Planning for Resiliency in Billerica
The Town of Billerica, MA was awarded a grant to update their Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Plan and Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP), and the Town selected our firm to provide services in support of this update. This community updated its plan during the COVID-19 pandemic, so the project team modified the public engagement process to a series of virtual workshops following the Nature Conservancy Community Resilience Building guidelines to provide a Town-wide perspective on asset vulnerabilities and strengths and mitigation strategies that addressed current and future needs.
Multi-media tools augmented public outreach, including a dedicated website, pre and post-workshop surveys, and online video. The challenges included adapting the HMP update as a local plan from a previous regional plan and multiple staff changes at the local level.
As part of the planning process, we evaluated a full range of natural hazards for the Northern Middlesex Region and identified how those hazards applied to the Town of Billerica. This supplied the Town with an assessment of the community’s risks of all hazards that have impacted the Town in the past or might impact it in the future.
Additionally, our services included updating the overall summary of the Town’s vulnerability related to flood, fire, geologic, wind, or other hazards, including dam failures and landslides. The vulnerability analysis utilized multiple methodologies, including GIS-based analysis to delineate community assets that are located within mapped hazards. The summary included impact rankings for each community asset and explained the rating system used and the process followed to achieve the ranking.
Once complete, the final reports were submitted to the EEA, approved by FEMA, and adopted by the Town.
Services Snapshot
Tighe & Bond provided master planning services to the Town of Billerica in support of the town’s Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Plan and Hazard Mitigation Plan update. As part of this work, Tighe & Bond provided public outreach and engagement services, including a dedicated website and online video.
