NORTHBOROUGH LOCAL EMERGENCY PLANNING COMMITTEE (NLEPC) MEETING MINUTES
March 16, 2010 10:00 A.M. Northborough Fire Department 11 Pierce Street Northborough, MA 01532
Chief Durgin called the meeting to order at 10:10 a.m. and introduced himself, John Coderre Town Administrator, and Nancy Lepore Fire Department Hazardous Materials Assistant. Meeting participants then introduced themselves to attendees. A paper copy of the NLEPC (Northborough Local Emergency Planning Committee) Hazardous Materials Plan (Hazmat Plan), available Tier 2 Inventory forms for 2009 from Northborough facilities and their associated Material Safety Data Sheets and planning materials were on display for attendees to view along with an NLEPC membership list. Paper copies of all NLEPC web pages from the town website were on display and the tri-fold display for public outreach was also on view. Handouts for Continuity of Operations Plans (COOP) websites for templates and courses were
also available as was an example of a disaster go-kit. And a copy of the Town of Northborough Emergency Preparedness Handbook – Preparing for the first 72 hours of an emergency or disaster was available to attendees.
Old Business - Copies of the 09/21/09 meeting minutes were available for attendees and were also mailed out with today’s meeting notice. A motion was made to forgo a reading of these meeting minutes, and was passed by a majority vote of attendees. A motion was then made and passed by a majority of attendees to accept the meeting minutes as written.
Review of Planning Information - Ms. Lepore told the attendees that many Tier II Chemical and Hazardous Inventory forms have been received from all facilities except for 4 facilities that have reported in the past. Accompanying Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) were received from some of the reporting facilities along with site plans and Emergency Action Plans (EAP). A second request for Tier II and emergency planning information will be mailed within a week to those facilities that have not reported yet. A reminder was relayed to the attendees that battery acid in reportable quantities must be reported on the Tier II form because the battery acid has sulfuric acid, an extremely hazardous substance according to EPCRA (Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act). This includes
truck and forklift batteries.
A survey of the Special Locations such as nursing homes and schools was sent out on March 1 to Special Locations within Northborough to obtain planning information on those facilities to include in the town Emergency Plans, The Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (CEMP) and the Hazardous Materials (HAZMAT) Plan. The survey is based upon the emergency planning information needed for the computer program, Computer Aided Management of Emergency Operations (CAMEO), sponsored by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Approximately, half of the Special Locations have responded.
The planning information gathered will be placed into the town Emergency Plans.
Review of Emergency Plans – The CEMP and the HAZMAT Plans were reviewed and revised from October to December 2009 using the electronic Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan system (eCEMP) sponsored by Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA). These plans were reviewed and then accepted by the Board of Selectmen on 12/17/09. Four copies of each plan were printed and distributed to emergency services, the Board of Selectmen and the Town Administrator. These plans were also downloaded from the eCEMP website and placed on stand-alone town computers and additionally CDs were made of the plans and distributed to town department heads and officials.
eCEMP – Ms. Lepore attended a meeting in February with Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) officials concerning the status of the electronic Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (eCEMP) program. The program has been in place for several years and has allowed Northborough and all other Massachusetts communities to input data specific to their own community and create their own emergency plans according to state and federal guidelines. Northborough has encountered some problems with the program regarding mapping. At that meeting, MEMA officials relayed that the eCEMP program will be discontinued as of 12/31/10 and that input capabilities of creating new mapping points have been eliminated with the vendor. The eCEMP is available to input new written
information until the end of 2010 but without the mapping capability for new facility locations. The eCEMP is available for download also by the town until that time. The town has downloaded the eCEMP as described above. The cost of the program was cited as one reason for discontinuing eCEMP.
Officials at MEMA explained that a new program, Resource Management Directory (RMD) will be going on-line after the end of 2010 and that there are plans to include the function of the eCEMP into it after the initial start-up period.
