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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEmergency Government Committe 10-15-1996ST. CROIX COUNTY NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETING TO: Robert Boche, Chairman St. Croix County Board FROM: Arthur Jacobson, Chairman COMMITTEE TITLE: Emergency Government Committee DATE OF MEETING: Tuesday - October 15, 1996 TIME: 9:00 a.m. LOCATION: Emergency Govt. Conference Room St. Croix County Government Center Hudson, Wisconsin 54016 CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL ADOPTION OF. AGENDA DATE OF NEXT MEETING OPEN ACTION ON PREVIOUS MINUTES OLD BUSINESS 1) First Aid Training and Planning NEW BUSINESS 1) 2) ..3) 4) 5) 6) Completed Plan of Work for 4th Quarter 1996 Grant Closeouts Emergency Management/Hazardous Materials Training Bills for August and September Report on Governor's Conference Public Comments and Concerns ANNOUNCEMENTS AND CORRESPONDENCE POSSIBLE AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING: ADJOURNMENT (Agenda not necessarily presented in this order) SUBMITTED BY: Jack Colvard, Emergency Government PHONE #386-4719/386-4718 DATE: September 30, 1996 Copies to: County Board Office Committee Members County Clerk News Media/Notice Board MINUTES Emergency Government Committee October 15, 1996 PRESENT: Art Jacobson, John Mortensen, Chuck Mehls, Bob Boche - County Board; Jack Colvard, Pam Benson - Emergency Government; Bruce Brantner - Emergency Communications. The meeting was called to order at 9:04 a.m. by Chairman Jacobson. Meeting agenda was adopted on a Mortensen/Mehls MOTION. The minutes of the August 14, 1996 meeting were approved on a Mortensen/Jacobson MOTION. DATE OF NEXT MEETING: November 12, 1996 OLD BUSINESS: #1. First Aid Training and Planning Colvard stated that there has been $990 allocated in the 1997 budget for employee first aid training and first aid room supplies. Three first aid refresher classes (four hours each) and one initial first aid class (eight hours) could be funded. Discussion followed, with two-hour blocks of time for classes decided as best. Per Boche, first aid training should be brought up at the next Department Head meeting. Colvard will work with Personnel.and WITC in setting up these classes. NEW BUSINESS: #1. Completed Plan of Work for 4th Quarter 1996 Copies of the letter and 4th Quarter Plan of Work sent to the regional office were given to Committee members. The County's updated Mortuary Annex was discussed, as a survey was sent out to local funeral homes regarding mortuary supplies on hand. #2. Grant Closeouts Colvard stated that five 1996 grants were closed out and reimbursements for costs incurred were requested. They are: 1) Superfund Amendment and Reauthorization Act (SARA) Grant - Of the $16,649 grant, only $4,163 for the 4th quarter has not been received, but has been applied for. 2) SARA Computer Equipment Grant - A new computer and printer were purchased for $2,477 and $1,982 was reimbursed to Emergency Government under this grant. 3) Ag Pilot Project Sub -Grant - $168 was spent and all has been reimbursed by the State. 4) Hazardous Materials Emergency Planning (HMEP) Training Sub - Grant - $2332 in training costs were incurred under this grant. 100% of these costs were reimbursed under the grant. 1 5) State Hazardous Material Training Grant - St. Croix County was allocated $8,164 and provided courses costing a total of $5,705, which were then paid for through the grant. Jacobson spoke regarding the fact that these grants save the County and local municipalities money they would otherwise have to spend for training. #3. Emergency Management/Hazardous Materials Training Colvard handed out information to the Committee members on courses presented, the cost of those courses, and what agencies took them. Several local law enforcement, EMS, fire and government agencies took advantage of the free training courses, while others did not. Mehls spoke regarding informing those municipalities not taking the classes of liability they could have if their police, fire, and EMS are not receiving training required by DILHR. #4. Bills for Third Quarter, 1996 The bills for third quarter were approved on a Mehls/Mortensen MOTION. #5. Report on Governor's Conference Jacobson reported to the Committee on the Governor's Conference held in Milwaukee September loth and 11th. Most presentations dealt with the Weyauwega incident. Both the police chief and fire chief were out of town when the train derailment occurred. According to Jacobson, a State DILHR inspector formerly from Rice Lake driving through the area was 'recruited" and became the initial incident commander. Mortensen stated he learned at an American• Red Cross meeting in Wisconsin Rapids that there were problems with communications at the Weyauwega incident. After an hour, cellular phones were overwhelmed, regular phones were bottlenecked and there was limited radio communications equipment available. Also, per Mortensen, shelters had to be moved farther away from the train derailment site three times, due to a lack of knowledge as to what materials were on the railroad cars. Many evacuated persons brought little with them as they thought they would be returning home within a few hours. Since the Weyauwega incident, Central Wisconsin railroad tracks have been inspected three times per year instead of the previous one time per year. This railroad does go through St. Croix County at New Richmond. One advantage St. Croix County has for communications is an active RACES (amateur radio) organization which would assist in a local emergency situation. 2 #6. Public Comments Concerns have been raised about chemicals that are used by some of the departments in the Government Center. After discussion, a Mehls/Boche MOTION was approved that Emergency Government work with the Maintenance Department and take an inventory of all hazardous materials used in the Government Center. Colvard spoke to the Committee about his attendance at a State Emergency Response Board (SERB) meeting recently where he lobbied for including Emergency Alert System (EAS) equipment under the 1997 SARA Computer Equipment Grant. Radio and television stations will be required by the Federal Communications Commission to have EAS equipment by January 1, 1997. The EAS was then explained in greater detail to the Committee by Brantner. Brantner would take advantage of the grant and install EAS equipment in St. Croix County, if the SERB approves using the grant to purchase EAS equipment. Mehls spoke to the Committee about planning for an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) mock disaster drill where County Board members would participate, as they would in an actual large-scale emergency or disaster. Colvard stated that in 1998 St. Croix County will be required to participate in an exercise involving a radiological release at the Prairie Island Nuclear Power Plant, as this county is an ingestion county and would be affected by radiation fallout. After discussion, it was decided that Brantner and Colvard would take an inventory of equipment needed to equip the EOC for this exercise. There will be two Committee meetings in November, November 12 and 19, the first for defining participants and their roles in the EOC exercise. A manual published by the Coalition of Wisconsin Aging Groups (CWAG) for training advocates to work with seniors was shown to the group by Colvard. This book has procedures that are recommended for use when seniors and the homebound are evacuated during an emergency or disaster. ANNOUNCEMENTS AND CORRESPONDENCE ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 11:20 a.m. on a Boche/Jacobson MOTION. Respectfully submitted, Charles Mehls, Secretary 3