenda Field Planning Consultants Peg Elmer, AICP Community-Resilience.org Sharon Murray, AICP Front Porch Community Planning & Design Technical Support Euclid Farnham TunbridgeTown Moderator, Historian Daniel Ruddell Red Start Consulting, Tunbridge Lister John Durkee, Chief Tunbridge Volunteer Fire Department Ben Wolfe Tunbridge Lister Helen O’Donnell Tunbridge Lister Adam Smith Tunbridge Lister Rodney Hoyt Tunbridge Road Foreman Brian Hamlin Two-Rivers Ottauquechee Regional Commission Peter Fellows CFM Two-Rivers Ottauquechee Regional Commission Kevin Geiger AICP, CFM Two-Rivers Ottauquechee Regional Commission Ned Swanberg CFM Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, Floodplain Management Funding Support This plan and its development was funded by a Federal Emergency Management Agency Hazard Mitigation Planning Grant administered by Vermont Emergency Management Cover Art ii | Page TUNBRIDGE HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN "Tunbridge, VT 1941" by David Wright http://www.nostalgia-usa.com/ Used with permission of the artist. TUNBRIDGE HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN Page | iii TUNBRIDGE HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN 2014 -19 TABLE OF CONTENTS IMPACT AND EXTENT OF LIKELY HAZARDS 1. INTRODUCTION 1 COMMUNITY ASSETS AND VULNERABILITIES FLOOD RISK ASSESSMENT 2. COMMUNITY PROFILE 4 6. MITIGATION STRATEGIES 31 3. PLANNING PROCESS 12 GOALS AND POLICIES PUBLIC PROCESS EXISTING PROGRAMS DATA AND INFORMATION RECOMMENDED STRATEGIES INTEGRATION INTO TOWN DECISION-MAKING 7. MITIGATION PROGRAM: THE PLAN FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS!N 36 4. HAZARDS IDENTIFICATION 15 COUNTY DATA IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE LOCAL INFORMATION 5. VULNERABILITY & RISK ASSESSMENT 25 MAPS 40 APPENDICES 42 TUNBRIDGE HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN Page | v 1. INTRODUCTION increased community and voter support for specific Hazard mitigation planning identifies actions that a actions the town may take to reduce future losses, community can take to reduce or eliminate long term strengthened partnerships and lines of communica- risk to people and property from natural and tion among diverse interests, including opportunities manmade hazards. The Federal Emergency Manage- to leverage and share resources, and ment Agency (FEMA) further describes it as a process community eligibility for federal hazard mitigation state and local governments can use to identify risks grants and aid prior to and following federally- and vulnerabilities associated with natural disasters, in declared disasters. order to develop long-term strategies to protect Process. The previous Tunbridge Hazard Mitigation Plan people and property from future hazard events was adopted on June 23, 2011 as a six-page “annex” (www.fema.gov/plan/mitplanning). to the multi-jurisdictional All-Hazard Pre-Disaster Purpose. The purpose of this hazard mitigation plan is Mitigation (PDM) Plan adopted by the Two Rivers- to identify and plan for hazards facing the town, Ottauquechee Regional Commission (TRORC) in 2008. including the development of strategies intended to The regional plan and Tunbridge annex both expired reduce long-term risks from known hazards. Hazards on September 30, 2013. cannot be eliminated, but it is possible through Since the last plan was adopted and approved by the planning to determine what hazards are most frequent, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), where they may be most severe, and what actions can Vermont was hit hard by two major floods, including be taken to reduce their impact on the community. Tropical Storm Irene in August 2011. During the Benefits of hazard mitigation planning include: intervening period FEMA also adopted a new “National increased public awareness and understanding of Mitigation Framework” and, in 2013, updated guidance natural and manmade hazards, associated risks for local hazard mitigation planning. Vermont’s and community vulnerabilities, ongoing recovery efforts and FEMA’s new mitigation reduced physical, financial and emotional losses framework both focus on strengthening community caused by disasters, “resilience” – to not only understand and reduce risks of improved understanding of potential risks and future events, but to also empower communities to possible risk reduction measures associated with recover quickly and effectively when disasters occur. future development, TUNBRIDGE HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN Page | 1 Of particular note – the state recently adopted new Tunbridge agreed to participate under the FEMA grant, Emergency Relief and Assistance Fund (ERAF) rules, as an example of a small, rural community with