Ms. Lepore explained at the meeting that discontinuation of the mapping portion of the program creates problems with upkeep of the town emergency plans. An alternative to using eCEMP for planning as changes occur in the community could be to revert to the type of MS Word document that was used to create the stand-alone town emergency plans in 2002 in conjunction with mapping as created in CAMEO, which is available to the NLEPC and the Fire Department. Currently, several of the portions of the eCEMP appear as .pdf Adobe files when downloaded. These files typically contain the most changes to the plans as they are updated. This type of file is read-only, therefore changes in planning information can not be made using them. MEMA officials discussed methods of converting these .pdf files to MS
Word documents so that changes can be made by the community to their plans once eCEMP is discontinued, but there would be no formatting associated with the current information as seen in the .pdf files. Therefore, this information would then need to be cut and pasted into a formatted MS Word document so that it would be equivalent to the current .pdf files.
H1N1 Status – Ms. Jamie Terry, Town of Northborough Health Agent, submitted an update letter on 2/17/10 regarding the town’s efforts in response to the presence of H1N1 influenza that was read by Ms. Lepore as follows: “As of 2/17/10 the Northborough Health Department has successfully administered 3,167 doses of H1N1 vaccine to the general public. (This is roughly 21% of the population). Persons were vaccinated at 15 public clinics, 2 nursing home clinics and 2 business clinics. A final H1N1 public vaccination clinic is scheduled to be held at Algonquin Regional High School on 2/23/10 from 4-8 PM. Please feel free to post this information in your facilities for your employees and if you are interested in having a business clinic at your business please contact me.
As for reports of influenza like illness, there have been little to no cases of seasonal flu reported in Massachusetts. (This is noted to be typical during a pandemic since the pandemic strain of flu will dominate). An up and down pattern of H1N1 influenza like illness continues to be seen in Massachusetts, however even with that the numbers are extremely low. The Department of Public Health believes that the hard work and dedication of health officials in distributing the vaccine, along with heightened awareness about handwashing and cough etiquette have worked to curb the feared outbreak of H1N1 cases.
I continue to attend meetings and conference calls on a regular basis regarding H1N1. (There will be a statewide “hot-wash” H1N1 submit later in March that I am scheduled to attend). If a third wave does appear I feel extremely confident in our ability to quickly and appropriately respond. Respectfully submitted, Jamie Terry, Health Agent”
John Coderre lauded the accomplishments of Ms. Terry with the Town’s response to the planning, management and response to the H1N1 pandemic in the town with the scheduling of vaccination clinics, communications and coordination with MA Dept. of Health and also with the School Nurses and School Superintendent of the ongoing levels of flu in the school system and additionally maintaining public outreach of the situation.
Dr. Gobron also lauded the efforts and coordination of Ms. Terry and the School Nurses including the Head Nurse, Laurie Pardee, for their successful planning, mitigation, monitoring and response to the H1N1 flu pandemic as it affected the school system for the same reasons. The outreach to parents with situation information helped to dispel rumors about H1N1 pandemic severity. Posting of information on the school website and the town website with H1N1 information assisted with alleviating some of the numerous phone calls to the Superintendents Office and the School Nurses for H1N1 information. One lesson learned from this pandemic, he related, included the use of situation communications to parents of students via email rather than the use of the Connect-Ed reverse phone system to notify parents of
students because it is a slower venue of communication. The Connect-Ed continued to be used for weather related school closings.
Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Council (CMRPC) Regional Pre-Disaster Mitigation Plan – Ms. Lepore told attendees that a federal grant was given to CMRPC two years ago to formulate a regional pre-disaster mitigation plan for submission to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Planning information equivalent to information in the Northborough HAZMAT Plan with identification of town facilities, special locations and HAZMAT facilities was gathered from each community served by the CMRPC and input into a Pre-Disaster Mitigation Plan. A series of meetings and also communications by emails and telephone occurred to create a base plan for the region. Town officials including the Fire Department, Town Engineer, and Town Planner were contacted for participation in the
planning process. Once the base plan was finished, the communities were allowed a comment period for changes prior to its submission to MEMA for initial approval. After MEMA review, the plan will be sent to FEMA for review and possible acceptance. Should the plan be accepted by FEMA, the region will become eligible for mitigation projects for federal grant funds. A sheet from CMRPC passed around to the membership listed suggestions for local hazard mitigation measures including projects for dam safety.
