Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 09-19-2006-7cORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: September 19, 2006 Action Agenda Item No. 7G SUBJECT: Emergency Management Planning Update DEPARTMENT: Emergency Management PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: Staff Report Jack Ball, 919-644-3030 Extract from 11/09/05 BOCC Work Session Minutes Extract from "readyorange.orq" PURPOSE: To receive a presentation from staff regarding efforts made this year to enhance planning for the County's emergency preparedness. BACKGROUND: At the work session on November 9, 2005, the Board of Commissioners provided direction to staff regarding a number of initiatives that the Board wanted to implement regarding heightening the County's state of preparedness to anticipate, respond to, and mitigate disasters, both natural and man-made. Staff will outline some of the highlights from the accompanying staff report regarding measures undertaken to enhance emergency preparedness since that time, Information of interest to the public regarding both County planning for emergencies and considerations for individual and family emergency preparedness can be reviewed at the Orange County website at www.read~range.orq, FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no direct cost associated with this special presentation by staff. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board receive the report as information and provide any feedback and direction to the Manager and staff. UPDATED 09/14/0(r Orange County Emergency Management Emergency Preparedness Actions (Follow-up To BOCC Nov ?005 Meeting) Planning 1. Staff has led and completed an interagency evacuation planning eonunittee and is now in the process of developing a written evacuation amiex to the County's Emergency Operations Plan. Involved were public and private transportation partners, emergency response organizations, public health, social services, the University, and state emergency management. 2. Staff has met with five county depar°tments to review their Departmental Emergency Operations Responsibilities, and to assess equipment, training, and planning needs. These will be utilized to update the countywide Emergency Operations Plan and FY ?007 budget requests to ensure that departments have the resources they need to carry out their emergency responsibilities, 3. Staff is working with social services, transit agencies, Department on Aging, Animal Services and Information Technologies to create a composite database of the various lists that each agency maintains for persons with medical special needs, and mobility/transportation issues. This database will then be paired with the Geographic Information System to map the locations of these persons in the event of a major disaster where evacuations may be necessary. 4. Staff have met with various non-profits, such as Carol Woods retirement home and Chapel Hill Bible Church, advising Chem on their emergency plans. Communications 5. Staff purchased portable suitcase radios utilizing grant finding which have been used twice in the past five months when the antiquated radio console equipment in the 9-1-1 center failed, 6. Staff has participated in the County-wide Communicators Task Force comprised of Public Information Officers from agencies, municipalities, Hospital, University, and other partners to share coordinated information during disasters. The group has identified methods to share information with the public during mass technology failures, such as having pre-identified posting areas of information, such as primary intersections and fil°e Stat1017S. 7. Staff; in conjunction with the Commissioners' Office, developed and printed .31,000 quick reference sheltering cards that were distributed in final report cards this past sununer in both school systems.. The cards were also distributed by the Carrboro Civic Club, door to door, and at the Caldwe114`~' of July parade, as well as the Hillsborough Family Day at the Parlc. The Convnissioners office sent out letters to all laiown churches UPDATED 0'I/14/0( in the County that the cards are available. A press release was also issued and residents were provided copies of the cards directly, Emergency Management has ordered a second printing that will be provided to interested churches and individuals. The second printing will be fore 14,250 cards. 8, Staff have requested an intern thorough the IJNC- Chapel Hill APPLES service learning program to develop a readiness Internet portal, modifying the www readyoranue.or site currently in plane, which will provide lirilcs to our parnner agencies, much like the H2Orange website did during the drought response. Staff also collaborated with the public information division of the North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety in development of the state website www.read~c.org and www.listonc.ora. 9. Staff received and utilized grant fimding to place emergency preparedness radio advertisements on WCIiL that ran thl°ough this summer. 10. Staff were interviewed twice on WCHL during Ron Stutts's morning show during hurricane season. 1 1. Staff received and utilized grant fimding to expand the cinema advertisement emergency preparedness project to the Streets of Southpoint. This ilmovation has been picked up by the North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety as a state model, and they have begun to purchase advertising time across the state for emergency preparedness as well. 12. Staff have issued press releases and other media coordination to encourage emergency preparedness. 