Local Emergency Planning Committee
Minutes
March 22, 2001 – 9:00 a.m. Assembly Room Borough Building, Soldotna, AK
The Regular Meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Local Emergency Planning Committee was held on March 22, 2001, in the Assembly Room of the Borough Building in Soldotna, Alaska. Chairman Harris called the meeting to order at 9:20 a.m.
Present at meeting: Ron Rogalsky, Alaskan Command Lois Johnson, CPGH
Phil Nash, ASDF Scott Elmer, Homer Fire
Victoria Askin, CISPRI Barb Beeman, MAPTS
Mike Taurianen, Public Sue Hecks, SOS
Tom Bowman, AST Mary Jane Hanley, Public Health
Alicia Duzinski, KNWR Steve O’Connor, CES
Billy Harris, Nikiski Fire Jonathan Pedersen, Public
Jan Henry, KPB OEM Lloyd Richardson, Unocal
Rick Warren, Agrium Marvin Towell, Soldotna PD
Debra Holle, American Red Cross
Harris cited the problem of obtaining a quorum. The LEPC originally had approximately thirty members and met once a month. Because of the quorum problem the board now meets only quarterly. With the end of Project Impact some of those that were involved have expressed an interest in the LEPC. He stated that the job of the LEPC is to make the community and borough as responsive as possible in an emergency. He felt the LEPC has done an excellent job with very little funding.
Tauriainen stated that they are in the process of conducting a traffic study for the City of Soldotna and the surrounding area and said that anyone with concerns about access can contact him.
Warren asked what response Harris had received for the letters he had sent out to some of the members regarding meeting attendance. Harris responded that he was pleased that Homer was now involved, but that a media position had been lost. Lori Evans had resigned due time constraints and Stan Pitlo had the same concern.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Mary Jane Hanley expressed interest in being part of the committee. Harris stated that they were looking for a place but that they didn’t want to increase the membership, and that he appreciated her interest.
SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS
Executive Committee: Harris stated that Helen Donahue has been working in Juneau with Ken Lancaster.
Harris said that basically what came out of the Executive Committee meeting was a discussion of new applicants to the LEPC.
Harris stated that instructors were brought up from Portland, Oregon and conducted a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Train-The-Trainer course. He felt it was one of the best training programs he’d seen.
Warren, who had attended the training, stated that he believed the next step based upon comments that came out of the training was how to get the program started in the different communities. He felt that the LEPC could provide some direction. He has had discussions with managers at Agrium about sponsorship for a CERT team in Nikiski.
Nash said that the ASDF has been working with the American Red Cross for training, such as mass care, shelter management, and family services.
Nash stated that earlier that week the wildfire drill had been held in Homer and the ASDF was called by the IC to see how many people they could come up with. They got together one five man team, and Wasilla could provide another team within eight hours.
Henry stated that the Spruce Bark Beetle (SBB) program had funded the initial training and it had been suggested that it be discussed with SBB about funding a CERT Coordinator for a limited period of time.
Hecks stated that she had attended the CERT training, and that ten communities had been represented.
MINUTES
Karen Williams and Linda Athons joined the meeting which constituted a quorum.
O’Connor motioned and Bowman seconded to approve the minutes of the December 5, 2000 meeting. The motion passed with unanimous consent.
New Membership Applications
Four new applications had been received: Becky Hutchinson, Public; Doug Newbould, KNWR; Jonathan Pedersen, Public; and Debra Holle, American Red Cross. Also, Paul Mitchell will replace Lois Johnson and Johnson will remain as alternate for CPGH. Mike Munger will replace Rory Dabney and Karen Williams will remain as alternate for CIRCAC.
Tauriainen motioned and Nash seconded to approve Mike Munger with Williams as alternate, and Paul Mitchell with Johnson as alternate. The motion passed with unanimous consent.
Tauriainen motioned and Warren seconded to appoint Hutchinson as an alternate for Gebhardt, and Holle as an alternate to Seeberger. Tauriainen pointed out that Holle was not with the Alaska Railroad. After discussion Tauriainen amended the motion to change the Railroad position to Red Cross with Holle as primary. Nash seconded. The motion passed with unanimous consent.
There was much discussion about the categories and where people should fit in and it was decided to revisit the issue at the next meeting.
Bowman motioned and Beeman seconded to appoint Newbould as a primary for Evan’s vacancy since she has resigned. The motion passed with unanimous consent. Pitlo will remain as alternate until a letter of resignation is received.
Athons wished to move to alternate. Tauriainen motioned and O’Connor seconded to appoint Pedersen as primary with Athons as alternate. The motion passed with unanimous consent.
Nash motioned and O’Connor seconded to appoint Hanley as alternate to Beeman. The motioned passed with unanimous consent.
Tauriainen, Williams and Athons left the meeting.
