Minutes of the Meeting of the

Sarpy County Local Emergency Planning Committee

23 May 2007

7:30 PM

The Sarpy County Local Emergency Planning Committee convened in open and public session on May 23, 2007 at 7:30pm at the Bellevue Volunteer Fire Department Training Center.  The following members or alternates were present according to the sign-in sheet:  Mitch Beaumont, Nancy Braswell, Bill Bose, Rod Buethe, Ron Clark, Keith Deiml, Veon Dillon, Larry Fasnacht (for Steve Young), Robin Gullie, Jason Johnson, Scott Keep, Brenda Konfrst (for Tom Schwarten), J.J. Kuzma, Larry Lavelle, Jane Nitchals, Jim Palensky, Maria Reiter, Lisa Rink, Dale Tedder (for Jeff Reicks), Greg Wilch, Dick Williams, Louie Wilson, Rolly Yost, and Carol Zimmer. Guest was Craig Stoker from the Salvation Army.

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 Wilson thanked the members for attending tonight’s meeting and called the meeting to order. Roll call was done by sign-in sheet. 

Chairman Wilson asked for any additions or corrections to the meeting minutes.  Secretary Reiter indicated two changes needed to be made.  Under Fiscal in the first paragraph, delete “was” so that the sentence reads, “The LEPC received reimbursement by submitting mini-grants to the SERC for these types of activities.”  Under Training in the third paragraph delete the duplicate sentence.  Chairman Wilson asked for a motion to approve the minutes with the changes.  Rod Buethe motioned, seconded by J.J. Kuzma to approve the minutes with the changes.  All were in favor, none opposed and motion passed unanimously.  

BOARD REPORTS:

     Chairman Report:  Chairman Wilson reported that he received no written or verbal information on any reportable HAZMAT incidents during the last quarter.  He asked if anyone knew of any HAZMAT incidents that may not have been recorded.  There was no response from the membership. 

     Vice Chairman:  Vice Chair Lavelle provided the report and mentioned the handouts for the Region 7 LEPC/TERC Conference.  The conference will be held in Kansas City on 16-19 August.  The State Emergency Response Commission is sponsoring one scholarship per LEPC and members should let Vice Chair Lavelle know if they are interested in attending the conference on scholarship. 

     Information Coordinator:   No Report

     Secretary:   No Report.  The minutes were approved at the opening of the meeting. 

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

     Exercise:  Vice Chair Lavelle gave the report.    The initial training and site preparation for the Fort Calhoun Radiological Exercise has been completed.  The Radiological Exercise will be conducted at the Bellevue Registration and Reception Center on 20 August and involves Washington, Sarpy and Douglas Counties.  Secretary Reiter explained that Douglas County residents living within the 10-mile Emergency Planning Zone evacuate to the Bellevue Reception Center.  At the reception center, they are evaluated, monitored, decontaminated (if needed), and assigned to a shelter.  The exercise will be evaluated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Vice Chair Lavelle reported that the city of LaVista conducted a tornado drill two weeks ago for their city staff and Lisa Rink assisted as an exercise observer.  Secretary Reiter asked if anyone knew of any other upcoming exercises involving Sarpy County response and response support personnel.   There was no feedback from the membership.

     Fiscal:  Secretary Reiter reported that the balance in the LEPC checking account as of 4 May 2007 is $878.75.  There was no activity in the account except for the monthly maintenance fee.

     Legislative:  Secretary Reiter reported that the next SERC Meeting will be held in Lincoln on 10 July 2007 starting at 1:00 P.M.   She provided information from the SERC meeting that was held in April.  She said that Al Berndt indicated that there was nothing going through the legislature at this time that affects the LEPC.  NEMA continues to work with the Legislature on appropriation matters in terms of funds and long-term state projects.  Secretary Reiter asked SERC Member Keith Deiml to brief the committee on additional information from the meeting.  Keith talked about the Transportation Community Awareness and Emergency Response (TRANSCAER) training that the SERC is trying to schedule at different locations across the State.  Training stops and dates are still being worked out.  Keith also described an effort to properly dispose of excessive unused and improperly stored chemicals from high school and college labs.   The School Clean-Out Campaign is a grant program funded by the Environmental Protection Agency and designed to educate the educator about the importance of disposing chemicals safely.  The program also aims to improve environmental conditions at schools through the implementation of preventative mechanisms.   Maria related a story told by the SERC Member who is championing the program in Nebraska.   In the example, school administrative officials thought it more cost effective to transfer unused and unknown chemicals from an old school facility into a brand new facility than to correctly and safely dispose of the chemicals. 

