The Sarpy County Local Emergency Planning Committee was convened in open and public session on 12 June 2002 at 7:30 PM at the Bellevue Fire Training Site. The following members or alternates were present according to the sign-in sheet: Jeff Book, Rod Buethe, Terry Chullino, Keith Deiml, Gary Fleihmann, Marilyn Gable, Jane Hedges, Scott Keep, Joe Mastandrea, Wade Petersen, John Phelps, Maria Reiter, Tim Schram, Matt Wallace, M. Waley, Dick Williams, Bo Wilson, Louie Wilson, and Rolly Yost. Guests were Mr. Dennis Svoboda, State Emergency Response Commission (SERC) Coordinator and Assistant Chief Dan Wright from Lincoln Fire Department and member of the Lincoln-based Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) Team.

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.

Chairman Fleihmann requested attendees sign-in on makeshift sign-in sheets located at the front and reminded LEPC members to pick up a copy of previous meeting minutes.

BOARD REPORTS:

Chairman Report: Chairman Fleihmann advised there were no reportable Hazardous Material (HAZMAT) incidents last quarter. Bellevue HAZMAT Team responded to a total of 14 HAZMAT calls. In March, they had 6 which included pilot light out on a grill, fuel leak and cut battery cables, cat box litter and mixed bleach reaction, semi-tractor fuel leak, dump truck leaking hydraulic fluid and engine oil, and a vehicle fuel leak. They responded to 3 incidents in April involving a gasoline leak, assisting law enforcement with floor dry for an antifreeze spill, and a vehicle fuel spill. In May they had 5 responses which included a pickup leaking fuel, 1-gallon gasoline spill, high carbon monoxide readings, response to a chemical calcium hyperchlorate, and a propane gas smell from bottle relief valve. All were non-reportable. Chairman Fleihmann announced that he received an application for a new member – Mr. J.J. Kuzma from Salvation Army. He will submit the application to the County where it will be reviewed and sent to the State for approval.

Vice Chairman Report: No Report.

Information Coordinator: At the last two meetings, Coordinator Mastandrea reminded all agencies to review the Local Emergency Operations Plan (LEOP) and submit updates. He reported that he hasn’t received a lot and will contact those who haven’t responded to get their updates on any changes and procedures, names, phone numbers, resource lists, and the like. Coordinator Mastandrea mentioned that he would be working the Resource Book revision as well.

Secretary Report: Secretary Reiter recommended deferring approval of the last set of meeting minutes until next meeting to provide members an opportunity to review and submit corrections. Secretary Reiter asked for a motion to defer approval of the minutes. Matt Wallace motioned, seconded by Jane Hedges. Motion passed unanimously.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Exercise: Secretary Reiter provided information about the joint community/base Air Show Major Accident Response Exercise scheduled for Saturday, 27 Jul. Approximately 200 boy scouts and adult leaders will serve as casualty actors for the event, plus another hundred or so combination scouts and Civil Air Patrol cadets will serve as crowd. The Red Cross and Salvation Army will provide breakfast and lunch for casualty actors and response personnel. The Red Cross would like to exercise their Mental Health Counselors to conduct Critical Incident Stress Debriefing and deal with any "after-care" issues. Exercise kick-off has been set for 10:00 am and will run through the afternoon until all the casualties have been treated, transported, and released from local hospitals. Ten area hospitals have agreed to participate and plan to set up and process some casualty actors through peacetime decontamination units to check internal procedures and conduct refresher training. Offutt Fire Department needs assistance for manning augmentation from surrounding volunteer fire departments. Real world deployments have created manning shortfalls and without help, Offutt Fire will not be able to move 200 casualty actors from the accident site to the Triage Area; the actors will have to walk to the Triage Area which will destroy the legitimacy of the exercise. Secretary Reiter mentioned that she attended a Tri Mutual Aid meeting and requested assistance. Exercise planning meetings are held every Monday afternoon here at the Bellevue Fire Training Site. Secretary Reiter encouraged participation and help from the community for this very large full-scale exercise.

Coordinator Mastandrea reported that the Fort Calhoun Radiological Emergency Response Plan exercise held last October did not cover all required objectives. As a result, FEMA could potentially conduct a vehicle decontamination inspection later this month. Coordinator Mastandrea mentioned that application has been made to delay that inspection while awaiting some specific radiological monitoring equipment. OOPD provided a portable monitor to speed up radiological monitoring; we are also looking for them to provide a vehicle kit to speed up vehicle monitoring as well.

