January 2011

Obion County Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC)

January 25, 2011 – 6:00 p.m.

Location – West TN Regional Health Dept.

Attendees:

LEPC Chair – Phil Green–Town of Troy

LEPC Vice-Chair– Stan Mitchell – TN Army MARS / Rives Volunteer Fire Dept.

LEPC Secretary—Sherri Hanna—Obion County 911

Lori Barker – West TN Regional Health Department

Scott Dion—South Fulton Fire Dept./Rives Fire Dept./Samburg Fire Dept.

Jim Foster—Obion County Rescue Squad

Chief Joe Garner—Union City Police Department

Danny Jowers—Obion County EMA Director

Chief David Kendall—Rives Volunteer Fire Dept.

Tom Menees—City of Woodland Mills

Nancy Morrison—Obion County 911

Chief Bob Reavis—Hornbeak Volunteer Fire Department

Chief Mark Watson—Troy Fire Department

The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. by Chairman Phil Green.

The minutes from December 2010 were presented for approval. There was one correction to the minutes:   The Civil Air Patrol requires fifteen “members” not “pilots” to be chartered.   Chief Joe Garner made a motion to accept the minutes, and Tom Menees seconded the motion.   The motion carried.

It was discussed that the Sheriff owns that 800 MHz frequencies, not the County.   Mr. Jowers told the group that the 800 trunking is not even close to being operational. A truckload of Type 2 radios are to come in during mid-February. There are supposed to be 12 new radios and 800 others.   Mr. Jowers said that he and Chief Garner have been dealing with this for two years.  New radios are slated to be installed in Obion County Sheriff’s department and EMA.   New consoles are being installed at Obion County Sheriff’s Department and Union City Police Department.  Mr. Jowers said that the P25 radios should not have been distributed but they had to be due to warranties, etc. The 800 Mhz radios are only meant to be a complement/supplement to existing radio systems.

Fire departments are maintaining VHF frequencies, and law enforcement are staying on UHF.   The 800 MHz repeater system is not in place now.

Mr. Jowers recently attended an EOC workshop.   He said that one interesting statistic is thatthere have been no full activations of EOCs in West Tennessee. He reported that the BEOP has been sent in for the first review by TEMA.  He said that the West Tennessee directors said that their problem is they can’t get people to fillseats in the EOC.

911 has been approved by TEMA as the primary EOC for Obion County.

One thing that is needed is the appointment of an EOC Manager.   The chief elected official of the county (County Mayor) is the one who is authorized to activate the EOC, but a Manage rneeds to be in place to make sure the EOC is staffed properly and coordinate items such as food for EOC participants, etc. Volunteers are usually called upon to fill the Emergency Support Functions (ESF).

Chief Reavis discussed with the group that if the EOC is not activated and/or a disaster is not declared for an incident, the entity who ordered/committed resources is responsible for paying for them.

Mr. Jowers said that since 911 has been designated as EOC, EMA can now pay for dropping the extra phone lines into the EOC. Mrs. Hanna will contact AT&T so that they can coordinate the project with Mr. Jowers. 911 also needs to complete their perimeter fencing.

Mr. Jowers asked for a list of people needing the IS 300/400 training to be turned in to him by the end of January. The information needed is name, SSN, and copies of prerequisite course  certificates (100, 200, 700, 800). The courses will be held in the evenings.

Mr. Mitchell reported that the Civil Air Patrol was chartered on January 15 as Composite Unit195.   They are still planning their dates for 2011, and they plan to be very active in the NLE2K11.

Mrs. Hanna said that 911 will have their Open House on Sunday, February 13, from 2:00 until 4:00 p.m.

The 2011 Interoperability Conference will be held March 23-24 in Franklin. The course is free and spaces are limited.

Mr. Jowers is planning to attend the COML class February 1-4.

Chief Garner said that the City of Union City is looking into a shelter grant.  The grant is 75% national funding, 12.5% state, and 12.5% local match.

Chief Reavis asked what Obion County’s responsibility is on the NLE2K11 exercise, and Mr.Jowers said that we are free to do whatever.

Chief Reavis reported that the ham radio setup for911 has been ordered. Mr. Jowers said that hopefully the commo truck will be active by NLE2K11.    Chief Kendall asked if the commo truck can be used as a portable EOC, and Mr.Jowers said yes.

Mr. Mitchell said that the Civil Air Patrol members want POD training, especially cadets.  Mr.Jowers said that going to Trenton in May during the NLE2K11 exercise will be a great time to see POD operation in action. He can also get the POD training PowerPoint presentation thatwas taught in Jackson.

The next meeting will be held February 22, 2011, at 10:00 a.m.  Chief Garner made a motion to adjourn, and Mr. Menees seconded the motion.   The motion carried, and the meeting was adjourned at 6:50 p.m.