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Emergency Management
Paul Dansereau (802) 430-3266 (802) 430-3266
The emergency management director is an essential part of the state's emergency management effort. This individual is responsible for the organization,
administration and operation of the local organization that is formed for emergency management in the town.
The emergency management director is under the direct control of the select board. However, this person also coordinates his or her efforts with the
Vermont Department of Public Safety's Emergency Management Division and the district emergency management coordinators, and will work with local emergency
personnel including police, fire EMT’s and the select board. (20 V.S.A., 5,6)
Hazard Mitigation Planning
Like many towns in Vermont, the Town of Shaftsbury has a formally adopted Hazard Mitigation Plan. The Plan, which is produced in collaboration with the Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the State's Department of Emergency Management (DEM), identifies potential natural hazards that could affect the community,
and the steps the community can take to reduce risks and damage from those natural hazards. The Plan is updated and revised every five years. The Hazard Mitigation
Planning Team began updating the 2015 Plan in the summer of 2020.
The goals of the existing Plan include
- Significantly reducing injury and loss of life resulting from natural disasters.
- Significantly reducing damage to public infrastructure and other critical facilities.
- Establishing and managing a program to proactively implement mitigation projects for roads, bridges, culverts and other municipal facilities.
- Designing and implementing mitigation measures to minimize impacts to rivers, water bodies and other natural features, historic structures, and neighborhood character.
In addition to guiding the Select Board and Town Departments in budgeting and planning for infrastructure improvements, adopted Plans make communities potentially eligible for
several federal and state grant programs. Towns with FEMA-approved Hazard Mitigation Plans are also potentially eligible for greater funding following declared disasters.
