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Meeting of 9 August 2005 The meeting was opened by Buz Harvey, President, at 10:05 AM. Each attendee was introduced. Those in attendance were Joe Counsil, Jodi Waltman, Buz Harvey, Cecily Jones, Chuck Pederson, Dan Babcock, Edna Bridges, and Tammy Snodgrass. Joe Counsil opened with a discussion of the status of the 2005 Citizen Corps grant. Joe pointed out that the grant needs to be reviewed in light of a deadline for encumberance of funds by the end of November 2005. The item of most uncertainty of the six programs in the grant is the Medical Reserve Corps. Since the lead person for that item is no longer in the area (Jim Bess, formerly Region I Emergency Response Planner, stationed at the Phelps County Health Department), Joe asked if his replacement (Mike Byington) would take the lead, or if the program should be re-evaluated and redesigned. As a result of this discussion, it was agreed that Edna Bridges and Jodi Waltman would re-evaluate the project, and determine what expenses would need to be covered to achieve the project goals by the end of November 2005. Jodi suggested that the program will probably mostly consist of assembling and training a corps of non-professional volunteers to provide manpower needed during a mass-casualty event. It may be possible to include these volunteers in upcoming immunization clinics as a real-world exercise, and a way of keeping volunteers engaged. Some volunteers may be found through some existing programs in the county. Buz Harvey discussed the idea of meeting with Jamie Dake and possibly Dante Gliniecki of SEMA to discuss the possibility of putting in place a permanent director of the PCDC to manage the day-to-day business, and maintain continuity of progress. Counsil mentioned that just such a thing was proposed by Gliniecki in a recent conversation, and that support for a director may be found through the VISTA volunteer program. Joe said that use of a VISTA volunteer would relieve the need to provide salary support from grant funds, but there might be some need to use grant funds for support costs (e.g., a computer and office supplies). However, Buz pointed out that if we were to hire a director in the immediate future, salary support would need to come from the Citizen Corps grant or some other souce since it may take some time before a VISTA volunteer can be hired. Buz will set up a meeting with SEMA to discuss this and other issues related to the Citizen Corps grant. Buz asked Joe to contact the lead person for each of the six programs in the Citizen Corps grant, asking them to prepare a status report including work progress and budget information. Buz commented upon his review of the PCDC Bylaws, and suggested that it may be necessary to update them to improve the ability of the PCDC to carry out its mission. This will be a discussion point at a future PCDC meeting. Buz led a discussion concerning the difficulty getting volunteers and leadership, and maintaining participation over the long term. This included a discussion of outreach efforts, and the importance of making the PCDC mission clear and understandable to the public and potential participants. Important questions are "Who are we?" and "Why are we here?" It was agreed that we will field a table at the Rolla Volunteer Fair to be held 25 August at The Centre, 4:00 to 8:00 PM (however, Joe was not sure of the exact time of day). Buz asked for volunteers to attend to our table. Joe, Edna, Chuck, and Buz (if he is available that day) offered to be there. Chuck will have a presentation he can make concerning the use of USGS mapping tools in emergencies. The may help be an eye-catching tool to get people to come to our table. Buz asked Joe to get more details, particularly the exact times, and to send any archival public-relations information to Buz. Buz will use that information to put together a short informational brochure about the PCDC. Concerning the National Preparedness Month coming in September, it was agreed that we are not in a good position to plan any activities for this year. Buz proposed, and it was agreed by all, that it would be a good idea to require attendandce at PCDC meetings by representatives from organizations involved in the Citizen Corps grant. Joe passed along a request by Judy Wright, director of GRACE, that the PCDC consider helping coordinate hot-weather shelters. Joe suggested that this might be a good item to include in the Citizen Corps grant program for setting up Weather Emergency Short-Term Shelters. Joe will discuss this possibility with Diane Hagni, the director of that program. Buz suggested, and it was agreed by all, that we should have monthly meetings for the next several months, perhaps moving to quarterly meetings at a later time. Buz asked Joe to make meeting arrangements for the second Tuesday of each month, 10:00 AM. An exception will be in November, since the second Tuesday is an election day. A presentation was made by Chuck Pederson from the USGS of a PC-based mapping system which could be useful in emergency management situations. The meeting was closed at about 11:30 AM.
Respectfully submitted, |