Public Engagement

Photo by Forged Film Company

Opportunities to Participate

Throughout the planning process, there will be opportunities for the public to engage in the project. Engaging stakeholders is crucial for building a comprehensive resilience plan. The City of Galax, Mount Rogers Planning District Commission, and Stantec recognize the importance of involving various community members, from business owners to emergency management professionals, in the decision-making process. This diverse input ensures that the plan will address the actual needs and vulnerabilities of the community, fostering a sense of ownership and commitment among stakeholders. Effective planning is significantly dependent on active public participation. Engaging community members enables the integration of local knowledge, requirements, and priorities into the plan, thereby ensuring it is both comprehensive and practical. Citizen involvement also reinforces the community's commitment to executing the deliverables of the planning process. This fosters community support for raising awareness of flood risks and encourages elected officials to pursue mitigation measures. Public awareness is the initial step towards resilience.

Public participation can take various forms, such as surveys, awareness events, and engagement sessions, all of which are crucial for gathering diverse perspectives and fostering community support. These efforts help build a collaborative approach to flood resilience, where citizens feel empowered to contribute to the safety and sustainability of their community environment. This project approached public awareness goals through a public survey and public awareness event in the first quarter of the planning process, with two public feedback events in the second to third quarter of the planning process. Information gathered from these meetings accompanied the initial data collection process and was utilized to develop the plan, in particular, the Risk and Vulnerability Assessment and the Flood Resilience Action Plan.

Public Awareness Event

Fireman's Carnival

Friday, July 11th from 5:00 PM - DarkSaturday, July 12th from 5:00 PM to Dark

The first major flood awareness opportunity aligns with the annual Fireman's Carnival held in Felts Park (July 8-12, 2025). During the event, on the evenings of Friday, July 11th and Saturday, July 12th, the Mount Rogers Planning District Commission (MRPDC) will be staffing a booth to engage with the citizens. This public awareness event plays a crucial role in flood resilience planning by fostering a collaborative environment where community members are informed, engaged, and empowered to support and contribute to preparedness and recovery efforts. The primary purposes of the event include raising awareness, encouraging active participation, promoting collaboration, enhancing preparedness efforts, and building support for mitigation activities. The flood awareness event is thematically coordinated with the fireman's carnival due to increased risk of flooding that occurs following a forest or brush fire. In the event of forest or brush fires, vegetation which would otherwise provide flood protection is burned away, making communities more vulnerable to flooding.

During the public awareness event, the project event booth will display special flood hazard areas within the city to make citizens aware of localized risks, discuss areas which might have unknown flooding concerns, discuss potential flood mitigation opportunities, discuss barriers to flood protection, and more. Citizens will have an opportunity to engage with the project flood (the resilience plan) in a way similar to an open house event, only the house is being brought to the carnival. This will be an opportunity for folks to engage with the project, fill out the survey if they haven't already, get additional information, and learn how they can benefit from and support flood resilience in the city, within their neighborhood, and at home.

Flood Resilience Survey

Public Feedback Meeting #1

Tuesday, July 29th, 2025 beginning at 6:00 PM at the Galax City Council Chambers (111 E. Grayson Street)

The project team, consisting of the Mount Rogers Planning District Commission (MRPDC) and Stantec, a consulting engineering firm, will host a public meeting to engage citizens in the flood resilience planning process. This meeting is crucial for providing an overview of the project, presenting draft results of the flood risk assessment, and facilitating public feedback through various engagement activities. The primary objectives of the event are to raise awareness of the flood resilience plan, encourage public participation, and identify areas with known flooding issues. During the event, the project team will present an overview of the project and the preliminary flood risk assessment results. Following this brief presentation, a flood risk mapping exercise will be conducted to identify areas with known flooding issues, discuss flooding concerns, and address barriers to preparation and response for natural hazards. Additionally, physical copies of the public survey, available digitally on this website, will be provided for attendees to fill out.

Public Feedback Meeting #2

Thursday, October 23rd, 2025 beginning at 5:00 PM and ending at 7:00 PM at the Galax City Council Chambers (111 E. Grayson Street)

The second public meeting will focus on identifying and prioritizing strategic actions to mitigate flood impacts. This will be an interactive meeting. These actions may include physical infrastructure, studies, policies and programs, and emergency response technology, among others. The primary objectives of the event are to raise awareness of the flood resilience plan, encourage public participation, and identify potential actions to mitigate flooding. During the event, the project team will present an overview of the identified draft resilience actions. Following the brief presentation, engagement activities will be held to gather feedback on the identified actions, suggest additional actions or components, and prioritize actions.

Please take the survey below to better help us mitigate the risk to life and property due to flooding events.

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