Financial: Ken Noel was unable to attend, so Coordinator Mastandrea gave the report. On 6 June, the SERC held public hearings on fiscal regulations. The next review is by the Attorney General. Coordinator Mastandrea referred the membership to Dennis Svoboda to answer any questions about this.

Legislative: Coordinator Mastandrea informed the committee that the next SERC Meeting has been scheduled for 16 July at 1:00 p.m. at the Lincoln Airport Best Western. The SERC hired a contractor to study what LEPC’s are doing across the country and to propose LEOP review criteria based on that study. Last month, the SERC held a special session where their contractor presented the proposed LEOP Review criteria. Coordinator Mastandrea reported that he distributed copies to the LEPC Board members to review and provide feedback. The proposal generated a spirited debate at the SERC meeting. Coordinator Mastandrea suggested that since Dennis Svoboda was in attendance tonight, he might be better able to address any questions.

Outreach: Chairman Fleihmann thanked Vice Chair Schram for providing our booth at the Sarpy County Fair and verified the dates as 31 July through 3 August. Chairman Fleihmann told the membership that the LEPC would set up an information booth with handouts and information on our organization. He mentioned that a letter would be sent to all members encouraging them to sign up for a shift to man the booth during open hours. Heaviest fair attendance is expected all day Friday, Friday evening and throughout the weekend. The Outreach Committee is working on different informational handouts that would be attention getting, provide information to the public, and promote our LEPC. Coordinator Mastandrea stated that other LEPC’s have done this before, so there are a lot of examples of types of literature and handouts. Coordinator Mastandrea recommended that Outreach evaluate the types of materials and start getting ready for this effort. MUD has agreed to sponsor some of the color printing for the handouts and Sarpy County will take care of black & white printing.

Plans: Coordinator Mastandrea urged all members to review the LEOP and send him any updates.

Training: Coordinator Mastandrea filled in for Dan Peterson, who just returned home from the hospital. Coordinator Mastandrea referred all members to the Nebraska Emergency Management website (http://www.nebema.org/training/trng.html) for the rest of the training calendar for this year. A 2-day Exercise Design Class may be held in late August in Weeping Water at the Cass County Emergency Operations Center. Coordinator Mastandrea provided information about the 22-24 March LEPC Conference that he and Secretary Reiter attended in North Platte. The conference included training which focused on outreach, specifically working with the media and how LEPC’s communicate the chemical safety message to the public. Secretary Reiter mentioned that she would try to compile notes from the conference and disseminate them to committee members.

OLD BUSINESS: None

NEW BUSINESS: Secretary Reiter spoke with Mike Hansen, General Manager of AM Radio Station 1020, KKSC, about support for outreach initiatives. Coordinator Mastandrea sent their program manager an introductory letter that explained our services. KKSC replied that they are interested in carrying programming that is important to Sarpy County residents and offered to help with emergency preparedness messages in general, especially dealing with hazardous materials

Dennis Svoboda, SERC Coordinator, discussed important SERC issues. He reported on the public hearing that was held on the proposed regulations for LECP and SERC cash funds. Mr. Svoboda stated that this meeting was well attended and people actively expressed their opinions. There was concern on the LEPC portion of the regulations, specifically wording that could be interpreted as mandating what the LEPC’s do if they receive cash donations or grants. Mr. Svoboda also mentioned that the SERC has taken a look at their role in Weapons of Mass Destruction incident response. The SERC concluded that it does not have a direct role, but more of an indirect role on the side of HAZMAT planning. At this point in time, the SERC is working those planning issues. Mr. Svoboda told the membership that he has submitted his resignation to NEMA, effective 21 June. After being in emergency services for over 29 years, Mr. Svoboda mentioned that he was going on to another career but would be available to help with the community/base Air Show Exercise in July. Mr. Henry Tomasi will be taking over SERC Coordinator responsibilities. Mr. Tomasi was formerly fire chief for Princeton, NJ.

Chairman Fleihmann thanked everyone for coming. Date of the next meeting is 11 September, 7:30 p.m. at Papillion Fire Hall. With no further business, the meeting was adjourned.

Submitted by

 MARIA REITER

Secretary

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Created September 11, 2002