13. Staff have contracted with a conference call provider and have begun conference calls with our municipal, state, and non-profit partners to coordinate during storms. 14. Staff are exploring a possible redirection of grant funding for the purchase and implementation of a web-based incident management software program to help with information sharing and coordination with our partners during disasters. I S. Staff have worked through the Chambers of Conunerce to provide emergency preparedness information and updates. 16. Staff have continued coordination with the Non-English speaking eomm~unity through the Immigrant Emergency Comnnmication committee. 17, Staff are working with the Disability Awareness Council to provide emergency preparedness updates to the disabled residents. Training urnnrcn o~naror, 18. Staff have provided business continuity paining to interested businesses through the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Conunerce on how to plan for business impacts during disasters and how to recover. Similar training has been offered to the Hillsborough/Orange County Chamber of Conunerce. 19. Staff are working with Public Health staff to implement the Community Emergency Response Team program. We expect to begin CERT training sometime in mid fall. 20. Director and staff participated in Pandemic Plu workshop planning and the workshop panel providing information to residents and businesses.. 21. Staff are working with the Orange County Disability Awareness Council to arrange a training workshop to engage the disabled conmlrrnity in disaster- preparedness and emergency planning. 22. Staff have provided emergency preparedness training to Non-English speaking residents in partnership with the Health Department's Promotoras program. 23. Staff have worked with Blue Cross/Blue Shield in their emergency exercise on paining staff in emergency operations center implementation. Ex~~` ft~M 11 ~09 ~^0^5 (3OcG WOf~ ~~ /~' V1u`~YS and goes overhead to connect to existing Duke Power lines (single-phased). He said that DOT, Duke Power, and the school board are satisfied with this route. John Link recognized George McFarley from the OCS, Commissioner Gordan asked if this was similar to what was proposed earlier and it was answered yes, but .John Link said that the cost has been lowered by half now. He said that when they originally called the stakeholders together, the senior engineers with DOT were in the Gulf.. When they returned, the presentation was revised based on the engineers' input. Craig Benedict said that there were going to be underground conduits, and they think that they can pop up and extend existing utilities, which cut $25,000-$30,000. John Link said that the County will contribute $60,000 for underground service and will come from earned interest from the capital fund and the school system will pay $60,000. George McFarley said that they expect this price to go down further because they see one segment of overhead coming from the weigh station. A motion was made by Commissioner Halkiotis, seconded by Commissioner Jacobs to approve the proposed western route for electrical service at a cost to the County not to exceed $60,000 and to approve the Gravelly Hill Middle School Capital Project Ordinance. VOTE: UNANIMOUS 1. Emergency Management Matters Rod Visser referred to the three major topics that they would like to update the Commissioners on this evening. The first item is the Fire and Rescue Service Study. They will then give an update on the Communications Interoperability /Homeland Security Grant funding as it relates with participation in the VIPER program and as it relates to planned replacement of consoles., He said that they have secured grant funding and with matching funds from the County of 25%, it will cover the costs of replacement of the old consoles. Lastly, they will review the Quick Reference Card, which is to help citizens become aware of steps for sheltering during emergencies. Emergency Management Director Jack Ball said that they discussed earlier the capabilities and future needs of EMS and the Board authorized an independent study to assist in determining where to go in the future. In developing the study, they identified several members from the community fire and rescue organizations, along with staff to serve as the work group to develop the scope of service. They met last month and refined the study that was sent out, The changes are in italics. The study was presented to the Chiefs Council last week and was well received. The next step is to work with the Purchasing Department to develop requests for proposals and requests for qualifications. Commissioner Foushee made reference to page 5, the first paragraph, relating to opportunities to implement some cost saving measures, She asked if there was any progress. .lack Ball said that this would be part of the study recommendations. They discussed jointly purchasing equipment. There has been some progress in that they went out last month to test all ladders in the community. .John Link said that currently every fire district makes purchases on their own and may or may not consult with Jack Ball. These recommendations are to look at a standard for equipment in order to save money. Chair Carey asked about the timing far completion of the study