The Sarpy County Local Emergency Planning Committee was convened in open and public session on March 12, 2003 at 7:30 PM at the Bellevue Fire Training Center. The following members or alternates were present according to the sign in sheet: Rod Buethe, Jeff Book, Ron Clark, Keith Deiml, Bob DeVriendt, Marilyn Gable, Robin Gullie, Jane Hedges, Scott Keep, Joe Mastrandrea, Wade Peterson, Maria Reiter, Tim Schram, Matt Wallace, Rich Weber, Dick Williams, and Rolly Yost. Guests were: Jim Sitrick, Director, Sarpy/Cass County Department of Health and Wellness.

Advanced notice of the meeting was published in the Bellevue Leader and Papillion Times. Copies of Proof of Publication are on file in the Sarpy County Clerk’s Office. All proceedings were taken while the convened meeting was open to the attendance of the public.

Secretary Reiter handed out the minutes from the February 12, 2003 meeting and entertained a motion to defer approval until the next meeting to give members an opportunity to read them. Jane Hedges mentioned that she had sufficient time to look over the minutes and made a motion to approve them. Marilyn Gable seconded the motion. All were in favor, none opposed and motion carried unanimously.

BOARD REPORTS:

Chairman Report: The report on last quarter’s hazardous materials incidents was unavailable. Chairman Fleihmann has undergone surgery and remains hospitalized at this time.

Vice Chairman: No report.

Information Coordinator: Coordinator Mastandrea mentioned that Tier II reports are still coming in past the March 1 due date, but that is not unusual. Coordinator Mastandrea advised that the LEPC Resource Book revision is on hold while he tends to other business, not the least of which is grants. The USFA notified local fire departments that the FY03 grant program is available. The Information Coordinator offered to provide guidance to interested fire departments and recommended they take advantage of the grant. The Information Coordinator also provided an update on the Department of Justice (DOJ) grants. Bellevue Fire purchased equipment using FY99 DOJ grant funding. This equipment has been added to the HAZMAT vehicle and adds a capability to determine what suspicious white powders may or may not be. Matt Wallace and Pat Clarke will display the equipment after the meeting. So, we’re finally starting to make some headway from the FY99 grant program. The decision on the FY02 grant process, originally supposed to be made by January 21, 2003, has been referred to the Governor’s Leadership Committee on Terrorism. From there, it will be forwarded to the March 17, 2003 meeting of the Governor’s Policy Committee on Terrorism and then to DOJ for final approval. Within a week or two after that, Sarpy County should receive notification about how much funding it will receive. Funding amounts will be designated by agency and distributed accordingly. Finally, Congress just approved the FY03 grant program and Coordinator Mastandrea told the members that he plans to submit the grant application for that quickly. NEMA has to submit the state application by April 22, 2003, so Sarpy County’s application will be due sometime before then. Coordinator Mastandrea told the members that the application should be based off last year’s. If county growth doesn’t change much, he expects to deduct whatever dollar amount is received from FY02 grant funding from the FY03 application. FY03 grant funding for the state is projected to be $4.38M of which 20% goes to the state and 80% to the locals.

Coordinator Mastandrea mentioned that all regular LEPC members were reappointed at the February 18, 2003 SERC meeting. He will mail out the appointment letters as soon as he receives them from the State.

Coordinator Mastandrea talked about the excellent 5-day Mass Fatalities Incident Course he attended that was taught by the National Mass Fatalities Institute. The course provided attendees with a 10-binder system called the 80% solution that covers a variety of issues like command, morgue availability, family assistance centers, and policies and procedures that come into play during a mass fatality incident which can make or break a community. Course participants included over 40 personnel from Lincoln Lancaster ranging from law enforcement, state patrol, fire, Red Cross, community mental health, and funeral directors. There is a good possibility that this course will be offered in the Omaha Metro area, possibly later in the year and possibly at the Bellevue Fire Training Site. The course duration is 5 full days, which is huge time commitment. However, it is well worthwhile because it covers the kinds of things that make or break a community in the eyes of not only the victims’ families but also the entire country.