     Right-to-Know (Outreach):  Carol Zimmer provided the report.  She thanked Maria Reiter and Ron Clark for staffing the LEPC Table at the 2nd Annual Sarpy County Disaster Fair.  Secretary Reiter reported that no booth space was allocated for the LEPC at this year’s Health and Safety Summit which was held at the Qwest Center on 17 May.  She received assurances from President/CEO of the National Safety Council, Greater Omaha Chapter Kay Farrell that the LEPC would receive booth space at next year’s summit.  The highlight of the event was the “Safe Community” designation conferred upon the Omaha Metroplex by the World Health Organization.  Only three other American cities have previously received this designation.

Carol said the next outreach effort is the Sarpy County Fair and asked if there was interest in sponsoring a booth.  Secretary Reiter explained that the LEPC would pay for the booth space and apply to the State for reimbursement through the HMEP mini-grant process.  Larry Lavelle indicated that he received information from former Information Coordinator Joe Mastandrea about the step-by-step process and offered to contact the Sarpy County Fair Board representative Russ Zeeb to arrange for booth space.  Ron Clark indicated he spoke to Joe about it and we can reserve a booth through Russ Zeeb, but the booth has to be paid for before the fair starts.

Secretary Reiter asked if Coordinator Mastandrea was able to provide the LEPC account information to the State before he left.  This is to ensure that electronic fund transfers from the State get routed directly into the LEPC account rather than the Sarpy County General Fund.  Vice Chair Lavelle said he would verify if the LEPC account information was transferred to the State in regards to the mini-grant process.  The process consists of obtaining approval for fund expenditure from the State, expending the funds, and then applying to the State for reimbursement

Secretary Reiter told the committee that she thought the fair outreach effort would be a worthwhile and rewarding endeavor.  Discussion followed about the time commitment for set-up and staffing the booth throughout the event.  Carol asked if there would be a problem with volunteers from REACT or RACES staffing the booth.   Vice Chair Lavelle said he had no problem asking other groups for staffing assistance.   Carol suggested that REACT would probably participate but would like to hand out some of their literature.  Chairman Wilson asked if there was a representative from REACT present at tonight’s meeting.  He reviewed meeting attendance records for the last two years and said that REACT did not send a representative to any of the 2006 meetings and has not attended any of the 2007 scheduled meetings.  Ron Clark thought there was a problem with the REACT representative not receiving e-mail announcements but thought that the problem had been resolved. 

Chairman Wilson told the committee that there wouldn’t be a problem with volunteers from other organizations staffing the LEPC booth as long as they are members of the LEPC.  Nancy Braswell suggested asking the MRC for volunteers.  J.J. Kuzma motioned to have a booth Friday through Sunday of the Fair and volunteered to help staff the booth.  Vice Chair Lavelle asked Nancy Braswell if the Health Department planned to staff its own booth.   He decided that having a booth would be doable and indicated he would send out an electronic spreadsheet schedule to the membership and use feedback from members in attendance to help fill timeslots.   Dale Tedder seconded the motion made by J.J. Kuzma to have a booth at the County Fair.  All were in favor, none opposed and motion passed unanimously.  Vice Chair Lavelle said he would arrange for a booth from Friday through Sunday and send out an electronic spreadsheet for the members to sign up for 2-hour shifts.