strong effective October 2014, that provide additional social ties and limited staff and technical resources, to matching funds for federal disaster relief under FEMA’s help test and hone public outreach tools, and to help Public Assistance Program for municipalities that have develop mitigation strategies appropriate in com- adopted updated bridge and culvert standards, flood munities that have not adopted traditional zoning and and fluvial erosion hazard area regulations, local subdivision regulations. emergency operation plans, and a local hazard The process of developing the plan has been as mitigation plan approved by FEMA. Under changes to important as the plan itself, by drawing the community state planning law (24 V.S.A. Chapter 117), as of July 2014, all comprehensive plans must include a “flood together to identify and agree on actions to be taken to reduce and mitigate hazards. The four parts of the resilience” element that may reference a locally planning process included: adopted and FEMA-approved hazard mitigation plan. Public Involvement – to receive and consider This plan represents a complete rewrite of the previous community-wide input from diverse stakeholders. Tunbridge Annex, as a standalone, single jurisdiction Risk Assessment – to identify and plan for the most hazard mitigation plan that updates and builds upon probable hazards, estimate the potential frequency previous mitigation plans, and augments the recently and magnitude of hazard events, and their readopted 2013 Tunbridge Town Plan. The planning potential impacts on both the built environment process resulting in this update was part of a FEMA- and the local community. funded Hazard Mitigation Planning Grant awarded Mitigation Strategies – to develop goals, objectives post-Irene to: and strategies aimed at mitigating future disaster strengthen community involvement in hazard losses that are cost-effective, technically feasible, mitigation planning, and environmentally sound – and timed to allow for better incorporate social and economic strategic investment of scarce resources. considerations, Implementation and Monitoring – to identify which identify and address manmade as well as natural actions will be taken by whom and by when. hazards, and to better integrate local comprehensive and hazard mitigation planning. 2 | Page TUNBRIDGE HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN This plan reflects local priorities for hazard mitigation, as Action items are included to monitor the success or determined from the community planning process, and effectiveness of implementation and results, to inform currently available federal, state and local information. the next update of the plan. TUNBRIDGE HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN Page | 3 2. COMMUNITY PROFILE Topography and Drainage. The Town of Tunbridge, consisting of approximately 45 square miles or 28,665 acres, is situated on the First Branch of the White River in Orange County, Vermont. Neighboring towns include Randolph, Chelsea, Strafford, Royalton, and Bethel. The town’s highest peak, at 2,120 feet, is Brocklebank Hill near Chelsea. Other high points include Old Hurricane Hill (1,920 feet) at the northern end of the ridge running along the town’s western border, and East Hill (1,544 feet) just east of Tunbridge Village. The First Branch drops 200 feet as it flows south through town, from an elevation of 700 feet at the northern border, to a low of 500 feet where it crosses the southern town line. Vermont Route 110 (VT 110) following the river is the main route in and out of town. Strafford Road, running over the eastern ridge, is the other major road in town. Local roads generally follow tributaries of the First Branch into the surrounding hills. Much of the terrain outside of the river floodplain is hilly Tunbridge is a quiet Vermont town, surrounded by a and fairly steep. mixture of large open fields and tracts of woodlands. Development within Tunbridge Village and North Development Pattern. Tunbridge is a rural community Tunbridge Village is typical of small New England villages. with three distinct centers located along VT 110 Buildings are built close together, with minimal setbacks including the small hamlet of South Tunbridge and from the road. In areas outside Tunbridge’s villages, larger villages of Tunbridge and North Tunbridge. South development is much more diffuse, and has taken place along Tunbridge’s dirt roads, leaving much of the land Tunbridge includes a few homes and a church. The open. –- 2013 Tunbridge Town Plan. centrally-located village of Tunbridge sits on a bluff 4 | Page TUNBRIDGE HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN overlooking the Tunbridge Fairgrounds, which are Tunbridge Village,