Secretary Report: Secretary Reiter made several announcements. Secretary Reiter mentioned that the slideshow up in the front was from the July 2002 Air Show Exercise which was unable to be shown at the last meeting. Secretary Reiter then briefed the membership on current news and information from FEMA’s Office of National Preparedness regarding the President’s Smallpox Plan, followed by an update on Nebraska’s Smallpox Plan. Many hospitals and healthcare workers nationwide are reluctant to take the smallpox vaccine because of concern about side effects. They remain unconvinced that the threat of a bio-attack justifies the risks. Nebraska just completed Phase I of the State’s Pre-Event Smallpox Plan, vaccinating public health officials who would respond to a bioterrorism incident involving smallpox along with health care workers who would actually provide the vaccine. The State has moved into Phase IB to recruit additional health care professionals interested in receiving the vaccine to use up approximately 800-900 doses of smallpox vaccine remaining from the Phase I effort. Secretary Reiter requested referrals/recommendations of interested physicians, pharmacists, licensed professional nurses, RN’s or school nurses in an effort to expand the local smallpox healthcare response team from 29 to 100 members. The Department of Health and Human Services completed a state of the art command center designed to handle any bioterrorism or public health emergency with a self-contained ventilation system that would allow government officials to take refuge there for extended periods of time. In remarks to the National Emergency Management Association, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge decided on national efforts to improve security but called upon states to help shoulder the financial burden. Finally, the National Safety Council called upon Americans to develop a culture of preparedness and to support the development of all-inclusive emergency response plans in businesses and homes.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Exercise: The Information Coordinator mentioned that there are two exercises scheduled in July. On Friday, July 25, the State will receive the Strategic National Stockpile Training and Education Demonstration Package. On the following day will be another joint base-community NDMS Exercise with mass casualty component. Coordinator Mastandrea requested that members let him know about any upcoming HAZMAT type exercises.

Financial: Secretary Reiter reminded the members that the Fiscal Committee Chair position is still open. At last month’s meeting, Chairman Fliehmann asked for anyone interested to see him after the meeting. There was no word on whether anyone was interested and came forward, so the position remains open.

Legislative: Coordinator Mastandrea stated that the next SERC meeting would be held on Tuesday, April 15, 1:00 p.m. at the Lincoln Airport Hampton Inn. The bill we were interested in, LB 490, did not make it out of committee. Given the State revenue shortfalls, Coordinator Mastandrea stated that the LEPC funding bill would not be submitted this year. Secretary Reiter explained that LB 490 proposed emergency management funding from surcharges on casualty insurance policies. If the bill had made it out of committee, it would have helped reduce the reliance on federal funding which is expected to drop off sometime in FY04. Secretary Reiter mentioned that she went to the hearing and that Bill Cover, Cass County Emergency Manager, testified on behalf of the bill.

Outreach: Secretary Reiter reported that Steve Young agreed to chair the Outreach Committee for another year. The officers previously approved the suggestion to sponsor a booth again at the county fair, scheduled to run the first full weekend in August. Steve Young will send out sign-up sheets and members are asked to sign up for 2 hours to provide manning for the booth.

Response Plan: Coordinator Mastandrea reminded the members to submit any updates or changes for this year’s revision to the LEOP.

Training: The Information Coordinator gave the report. Coordinator Mastandrea informed the members that he would provide electronic copies of the 122-page Office of Domestic Preparedness Emergency Responder Guidelines to any of the responder groups interested in getting a copy. He also agreed to produce hard copies if he receives more than one request for the document that way. Coordinator Mastandrea told the members that there were no NEMA Training Calendars available. He provided information about the upcoming Toxic Release Inventory Report training scheduled in April in Region VII. Although the LEPC is not directly responsible for tracking the TRI Reports, they help to ferret out the facilities that should be submitting Tier II Reports. Finally, he discussed the Save the Date Handout and training offered at the Region VII EPA Conference in Omaha, 21-24 August 2003. Coordinator Mastandrea described the conference as an excellent training opportunity and asked the members to try to put some time aside to attend some or all of it. The conference consists of one-day training courses on Thursday, August 21. The next two days consist of a set of training tracks. Attendees are not required to stay in a particular track and can switch between sessions depending upon their interests and training needs. The conference concludes on Sunday morning with state and local breakout sessions. The Information Coordinator mentioned that the conference is being looked at as a development tool for the LEPC to take it to the next level. He encouraged everyone to take advantage of this free 4-state training opportunity. Matt Wallace asked if a session on meth labs would be offered similar to what was provided at the 2001 conference. Coordinator Mastandrea responded that he didn’t see one on the schedule but would let Matt know for certain following next week’s program committee meeting.

Program: James Sitrick, Director of the Sarpy/Cass County Department of Health and Wellness, provided an overview of the newly established district health department.

OLD BUSINESS: None

NEW BUSINESS: None

Adjournment: Date of the next meeting is June 11th at Bellevue Fire District 4. Coordinator Mastandrea asked if there was anything to add to the agenda. Secretary Reiter thanked everyone for coming. With no further business, the meeting was adjourned.

Submitted by

MARIA REITER

Return to the Sarpy County LEPC Page

Created March 13, 2003