Secretary Reiter asked about the TV/VCR combination that Information Coordinator Mastandrea used at the booth.  Vice Chair Lavelle said it is the one from the EOC and would need to be unplugged and taken down off its mounting bracket.  Secretary Reiter asked Carol about available LEPC materials and the LEPC banner.  Ron Clark said that he found the banner in the EOC so it is available for use at the fair.    The members discussed the Shelter-in-Place magnets which the committee voted on and approved last year.  Secretary Reiter indicated that Coordinator Mastandrea did not have a source for ordering the magnets and no further action had been taken.   At the 21 February 2007 LEPC meeting, Coordinator Mastandrea mentioned he needed to apply for the mini-grant and get approval first before funds could be expended to purchase the magnets.  Secretary Reiter asked Keith Deiml if we needed to wait for the next SERC meeting to approve the mini-grant.   Vice Chair Lavelle said that the State approves the HMEP mini-grants and that it is a pretty straightforward and step-by-step process.    Nancy Braswell offered to provide Secretary Reiter with information on where the Health Department orders magnets.  The last idea proposed by the Outreach Committee Chair was to hand out stickers to children for answering some quiz questions.  Carol told the committee she had not received any suggested quiz questions from the membership. 

     Response Plan:   Vice Chair Lavelle reported that the only organizations with changes for the LEOP included Bellevue and LaVista Fire Departments. 

     Training:   Vice Chair Lavelle described the training just conducted for the Radiological Emergency Plan.  CERT completed a training class on 14 May.  Keith Deiml said that there would probably be a CERT class held in Papillion at the end of June and he was waiting to confirm the date with Chief Bose.   Vice Chair Lavelle mentioned that amateur radio certification training and licensing was held the week prior.  Secretary Reiter mentioned the ICS 300 two-day training classes offered through the Omaha Fire and UASI training instructors.

OLD BUSINESS:  Chairman Wilson said he intends to start calling the members who have missed at least three meetings and follow up the calls with a letter asking their intent.  He noticed a lot of names of members on the membership list who are no longer around.   Chairman Wilson asked about the representatives from the following organizations:  Gretna Fire, LaVista Fire, Bellevue Police Department, County Highway, Papillion/LaVista Public Schools and REACT.  Carol Zimmer and Ron Clark said they would contact the REACT representative. 

Secretary Reiter requested that members make any changes directly on the sign-in sheets so that she can provide electronic updates to Larry Lavelle and have current sign-in sheets at meetings.  Chairman Wilson told the members to provide accurate telephone, cell and pager numbers and to ensure they designate a primary number which can be used to get in contact with them.  He asked the members to review the information on the sign-in sheets and if there is anything that needs correcting to do it at tonight’s meeting so that Secretary Reiter can make the updates.

NEW BUSINESS:   Chairman Wilson asked for new business.   Vice Chair Lavelle said that the August meeting would be held at Ehrling Bergquist unless the date was going to change.  Vice Chair Lavelle said he would coordinate the 8th of August and confirm the date with Jim Jenkins.   

Secretary Reiter asked about a location for November’s meeting.  Vice Chair Lavelle said there was some discussion about holding the meeting in the Boardroom at the courthouse.  Secretary Reiter remembered Joe Mastandrea saying that the Health Department had a good place to meet.  Nancy Braswell said there is a good meeting room and agreed to host the meeting on 14 November. 

Dale Tedder suggested starting the meetings at an earlier time instead of at 7:30 P.M.  He said that when meeting duration exceeds an hour, it cuts into other another meeting he attends.  J.J. Kuzma moved, seconded by Rod Buethe to start meetings at 6:00 P.M.  Dick Williams proposed to modify the motion to start the meetings at 6:00 P.M. but keep the meetings to one hour.  This would include the program and time for any questions.   Chairman Wilson asked for any further discussion on the motion.  Hearing none, he called for a vote to approve the motion as modified by Dick Williams. All were in favor, none opposed, and motion passed unanimously.  Larry Lavelle said he would contact Jim Jenkins to let him know about the earlier start time for the 8 August meeting.

Chairman Wilson asked for any other business from the floor.  Hearing none, he asked Keith Deiml to introduce the evening’s program.

Program:  Lou Wagner, UPRR Regional Coordinator for Midwest Region 3, spoke about the TRANSCAER training tour in the Fall.

Chairman Wilson called for a motion to adjourn the meeting.  Dick Williams made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Greg Wilch.  All were in favor, none opposed, and motion passed unanimously.

Respectfully Submitted,

MARIA REITER

Secretary

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Created October 24, 2006