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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEM July 2014GRANT COUNTY EMERGENCY DISASTER SERVICES COMMITTEE MEETING GRANT COUNTY LAW ENFORCEMENT CENTER Lancaster, WI 53813 July 14, 2014 The Grant County Emergency Disaster’s Services Committee was called to order July 14, 2014, at 10:00 a.m. by Chairman Bob Keeney. The following members and personnel were present: EMERGENCY DISASTER SERVICES COMMITTEE: Gary Ranum, Lester Jantzen, Larry Wolf, John Patcle, Bob Scallon, and Pat Schroeder. GUESTS: Grant County Coroner Ron Sturmer, Kelly Bird, Grant County Sheriff’s Office, Chief Deputy Jack Johnson, Grant County Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff Nate Dreckman, Grant County Sheriff’s Office, City Manager Larry Bierke, City of Platteville, Steve Braun, Emergency Government and Tonya White, Recording Secretary. Steve Braun verified the agenda has been posted by Linda Gebhard and it was posted on the county website. Pat second by John approved the agenda. Larry second by Lester approved the minutes. Pat second by Gary approved the bills. All above motions carried. Public Comments: None Under Director’s Monthly Report Steve handed out a letter from Wisconsin Emergency Management stating that the review and evaluation of the hazmat team was certified and we are now officially a part of the State hazmat response system, in partnership with other teams in the southwest region of Wisconsin. The team can be requested by the local fire departments. Under Old Business Steve handed out an update on the funding distributed by the Long Term Recovery Committee. The LTRC has paid out $61, 833 to date, $23,900 has been approved but not spent and $18,000 that has not yet been designated. Now that EAP work is nearing a close, the committee has a better idea of the remaining unmet needs in the community. They will go back and look at all the applications and may reallocate more money to households or projects that they did not fund fully. There were a total of 76 families that were assisted from last year’s flooding event. Also under Old Business Steve spoke about the Assistance to Firefighters Grant radio project that he is working on with the Sheriff's Office. The amendment that was sent in several months ago was just recently approved. It was suggested that all the equipment be moved from the Sinsinawa tower to the State's Happy Corners tower and this will improve signal coverage. We are working to finalize an agreement with the state to let us use this tower. A second part of the amendment is to add a radio site in Fennimore on the water tower to help improve signal on the Sheriff and County Fire frequencies. Fennimore Police and Fire currently have difficulties, and this should also improve coverage in the Monfort and Castle Rock areas as well. The hope is to have all the work done by the end of summer. Under New Business Steve spoke about the Platteville tornado and the Incident Action Plan that was sent out in the packet. Overall things went well. Steve explained what his roll was in the event. He started out in dispatch when the first calls came through. As the incident escalated, there was an engine or rescue sent from almost every department in the County to assist with traffic control and search/rescue of affected areas. The Regional Technical Rescue Team went door to door with the fire department and did searches of some of the houses that were down if we were not sure the families were accounted for. Steve then assisted in the Emergency Operations Center to help consult and assist with getting elected officials, department heads and damage assessment started. There was an after action done with all the department heads along with the University and Southwest Health Center to talk about lessons learned. Pat stated that he had heard a few complaints one being the siren was not set off and the other being that volunteers were being turned away. Steve stated the siren was not set off because the tornados both formed over the City of Platteville so there was no warning. There were spotters out throughout the County and City, and reports from west of Platteville indicated a typical thunderstorm. This was also consistent with the minimal damage seen throughout the rest of the City where the tornadoes did not impact.. City Manager Larry Bierke spoke about the volunteers being turned away. He stated that they had a Volunteers Coordinator who was in charge of the volunteers. They had enough supervisors for 50 volunteers. Larry made the call to limit the volunteers to 50 because of not having more superviso rs to maintain the volunteers. The staff in the EOC felt that they were meeting the requests of affected residents with the 50 volunteers that were on hand. He also said to recognize the volunteers and the many people and businesses that donated they are having a party in the park Thursday, July 24th. Steve explained that we will be applying for funding for unmet needs. There are some people that do not have insurance or were under insured. The EAP will be wrapping up shortly from the flooding so the Housing Committee requested an amendment to the grant application for what is left to be used for the weather events. The amount left should be around $200,000. That again would be income eligible but there are people that will qualify. Bob K. sent a letter to Stan Kaifers on July 8, 2014 with a few requests, one being to roll over our 2013 funding into 2014. There is also a request pending with the SBA (Small Business Administration). The SBA did determine that we met the criteria for a declaration so the Governor has requested the declaration. We should hear today if the declaration has been officially approved. The SBA offers low interest loans to families. They also will assist with agriculture buildings that were damaged. There is also a fund being set up that the City of Platteville will be distributing funds from. The City of Platteville has set up a Long Term Recovery Committee that will distribute from the Platteville Tornado Fund. Dave Janney, the case manager that has been working with families involved in the flooding last year, will also be working with families in the Platteville tornado. His position is being paid for by UMCOR. Steve also spoke briefly about the weather events that took place on June 29th and June 30th. We will be working with families to fill the unmet needs but those events were on a smaller scale than the Platteville tornado. Most families that were affected by these storms are insured. It was motioned by Bob S. and second by Larry to adjourn to August 11, 2014 at 10:00a.m. Motion carried. Respectfully submitted, Tonya White, Recording Secretary