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Meeting of 11 April 2006 The meeting was opened at 10:00 by PCDC president Buz Harvey. In attendance were Buz Harvey, Joe Counsil, Donna Rippelmeyer, Chuck Pederson, Paul Rueff, Mike Byington, Paula Volkmer, Ray Massey, Doug James, Don Stevens, Dan Babcock, Edna Bridges, Traci Brookshire, Adie England, Rich Hashagen, Linda Hanrahan. Buz encouraged any who were not receiving regular meeting notices, and other correspondences by e-mail to let him know. We need to make sure that our e-mail list is up-to-date, since e-mail is the most efficient way to keep in countact. Dave Duncan in in the process of formulating a list of volunteers for the Medical Reserve Corps, including UMR retirees. Dave met with the UMR retirees and Dan menitoned that several are interested in volunteering with MRC. Joe gave an overview presentation of the SEMA grant review panel on which he served. The panel met on two different days to review 30 grant proposals. There were six reviewers in the first session, and eight reveiwers in the second session. There was about $600,000 in requests as contrasted with $200,000 in available funding. The panel was able to recommend cuts to the proposals amounting to about $350,000. The largest single item cut from the proposals were requests for CERT funding. A separate CERT grant solicitation will be sent in the next several weeks from SEMA, with a budget of about $300,000 for CERT training statewide, so the Citizen Corps grant applicants will be encouraged to apply for funding from the CERT grant. Therefore, if SEMA accepts the panel's recommendations, funding in general (minus CERT funds) will be to the level of around 85% of requested funds. SEMA will try to send letters of award by 17 April 2006. It was Joe's impression that the PCDC proposal will fare will in the grant process. However, Joe does not know the exact disposition of the propsal since he was out of the room when his proposal was reviewed by the panel. A result of some of the discussions concerning some of the other budget cuts from Citizen Corps grant applicatons was a commitment by SEMA to place volunteer identification card systems around the state, targeting one per highway-patrol troop district. In the next year, at least two of those will be deployed. This means that we will not need to consider purchasing an ID system (particularly for MRC), but will be able to use the regional ID system when we need it to issue cards to volunteers. There was an extended discussion about Weather Emergency Short-Term Shelters (WESTS) in the City of Rolla. Letters along with contracts are being sent to potential shelter providers in Rolla. Five locations in Rolla have responded positively. Lt. Macormic (EMD, City of Rolla) and Traci (Salvation Army) are pursuing coordination with these facilities. Joe asked Buz to send him a copy of the letter and contract for posting on the PCDC web page. There was a meeting recently concerning these shelters with Doug James, Paula Volkmer, James Macormic, John Butz, Gary Heavin, Joe Munsell, John Paul, Jodi Waltman, Buz Harvey, and Robert Williams. All at the meeting agreed that setting up WESTS in Rolla was a good idea, and pledged their support for the project. When the Citizen Corps grant funds become available (Joe reports should be in May), the PCDC will begin a public-relations campaign to educate the public about proper shelter and the availablity of WESTS during sever-weather events. Rich (North Phelps County NW) mentioned that several years ago the electrical power providers (Ameren U.E. and InterCounty) provided a subsidy to citizens for purchase of weather radios. Rich will contact the companies to encourage them to provide radios again, and will report on his progress at the next meeting. The next meeting will be held Tuesday, 9 May 2006 at the Phelps County Courthouse. Buz closed the meeting at 11:10.
Respectfully submitted, |