GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM

Coles County and the cities of Charleston and Mattoon have been in the process of developing a county-wide Geographic Information System (GIS), or parcel mapping for the County. Project Impact and County funds were used to develop the GIS. This GIS will have many uses including the routing of Emergency vehicles, the identification of parcels located in the flood plain, and in the event of a disaster, the location of affected properties.

MITIGATION PLAN

Project Impact staff has been developing, with community representatives, a Hazards Mitigation Plan for the Cities of Charleston and Mattoon. This process as outlined by FEMA utilizes an advisory committee composed of city and utility representatives who provide expertise in the various impact areas which will be addressed.

The Hazard Mitigation Plan will also employ some tools from the GIS component (HAZUS) in order to identify hazards throughout the two communities.

MITIGATION FOR NEW CONSTRUCTION

Project Impact is working with the Coles County Habitat for Humanity to provide mitigation techniques and materials to be incorporated into the construction of a new habitat home. These materials include Simpson Tie-Downs to further secure the roofing, and 3M Window Film to help avoid the potential for broken window fragments during a severe storm.

INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS

Charleston utilized Project Impact funds for the construction of a detention pond in the Southeast part of Charleston. The storm water detention basin will serve a 65 acre drainage area that is slowly being converted from agricultural land to commercial property. The purpose of the oversized basin at this location is to alleviate flooding problems in the Eastgate Subdivision and along Town Branch Creek in Charleston.

Mattoon utilized Project Impact funds for the construction of a storm sewer along 12th Street and 12th Street extended. This project will help reduce flooding in the Southern parts of Mattoon where two one-hundred year floods have occurred in the past 10 years. A storm sewer did not previously exist in this area.

Project Impact also assisted the City of Charleston with debris clean-up from the Charleston Town Branch.

PUBLIC AWARENESS

The Project Impact Committee has developed a Severe Weather Poster Contest for the 4th and 5th graders of the Charleston and Mattoon School Districts. The contest is designed to raise the public awareness of severe weather and the potential hazards to our communities associated with it. Local sponsorship is provided by Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and McDonald's of Coles County. Both Sponsors provided prized for the annual contest winners.