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.

Coordinator Mastandrea called the meeting to order and thanked everyone for coming. He reminded the members to sign in if they hadn’t already done so. Attendance and roll call was done by sign-in sheet, including for guests. With a quorum of members present, the meeting was able to proceed.

Coordinator Mastandrea mentioned some of the challenges in rescheduling the meeting from late August when it was originally scheduled. The LEPC Chairman had knee surgery and was not expected to be ambulatory for several more weeks. Other dates considered were based on availability of the other three officers to be able to meet the quorum. Commissioner Schram indicated he would join the meeting later in the evening. Coordinator Mastandrea thanked Werner Enterprises for hosting the meeting and providing refreshments.

BOARD REPORTS:

Chairman Report: Coordinator Mastandrea gave the report. There were no written reports of hazardous materials releases since the last meeting. There was one written resignation from J.R. Reider, who was the leader for the metro Omaha Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). J.R. moved to Holdredge to lead the Region 15 Emergency Management CERT Program .

Vice Chairman: No report.

Information Coordinator: Coordinator Mastandrea advised the committee that he was working with the United Way on the next version of the Resource Guide Book. It was identified as an after action item in the Operation Secure Metro After Action Report (AAR). Coordinator Mastandrea passed around a copy of the AAR to the committee members and told them that he would discuss the exercise in more detail in the Exercise Subcommittee Report and preceding showing of the video which was produced to document the exercise. The exercise identified some areas for improvement, one of which was the Resource Guide. Coordinator Mastandrea advised that there was now a federal timeline for the guide’s completion. Sarpy County Emergency Management received authorization this year to hire an Emergency Management Specialist. Coordinator Mastandrea was hopeful that with two more trained hands and eyes, he would be better able to help the revision process along.

Coordinator Mastandrea provided a status update to the LEOP revision. He had extensive discussions with NEMA this week to settle last minute issues. He also received a 16-page fax from a city this morning and would try to incorporate those changes. The next step is to send draft copies to all cities requesting resolutions of support. The cycle for future updates will be in either December or January each year.

Secretary: Secretary Reiter asked for a motion from the floor to approve the May 11, 2005 meeting minutes. Secretary Reiter informed the committee that she identified several typographical errors for correction. Barring the typos, there were no other identified corrections or changes. Rod Buethe motioned, seconded by Veon Dillon to approve the meeting minutes. All were in favor, none opposed, and motion passed unanimously.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Exercise: Coordinator Mastandrea gave the report. Operation Secure Metro Exercise in March went very well. A DVD was produced to document the exercise and will be shown as this evening’s program. Over $12K was paid in overtime and supplies to the agencies that participated from Sarpy County. The number was closer to ten times that in Douglas County. More than 400 responders from Law Enforcement, fire, hospitals and public health and over 300 victim volunteers at various sites participated in the exercise. Coordinator Mastandrea indicated that some valuable lessons were learned from the exercise and that agencies were already moving forward on some and close to completion on others.

Offutt hosted a successful Code Silver Tabletop Exercise in June . Coordinator Mastandrea stated that Sarpy County planned to work closer together with Offutt to jointly staff county and base Emergency Operations Centers (EOC). He suggested having a military liaison in the county EOC and that the county Emergency Management Agency be represented in the base EOC.

The Offutt Major Accident Response Exercise was held in July in preparation for the Air Show. Coordinator Mastandrea reported that although the exercise was pared down from previous years in terms of numbers of participating hospitals and victims, it went well, provided a good training opportunity and some lessons learned.

The Omaha/Council Bluffs Sub Area Contingency Plan Group conducted a Tabletop Exercise June 6 th which pointed out some things like the need for a comprehensive Resource List.

Coordinator Mastandrea said there were a lot of exercises that took place over a very short period of time . With participation in so many exercises, it leaves little to no time to sufficiently work the after action items identified for improvement from previous exercises.

The State Terrorism Exercise, Terrex ’05, is a functional exercise scheduled for the first week in November. Coordinator Mastandrea mentioned he would serve as an exercise evaluator and that Nancy Braswell from the Sarpy/Cass Department of Health and Wellness would be a controller for her department. Coordinator Mastandrea stated that approximately a dozen state agencies intended to participate in the exercise which would set the stage for a full-scale exercise in March 2006 called Terrex ‘05.05. Overtime for both exercises was being funded by federal exercise grant dollars.

Financial: Secretary Reiter reported on the balance in the LEPC checking account. Coordinator Mastandrea mentioned additional checking account activity for the past quarter included monthly account maintenance fees and a payment of $100 for the Outreach Booth. Reimbursement for the Outreach Booth was paid directly to the County. Coordinator Mastandrea stated that he was working out a way to transfer the money from the County to the LEPC account. Account balance remains at close to $900.00 after fees.