and Jack Ball said that the request will go out far a minimum of 30 days, and when they sign a contract with a consultant, they will have 90 days to report back. He hopes to get it done before the next budget cycle. U Rod Visser said that they hope to have the selection of the consultant to come back at the January meeting, and then they could have results from the study back by April. Commissioner Halkiotis made reference to the rescue squad on Churton Street and said that it is in pretty bad shape. He thinks that the program is strapped financially. He hopes that part of this plan is to study the issue of rescue squad services and how the County can help them. He asked how much the County was giving them and it was answered $2,200 a month to offset expenses for utilities, etc. Commissioner Halkiotis said that he and Chair Carey did a walk through at the rescue squad and they have aging equipment and he is concerned about the expensive pieces of equipment that fire departments and rescue squads have.. He wants to make sure that purchasing decisions are being made in an appropriate manner.. He would suggest having someone like Mr. Segal to come in and look at these departments. He asked what they were looking for in a consultant and Jack Ball said that they would like to insure that a consultant had a background in fire and rescue services. Usually a team will come along with the consultant that has expertise in this area.. Chair Carey said that they should not assume that because an expert writes a report that everyone will agree on it. He wants to look at coming to some degree of consensus when the information is brought back. Commissioner Jacobs said that he went to the recent Chiefs Council meeting and they let him talk about this issue and there were a number of questions.. He said that although some people were skeptical, they saw some advantages such as the opportunity to have some of their firefighters be covered by County insurance, and the opportunity to have someone work as part of the Fire Marshall staff who could help them get their IPO ratings down. He thinks that it can be pursued in a way that is mutually beneficial. He would hope that the County's liaison to the Chief's Council is included with the consultant process. He would like to look at the possibility of having audits for the departments every few years. Chair Carey agreed that all of these issues need to be discussed, and to have recommendations come back in tiers. Commissioner Gordon asked if there was a written plan for either a natural disaster or terrorist attack. She said that everyone assumes that there is a plan, but she does not know the details of the disaster procedures, including evacuation procedures, Rod Visser said that there is a plan but there are updates that Emergency Management Specialist Eric Griffin will be working on in the next 6-8 months. He said that there was a study 3-4 years ago with several counties, including Orange County, and it pointed out that there would be problems with evacuation procedures. Jack Ball said that at their Triangle J meeting, his counterparts from Durham and Wake Counties spoke about a joint evacuation plan. There have also been some new federal requirements and they will be working on this. Eric Griffin said that they have met with their partners such as Red Cross and County departments, and they want this plan to be realistic and implemented in a timely manner, They will also have a regional approach. They are looking at non-traditional methods of evacuation such as a train system. The school systems are very heavily involved and willing to participate. They are also looking at Chapel HiII Transit, Orange Public Transportation, and taxis and private buses in the County. Commissioner Gordon asked if they were prepared to do something in the short term if something were to happen before the plan is finished. Jack Ball said that the multi-hazard plan is on the EMS website. Eric Griffin said that part of the plan is to get communication devices to the County Commissioners. Jack Ball said that the short-term plan is to provide the County ~J Commissioners with one of the spare radio devices to provide an alternate means of communication. John Link suggested doing this next month since it is winter.. Commissioner Gordon made reference to the evacuation procedures and said that Progress Energy might be asked to put more money in to help with this. She understands that they are not putting in as much money as they should. She asked that the staff research this. She would like the staff to do something concrete in the short term, Commissioner Halkiotis said that he would not want a crash course during an incident, He said that his wife suggested having a dial out system, just like the school systems, to alert people of an emergency,. There needs to be an alert system. Jack Ball said that there are technologies available, but it is a budgetary concern, He will add it to the budget. Commissioner Halkiotis said that he would like a demo of this technology before the budget season. Jack Ball said that they have been working collaboratively with municipal partners and they are learning other avenues of making notifications. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to the quick reference card and that the two locations for shelters are listed but there are no phone numbers listed..lack Ball said that they would use the schools' phone numbers. If someone needed to contact the shelter, they would contact EMS at 968-2050. Commissioner Jacobs said that with Hurricane Katrina, they needed a coordinated effort or number to find people. Also, under pets, he thinks it says that anyone is welcome to bring a pet, but that Animal Services will take care of it. He suggested a rewording as follows: "Pets are welcome, but Animal Services will be on hand to board and take care of them." He also suggested distributing this information in the same format that was used to distribute the school district tax information. He also suggested putting it in all of the tax bills every year and sending it to the schools for the children to take home. Commissioner Halkiotis said that they need to explore telephone book uses and include a number in those. Any other way to get the information out other than the mail will be good.. Chair Carey suggested going with option one and supplementing it with free options for distribution, Eric Griffin said that they did receive samples of a magnet style that incorporates Commissioner Halkiotis' suggestion. This would be option 2, Commissioner Halkiotis suggested getting these printing services locally.. Rod Visser made reference to the grants and said that part of the reason for the success they have had with increasing their communications abilities has been the regional approach that Wake, Durham, Orange, and other surrounding counties have taken to apply jointly for grant funding.. The next round of Homeland Security grant funding is coming up, and there will be more information about this soon. Commissioner Foushee asked how many of the municipalities within the County have compatibility with the VIPER system and Jack Ball said that they all would eventually. He said that Chapel Hill Fire is ordering some radios and additional radios are coming. The volunteer fire departments have been writing grants to get more radios. The staff is also working on grants to provide as many 800 megahertz radios as passible. They will need to discuss how best to distribute the radios based on need, budgetary concerns, and local service to be provided. Commissioner Foushee asked how long they would have to run a dual radio system and Jack Ball said for at (east another 22 months and they would probably run VHF indefinitely. Chair Carey asked how much grant money have they received and Eric Griffin said that they have received approximately $4 million so far. Commissioner Jacobs said that he does not support buying the magnets for the reference cards. He would rather save $12,000, John Link said that they would pursue option one for the reference card distribution, Jack Ball said that they would be seeking other avenues such as trying to get some Orange County businesses to help sponsor these cards. 2. Solid Waste Matters Rod Visser said that an initiative came up in August and they were approached by Alamance County officials to look, conceptually, if Orange County would have any interest with Alamance County receiving Orange County's waste. The second item is the Highway 57 solid waste convenience center and that the lease will expire on April 1, 2006, They are exploring options for this. They are certainly working hard on a fallback option, Thirdly, the staff will give an update on the SWAB and the three-year update to the ten-year solid waste management plan that is due to the State in June 2006. Solid Waster Director Gayle Wilson said that there was a meeting in August in Graham, with Alamance County officials and Chair Carey, John Link, and himself attending. The purpose of the meeting was that they were asked by Alamance County if Orange County would be interested in delivering its waste to Alamance County if Alamance County would be willing to receive it There was no promise from Alamance County to take the waste if Orange County said yes, but only an inquiry if Orange County would be interested. An analysis was performed and the Engineering Consultant looked at it also. The memorandum attached to the report provides an overview of the options. The prerequisites to transferring waste out of County are: development of a transfer station procurement of the out of county disposal site procurement of hauling services (contract or in-house) The consultant concluded that Orange County should proceed with the original plan to develop a transfer station when the landfill reaches capacity because of the modest landfill space savings to be achieved, coupled with the additional expense and effort. The staff analysis looked at four options: Transferring waste to Alamance as soon as possible, prior to our landfill reaching capacity Transferring waste to Alamance in 2010, when the landfill reaches capacity and after they have developed their permanent transfer station Follow original 2010 timeline of developing a transfer station and considering Alamance as a destination along with other available options Negotiating for an equity arrangement between Orange County and Alamance County, if Alamance County disposal rates are not competitive with other options, This option could be pursued independent or in conjunction with other options. Gayle Wilson said that the key issue seems to he cost related. He said that transferring waste to Alamance County (or any other location) would entail considerable additional cost to the local solid waste system. He said that this was swell-discussed consequence of the decision of not pursuing a new landfill in Orange County back in the Orange County NC Emergenay Management - Pi°epatedness FD 4~ ~~~ ~_ Plews Archive icriirgenry Manayam~:ni: r~„er~l,_~~~y i•leciic,l Services Cbuiitb Fire r I 1 ,hal I ~ I t onun~ nip i iom f;161G I'aye F I J I fl I I'1CJ ~~^'cla gild `l~l P~'i)' ~~ <uu,~us 1~9~~ ~iuls History Photo Gallery Lmployi;rent l_)rC1;iil Cit it [!Ii Chan i?i91~. lnaly ,is; R 5i~ons hlitiyaCion Pr~pan:riness 7?