Public Education
The Home Show will be held April 21-22, and the Sport Recreation & Trade Show will be held April 27-29. A sign-up sheet was circulated. Harris said that he would appreciate any help.
CERT Train the Trainer
Previously discussed.
SERC Report
Henry stated that he and Hecks went to Juneau for the LEPC/SERC Meetings. He said the conversation principally revolved around how funding would be provided to the LEPC’s and what the level of funding would be. The major argument was over the formula that was presented by the SERC to allocate funds.
The KPB, Fairbanks and Anchorage will receive $20,000. The other LEPC’s will receive less, down to $7,500. Moving the funding from DES to DEC was discussed. The DEC has made it clear that it would focus on oil and hazmat, not all-hazard.
At the current time the funding has passed the House, but not the Senate. It does appear that the LEPC’s will remain all-hazard.
Project Impact
Henry said that on the day of the Seattle earthquake President Bush axed all funding for Project Impact nationwide. He said that the Project Impact Workshop will still be held in Portland in May, and if anyone is interested FEMA will pay for one person to attend.
Animal Annex
Beeman said that the animal annex is not dead. Several meetings have been held and some volunteers identified. Bill “Pinky” Morse started writing the plan and is waiting for further instruction. A public meeting is tentatively scheduled for April 5th at 7 p.m.
Beeman stated that an ad will be placed in the Clarion “pet section” that will be coming out at the end of the month. A county in Florida has an animal plan in place and has offered to mentor the KPB.
Henry stated that the LEPC paid Morse to prepare the plan out of the previous year’s funds.
Beeman said that she had a copy of the different animal committees if anyone was interested.
A tabletop fire scenario had been held in Homer and a major problem was people that had been evacuated to the beach with pets. It was generally concurred that it was an important issue.
LEPC Budget
Henry stated that given the previous conversations about the legislation he didn’t know what the funding would be. The application forms have been received in the OEM. The baseline funding for the KPB LEPC is $20,000 and there is an opportunity to apply for special projects based on a subjective rating system.
OEM Coordinator’s Report
Henry talked about the fire exercise that was held March 20th in Homer. Like any exercise there are always things that can be learned. Most would agree that discussions after the exercise focused on impact and ramifications.
Bowman reinforced that it’s AST’s policy that people will not be arrested if they refuse to leave their homes in an evacuation as long as they are competent adults.
Holle said that the Red Cross appreciated being invited and it was a valuable learning experience.
Henry stated that training was conducted the week prior to the drill to provide info to KPB personnel, state and federal agencies about establishing a Multi-Agency Coordination (MAC) group.
Henry said that with the end of Project Impact there are monies available to initiate a window film application demonstration project in the Homer area. It will be applied to some windows in the schools and the hospital.
The OEM is currently in the process of budget review. Two major items are the upgrade of the 911 system and work on the siren system.
There has been a bill (HB186) introduced to allow a surcharge to be attached to cell phones to fund 911.
Negotiations are ongoing with ACS for equipment maintenance.
Project Impact is officially closing down and Kathy Flynn’s last day is March 30th, after she attends a national FEMA seminar. The OEM will be finishing up with the reporting.
CHER-CAP (Comprehensive HazMat Emergency Response-Capability Assessment Program)
Warren referred to the CHER-CAP information included in the packet.
CHER-CAP was developed by FEMA to look deeper into the capability of hazardous materials response.
Warren said the last time a multi-agency full scale exercise was done was at least eight years ago. He is putting together a needs assessment for Agrium to conduct one. The CHER-CAP program is a relatively new program. The focus of CHER-CAP is on issues specific to HazMat preparedness and response but it also reinforces preparedness for all hazards by drawing together key partners from the public and private sectors.
Warren has spoken to the ADES as well as FEMA about applying the model and drill planning. He has been involved with the DEC on many hazardous substance issues, most recently culminating in a drill in Kodiak.
Warren referred to http://www.fema.gov/library/cher_capf.htm if anyone is interested in learning more about the CHER-CAP.
Henry warned that if the LEPC is interested in getting involved with CHER-CAP it’s an extremely difficult project to get started.
Warren stated that he will be working on a full scale exercise regardless and that he will keep the LEPC apprised.
Firewise Community Planning Workshop, PRISM – April 25-27
Henry said that the workshop is a culmination of a statewide effort. FireWise experts will be brought in from a number of places. The primary objective will be to get non-fire persons involved. Harris asked if the KPB OEM would pay tuition for LEPC members to attend; Henry responded yes.
Public Comment
None.
Next Meeting
The Executive Committee will meet June 5, 2001, and the Full Committee will meet June 20, 2001.
Note: The meetings have since been combined into one meeting to be held June 7, 2001, at 9:00 a.m. in the Borough Assembly Chambers.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 11:45 a.m.