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Meeting of 11 July 2006 The meeting was opened at 10:00 by PCDC president Buz Harvey. In attendance were Buz Harvey, Tammy Snodgrass, Joe Counsil, Jim Pasley, Ray Massey, Sharon Fales, David Duncan, Rich Hashagen, Chuck Pederson, Paul Rueff, Gary Ross, Jodi Waltman, Linda Hanrahan, Ronaldo Luna, Jason Finch, Dan Babcock. Buz introduced Jim Paisley, the new Region I coordinator from SEMA. Buz anounced that meetings have been held monthly, but may skip the August meeting and go to quarterly or less frequent meetings as needed. He asked for opinions. Joe suggested that since our grant award is imminent and that we need to begin work, we should consider meeting in August to organize our efforts, then consider after that whether we should meet less frequently. Buz agreed, and the concensus was that we should meet in August. Joe and Buz reported on the grant status. Joe stated that Debbie Rathert at SEMA had comitted to sending grant award letters by no later than Monday, 10 July 2006. Jim said that he would follow up with Debbit to insure that the award letters were sent. Buz commented on the need to profice support as promised. He noted that volunteers become discouraged if they are not provided such promised support in a timely manner. Several people commented on the importance of volunteers, especially those in leadership positions, taking the NIMS training. There are several levels of training available depending upon one's position and requirements. The SEMA web page has details about the levels of training available. The classes can be made available free of charge if the class size is 15 or more persons. Most classes can be taken on line free of charge. Buz will e-mail details to the PCDC mailing list. Linda will provide information to Buz for that mailing. Joe asked if a shortened one-hour or two-hour presentation can on an overview of NIMS for the average volunteer. Jim said that such a shortened presentation is available for elected officials (e.g., county commissioners), and that it might be tailorable to meet the needs as Joe suggested. Tammy reported that the MRPC and other planning commissions have been asked to assume responsibilities under a move by SEMA to regionalize management of homeland-security grants. There will be a meeting on Monday, 31 July, 1:00 PM, at MRPC to discuss establishment of the Region I Homeland Security planning committee. SEMA and DHS representatives will present the regionalization plan. The appointed committee will review resources which are available and needed in the region, then decide how to distribute abailable resources. All interested persons are encouraged to attend the meeting. Tammy will send out meeting invitations and issue a press release to advertise the meeting. Joe asked Tammy and Jim if there would be SEMA funds available to support incidental expenses incurred by regionalization committee members. Jim answered that no such funding has been made available. Joe pointed out that with no support funds, committee members might be less likely to do the travel and incur other communication and organizational expenses necessary to complete their mission. Chuck reported that at the last mapping training session there were three attendees. The next session is to be held on 19 July, and five have already registered. Joe met with Rolla mayor Bill Jenks at the ham-radio Field Day event. Joe reported that Mayor Jenks expressed his committment that volunteers sould be considered an important part of emergency-preparedness planning, and that he would implement policies supporting that commitment. Linda reported that she is providing CPR/First Aid training (a 2-hour session) free of charge. This is the certified American Heart Association program, and they are available to any Neighborhood Watch or other group. Contact Linda to arrange the training. The next meeting will be on 8 August, with the meeting location to be determined since the Phelps County Courthouse meeting room is not available due to that date being an election day. Buz will send a meeting location notice prior to the next meeting date. Buz closed the meeting at 11:00.
Respectfully submitted, |