Outreach: Coordinator Mastandrea provided feedback about the Outreach Booth at the County Fair. He said that the first day was very hot and the next two days pleasant . Staff handed out just as many pamphlets as last year and all the multi-hazards wheels on hand . Coordinator Mastandrea placed an order with the State for additional wheels at a cost of $3/wheel.

Legislative: Coordinator Mastandrea reported that a SERC Meeting was held on 11 October 2005 and there was no legislative activity. The next SERC Meeting is scheduled for 10 January 2006. Coordinator Mastandrea indicated that J.R. Reider would be removed from the list of appointed members at the next SERC Meeting. He mentioned that Paul Wagner was still shown as the representative for Papillion Fire and that needed to be updated.

Response Plan: Coordinator Mastandrea stated that the next step in the LEOP rewrite process was to obtain resolutions of support. Additional information was provided in the Information Coordinator Report.

Training: Coordinator Mastandrea informed the committee that Bellevue Fire has been hosting NIMS in-person training classes. He encouraged everyone to take the free Independent Study Course, IS700, online at www.training.fema.gov/ and document the training through their respective agencies. He referenced a presentation on “Incident Command, Control and Communication during Catastrophic Events” made by Chief William Killen, President of the International Association of Fire Chiefs, to the Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Science and Technology. Chief Killen spoke about the direct result of not implementing NIMS and how it hurt the response to Hurricane Katrina. Coordinator Mastandrea stated that NIMS training would be required for Homeland Security Grant eligibility.

Coordinator Mastandrea spoke about the Region 7 LEPC Conference, Building Partnerships for the Future, held in August in Kansas City. Secretary Reiter thought the conference had outstanding speakers in five different tracts. All-day training sessions were offered on a space available basis the day preceding the actual conference. Attendees were allowed to attend session in different tracts. Speakers at the general sessions included a presenter from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) who talked about the Homeland Security Operations Center and DHS initiatives. Another was the Emergency Manager from Pennsylvania who talked about response and recovery efforts for the United Flight 93 crash and current site maintenance. Secretary Reiter mentioned that she attended sessions on the Basics of LEPCs, Health and Medical, and Homeland Security. The health and medical tract featured the individual who managed the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in Toronto and provided a good perspective on voluntary quarantine measures. Since the conference location rotates among the states in Region 7, Secretary Reiter indicated she would like to see it held back in the Omaha area so that more people from the local area could attend. Coordinator Mastandrea said the evaluations strongly recommended holding future conferences in the Kansas City Area and expected it to be held in Overland Park next time. He said that Council Bluffs expressed interested in hosting the next conference, and they needed to take an active role in the process. Coordinator Mastandrea said that what stood out from the SARS presentation was a hotline which generated over 47,500 calls in one day and over 300,000 calls over a ten-week period . He suggested needing to work towards that in the metro area . With the new 211 system, he thought the United Way might be able to help bring in volunteers to staff a hotline and answer most of the general questions, passing off technical ones to public health specialists similar to what was done with the call center Omaha operated for the white powder calls.

Coordinator Mastandrea referenced the EPA/Census Department free database and mapping system he spoke about at the last meeting. He said it was created specifically for LEPCs to help manage data on the planning and response side. Coordinator Mastandrea informed the committee that he would be teaching 24-hour Operations-level Introduction to Cameo, Marplot and Aloha Course, 28-30 October 2005 in Hastings. He mentioned that the National Center for Biomedical Research and Training was offering a 24-hour Operations-level Cameo WMD Class in December in Topeka . Coordinator Mastandrea indicated that he was working with Battalion Chief Mark Lane from OFD to set up local courses and would keep the LEPC in the loop. Coordinator Mastandrea stated that he would try to make a refresher course available because he considered it a key planning and response tool for LEPCs.

OLD BUSINESS: Commissioner Schram asked for any old business. Hearing none, he moved on to new business.

NEW BUSINESS : Commissioner Schram asked for any new business. Hearing none, he asked about agenda and location for the next meeting. Coordinator Mastandrea advised that December meetings typically do not produce a quorum. He said he would schedule a December meeting if the members decide to commit to it. Secretary Reiter suggested holding the meeting the first week in December. Coordinator Mastandrea asked if the committee wanted to meet on 7 December. Hearing member conflicts, Commissioner Schram proposed the 14 th. Hearing no objections, Commissioner Schram set the next meeting for Wednesday, 14 December 2005 at 7:30 P.M. Location to be announced.

Program: Operation Secure Metro 2005 DVD.

With no further business, the meeting was adjourned.

Respectfully Submitted,

MARIA REITER

Secretary

Created December 1, 2005