-I four R~~~idiness hli n~, Por cii~ i~ii7cy Rasi,ume F,14 Severe WeaCher i.Natth pis V~di piny Pa-;gin ds/Visitcus cr,_dits Site i lal:i Orange County NC Department of Emergency Management Services Preparedness Page 1 of 5 `~ w~ ~, ~ r ~, ] ~'J(L , 3 Pl d ~~S r~~~' ~ i' ~' _ ~~'_' FUTURE ~` r t~ a ~ ^~, xa~ „„ ,n~ ~~~~ i ~~ ~~,w: :A, ..',moo :7_..F.,~'~~'ia.~+ci ?.s il`~.~1 G.~tr,.~ T `^5 Preparedness is actions taken before an emergency in order to develop operational capabilities and facilitate an effective response in the event an emergency occurs. This means that various domains of responsibility (such as warning, damage assessmenk, and other emergency management functions) are identified and assigned to entities capable of performing them. It means that the human and material resources needed to get the job done are available and can be mobilized quickly. Simply put, preparedness is clarity about what may be needed, what should be done, and how ik will be done. Preparedness is a continuous process that aims to reduce unknowns during an emergency, acts as an educational activity, is based an knowledge, and evokes appropriate action. Preparedness includes plans and training for response and includes readiness for 72-hours of self sufficiency. .4// Hazard Preparedness Guide Family Preparedness Resources Below you will find printable information in Adobe Acrobat (pdf) format that you, your family, or your business may use in preparing for emergencies. If you do not have Adobe's Acrobat Reader, you may obtain a free copy from www.adobe.com. Thanks to FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) and the American Red Cross for developing these resources. Disaster Kits, Checklists, and General Information Emergency preparedness checklist (138kb pdf7 Family disaster plan (350kb pdt) Food and Water in an emergency (617kb pdi] http://www.co.o,°ange.no us/ems/preparedness.htm 9/I 1/2006 Orange County NC Emergency Management -Preparedness Page 2 of 5 ~~ Family disaster supplies kit (211kb pdf) Financial Information Financial preparedness (1,517kb pdf) Post-disaster financial recovery (262kb pdf) Children's Disaster Resources Disaster preparedness coloring book (1,690kb pdf) Helping children rope with disaster- A resource for parents (186kb pdf) Resources for the Mobility Impaired Preparedness guide for the mobility impaired (122kb pdf) Business and Industry Resources Emergency planning for business and industry (2,290kb pdf) Publicationes en Espanol Departamento de Seguridad National Plan de preparation contra desastres para su familia (Family disaster plan - 2,464kb pdf) Equipo de suministros para su familia en caso de desastre (Family disaster kit - 2,56.3kb pdf) Lista de preparation para emergencias (Emergency preparedness checklist - 587kb pdf) Hazard Specific Information http://www.co.orange.nc.us/ems/preparedness.htni 9/11/2006 Orange County NC_ >;mergency Management -Preparedness Page .3 of 5 l! Drought Drought information website (www.H2Orange.org) Earthquakes Earthquake factsheet and information (105kb pdf) Fire Fire- Information sheet (112kb pdf) Home fire safety -Part 1 (47kb pdf) Home fire safety -Part 2 (36kb pdf) Flooding Flood preparedness checklist (179kb pdf) Floods and flashfloods -Information sheet (254kb pdf) Hazardous Materials Hazardous Materials information sheet (67kb pdf) Hazardous Materials in the home (27kb pdf) Radiological accident information sheet (89kb pdf) Hot weather emergencies Extreme heat information sheet (131kb pdf) ]rttp://www.co.or'ange.nc.us/ems/preparedness.htm 9/I 1/2006 Orange County NC Emei°gency Management -Preparedness Hurricanes Hurricane information sheet (99kb pdf) Nuclear Power Plant Emergencies Nuclear power plant emergency information sheet (34kb pdf) Thunderstorms and Lightning Thunderstorms and lightning information sheet (102kb pdf) Thunderstorms and lightning information booklet (128kb pdf) Winter Storms Winter skorm information sheet (131kb pdf) Winter weather driving information (30kb pdf) 72-Hour Readiness Page 4 of S ~a ,~.s ~r r 3 sew ~t ~ ~ ~ 9 ! t a.. v r ~ ~ :i y~ ~;. ; _' ~ :'~ ~4J I u ~ t v f ' ~ ~~ ~ -~ Each home should have a 7Z-hour disaster survival kit, For a printable copy Of detailed recomendatians click here (Zilkb pdf). The following is a minimum suggested list of survival kit supplies: non- perishable food, small cans of food, manual can-opener, personal medication, pills, & prescriptions, special food for infants, baby needs; http://www.co orange.nc.us/ems/preparedness.htm 9/11/200( Orange County NC Emergency Management -Preparedness Page 5 of S !3 diapers, etc., t:lrst aid kit, battery operated radio and flashlight, extra batteries, drinking water (I gallon per' person per day) and other drinks, blankets, pillows, sleeping bags, or lawn chairs, sanitary supplies, cards, books, small games, road maps, wet and cold weather clothing, and pet foods. The survival kit list should be adapted to your personal needs. I Home I Contact Us I htt'p://www.co.orange.naus/ems/preparedness.htm 9/i I/2006