Task 3: Document the Planning Process – Public Participation and Stakeholders

Task 3: Document the Planning Process – Public Participation and Stakeholders/h2>

Following are some benefits of the documentation of the planning process:
• Informs the stakeholders and public about the general approach to the development of the mitigation plan.
• Serves as a permanent record of the entire planning process. This record may include the details of how decisions were made and who was involved in the process. This record can be used for updating the existing plan.
Following are some of the documentation prerequisites for giving participation opportunities to public and stakeholders during the planning process:
• The plan should describe how it was prepared and list the members of each jurisdiction who participated in the planning process. The details should also include the activities and timeframe or schedule of the plan development.
• The plan should recognize all the team members as well as the stakeholders who either participated earlier or received the invitation to participate in the planning process. The plan should also document the title or position of the member within the agency.
• The plan should describe how the opportunity was offered to the public to participate in the planning process and how their reviews and feedback were integrated into the plan. The public must participate during the plan development stage, prior to the feedback stage, and before the approval and adoption of the final plan.
• The plan should also explain how the jurisdiction(s) will carry on public involvement during the plan maintenance stage.

To update the current plan, the plan should include documentation of the existing planning process undertaken.

To meet these requirements, a simple description of the planning process is enough. It can be useful to provide other types of documentation, for example, copies of agendas, meeting minutes, newspaper articles, and sign-in sheets to help inform the public. You can include these documentations as an appendix to the mitigation plan.

The plan must also include a narrative of the planning process that answers the 4 W and 1 H of the plan development. The 4W stands for: “who, what, when, and where”, and 1 H stands for: “how.” To develop a good narrative, integrate the outreach strategy into the scope and schedule of the planning process confirmed by the planning team. Then, incorporate this information into the mitigation plan. On the whole, the plan document must provide enough information on how your community developed the mitigation plan.