The meeting was opened at 1440 by PCDC president Buz Harvey.

In attendance were Buz Harvey, Tammy Snodgrass (MRPC), Joe Counsil, and Jamie Dake.

Buz discussed the need for organizational continuity in administration for the PCDC. He expressed the need for an administrator who can manage day-to-day activities while operating under the direction of the officers of the PCDC. A model for this administrative structure is the Local Emergency Planning Committee (the Meramec Regional Emergency Planning Committee - MREPC). The MREPC is an independent organization consisting of a board of directors who direct the policies and programs on behalf of the several involved counties, all of which receive grant funding. The staff of MRPC is contracted by MREPC to administer the budget and day-to-day activities on behalf of those several counties and the MREPC. Similarly, the question was asked of Jamie by Buz and Joe about if it is possible and feasible for the PCDC to contract with MRPC to serve as administrator of the PCDC grant, and how the administrative fees could be paid. Jamie answered in the affirmative that it is possible and feasible, but stated that there will be some restrictions as to exactly how the Citizen Corps grant funds may be used to pay for administrative costs. In the longer term, Joe suggested that we investigate the possibility of obtaining a VISTA worker as an administrative person. Jamie explained that either part or all of a VISTA worker's salary will be paid by VISTA, but that often they expect matching funds to be provided. This will be considered in the longer term by the PCDC, but will not be an immediate solution since it usually takes several months to process application for a VISTA worker.

Tammy said that MRPC is willing to take on this project if funding details can be worked out. She also indicated that manpower is available at MRPC to devote to this project. Tammy was given a copy of the Citizen Corps grant proposal along with the grant rules of operation. Buz asked Tammy to formulate a proposal for administration of the grant, then to send a copy of that proposal to Jamie for review. All agreed that Jamie should review the proposal to be sure that it will meet the requirements and limitations for expenditures under the Citizen Corps grant. The proposal (revised as necessary) will then be forwarded to Buz for presentation to the PCDC for approval. The goal is to implement this administration contract within the next one to two months (or as soon as possible).

Joe reported on the status of the Citizen Corps grant, expenditures to date, and projected expenditures prior to closure of the grant term at the end of November 2005. Joe sent to the six program directors instructions to provide him with documentation on expenditures to date, commentary on successes and difficulties with those expenditures, projections of expenditures prior to 30 November 2005, and projections of expenditures for the following fiscal year. Joe reported that he only received replies concerning the VIST, Masters of Disaster, WESTS, and CERT programs. He received no replies from the other programs. The funds remaining unspent at this time amount to $23,410.80 (of the original granted amount of $31,755), with projected expenditures prior to 30 November 2005 of $2,473. That would leave an unspent amount at the end of November of $20,937.80. Joe stated that it is our hope that by contracting MRPC as grant administrator, we may be able to accomplish some of the Citizen Corps grant goals prior to 30 November 2005, thus it would seem reasonable to expect that $10,000 may be left over. Joe stated that this determination can only be made when we determine the status of an administration contract and have another general meeting of the PCDC to finalize the budget. The next regular meeting of the Phelps County Disaster Committee will be held Tuesday, 13 September 2005 at the Phelps County Courthouse community meeting room, 10:00 AM. Buz and Joe stated that after that meeting we would forward our final budget for this grant to Jamie, which would allow him to redistribute any unused funds to other Citizen Corps programs. Jamie agreed that the 13 September 2005 date would satisfy his schedule needs. Buz asked Joe to contact again the program administrators who did not respond so that we may make a clear determination of the status of the grant expenditures.

Joe asked Jamie the status of the next Citizen Corps grant cycle. Jamie stated that the amount expected to be allocated from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will be about 1/3 the amount of last year's (the current) Citizen Corps grant. However, Jamie stated that CERT will be well-funded statewide, as a separate program, with possibly $700,000 available. Joe stated that this may work well with some PCDC future plans to encourage all Neighborhood Watch groups to obtain CERT training. Jamie will notify the PCDC as soon as it is time to solicit grant proposals for Citizen Corps and CERT.

To summarize tasks to be accomplished:

-Joe will obtain final budget information for expenditures through 30 November 2005 for the six PCDC Citizen Corps grant programs. This needs to be done prior to the next PCDC meeting.

-Tammy will write a PCDC administration proposal, send it to Jamie for review, then send the edited copy to Buz for consideration by the PCDC.

-The next meeting of the PCDC will be Tuesday, 13 September 2005, at which the current Citizen Corps grant budget will be finalized, the results being sent to Jamie.

Buz closed the meeting at 15:45.

Respectfully submitted,
Joseph A. Counsil
Secretary, Phelps County Disaster Committee