BRADD is working through County Steering Committees to update several regional plans and create local-level Strategic Plans. To learn more about these committees, or to join your local steering committee, explore the information below.

Committee Member Toolkit

County Steering Committees FAQ:

What is a County Steering Committee?

As the name suggests, the County Steering Committee is a group of people who steer and guide the process of strategic planning within the county. County Steering Committees are working-groups made up of a variety of stakeholders from private citizens to elected officials, community leaders to students and activists. These volunteers provide advice, support, and guidance regarding hazard mitigation planning, community resiliency planning, and overall strategic planning at the county level.

Working with BRADD staff, this committee examines any existing plans in the county (from city-level comprehensive plans to county emergency management plans) and uses that work to draft a county-specific Strategic Plan. This Strategic Plan takes a holistic look at existing efforts within the county and provides a dedicated Action Plan with SMART Goals and Objectives for Counties to begin to implement their plans and reach their own goals.

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Why is BRADD working through County Steering Committees?

Area Development Districts are tasked with updating two regional plans: the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) and the Regional Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan. Both of these plans have to be rewritten/updated every 5 years and both of these plans are due for their update next year with finalized plans due in 2022. Further, the Economic Development Administration (EDA) has provided some federal funding to KY’s Area Development Districts for resiliency planning. In an effort to best use our resources and be respectful of your time, we have decided to take a holistic approach this year and combine all of these efforts under one planning process. 

To do this, we are asking each of our 10 counties to establish or convene a county-level Steering Committee. In some cases, you may already have a planning committee at the county level in place. If that is the case, we would like to work with this committee. If you do not have such a committee, we want to help you create one. This allows us to build upon planning efforts that have already been completed in each county; as opposed to recreating the wheel and starting the planning process over from scratch.

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What is the role of the County Steering Committee?

Each County’s Steering Committee serves as the primary working group for the creation of a county-level strategic plan. The committee actively provides advice, guidance, and information to BRADD staff as the county plan is written. It is the role of the Steering Committee to identify areas of success and areas of opportunity in each community. Additionally, the Steering Committee will review existing county and city plans pulling in any previous planning efforts and building upon any previous goals/objectives. Finally, the committee will provide key local information to various Regional Plans including the Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan and Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy.

The Steering Committee will also review county assets and needs, discuss how various hazards could impact their communities, and prioritize projects for implementation relating to county goals and objectives.

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Who should serve on the County Steering Committee?

The county-level Steering Committee should be composed of a variety of strategic stakeholders, and in order to fulfill FEMA requirements and get the information we will need to update our regional Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan, the following individuals should have some sort of representation on your county committee:

  • City Council/Board of Commissioners 
  • County Magistrates
  • City Mayors
  • Planning/Community Development Agencies
  • Special Districts (Libraries, Health Departments, School Districts etc.) 
  • Building Code Enforcement 
  • Emergency Management
  • Fire Department/Districts 
  • Extension Office
  • Industrial Development Authority 
  • Chamber of Commerce 
  • Community Action
  • Long Term Care Facilities
  • Public Works 
  • Stormwater Management 
  • Transportation (Roads/Bridges) 
  • Nonprofit organizations such as Red Cross, Historic Preservation, Large Church Organizations, Conservation Organizations, International Center, etc.
  • Lending institutions
  • Small business owners
  • Citizen members
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How are County Steering Committees Meeting and Working amid COVID-19 restrictions?

The County-level Steering Committees will meet monthly for 12 months with BRADD staff (via Zoom until COVID-19 regulations change) in order to gather information to funnel back into the regional plan, review any existing county-level plans, craft county-level strategic plans, and set goals/objectives and working steps for implementation of those plans.

Additionally, each County Steering Committee utalizes a Google Classroom for collaboration outside of set meeting times. To join your county’s Google Classroom, contact Emily Hathcock at emily.hathcock@bradd.org.

Current Committee Members can access their Google Classroom at the links below:

Allen l Barren l Butler l Edmonson l Hart l Logan l Metcalfe l Monroe l Simpson l Warren

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How do I get involved in my local County Steering Committee?

To get connected with your local County Steering Committee, contact your local County Judge/Executive or email planning@bradd.org.

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When is my next steering committee meeting?

Check out the event calendar for information on upcoming Regional and County Steering Committee Meetings.

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