Northborough Emergency Animal Rescue Team (NEART) update – Ms. Lepore asked Ms. Claudia McGuire, Dog Officer, to give the membership an update of NEART activities. Ms. McGuire told membership that the next meeting of the group is on 4/7/2010 and that the Animal Response Plan is being written. She also mentioned that a Small Animal Handling & First Aid course is being offered by MEMA to the public at no cost in three places around the state in April. The course will be offered on Thursday April 1 at MEMA Headquarters in Framingham at two times. Courses may be found at www.mass.gov/mema under Training.
Continuity of Operations Plans (COOP) – The LEPC membership was again encouraged by Ms. Lepore to create COOPs for their facilities and/or departments. It was explained that the benefit of having a COOP would be that during time of a disaster facilities/departments would have planning in place to maintain the most important functions of the facility/department. Ms. Lepore made copies of handouts with website links for further information on creating COOPs for both small and large facilities using simple or more elaborate COOP plans. Those web links will be posted on the LEPC website.
Public Outreach – Ms. Lepore spoke about the new LEPC web pages that can be found on the town website, http://www.town.northborough.ma.us/Pages/index , under Boards and Committees. These web pages include a home page explaining the purpose of the LEPC, LEPC member groups, meeting information, address and contact numbers. Links include: Committee Rules, Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) Fact Sheet, MA Dept. of Environmental Protection, Meeting Minutes, Meeting
Notices, Safety Tips for Hazardous Materials Emergencies, a FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) Household Hazardous Materials course link, Notice for Planning Information Availability, MA State Emergency Response Commission, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Links for more information to external websites are included throughout these pages.
The Tri-fold display for LEPC information has been at Apple Fest, Town Hall, Fire Prevention Fair and opening weekend at Juniper Hill golf Course in the past, Ms. Lepore explained. Plans are to place this display again in those venues and to also include the new Senior Center.
New Business – Ms. Lepore mentioned that a 28 page brochure, Town of Northborough Emergency Preparedness Handbook – Preparing for the first 72 hours of an emergency or disaster has been printed and released to the public. Jamie Terry formulated the brochure to address sheltering, 72-hour kits, emergency broadcast media sources and many other helpful tips for citizens with web links for additional information. It is available in .pdf version on the town website. She also mentioned that the example of a disaster personal kit was on display to give the public an idea of what goes into a kit of this type.
Ms. Lepore told attendees that Household Hazardous Waste Day was held on 11/7/09 which was sponsored by United Industrial Services Inc./Zecco and the town. This was a success. Proper disposal of household hazardous waste keeps hazardous materials out of the environment and prevents unwanted exposure to hazardous materials.
John Coderre mentioned that the Town Website has a subscription service for residents to receive e-mails of information concerning the town and this could be helpful in another ongoing emergency situation to receive updates. He also suggested that the website contain a glossary of the acronyms for all agencies and terms utilized in for the public to reference and to also explain their connection to town departments and entities. Bill Farnsworth added that there is a link to “MEMA’s After the Flood” information on the town website.
Leslie Rutan asked if there was a siren in town to reach all citizens in an emergency. Chief Durgin answered that the fire air whistle at the fire dept. is the only air whistle and it does not reach all areas of town. He added that constructions of sirens in town are expensive to build at $10,000. apiece and are expensive to maintain and that there are several named methods, radio and cable TV broadcast and police and fire sirens with PA systems, in the town emergency plans to alert the public in an emergency and that reverse 911 is also available to the town for broadcasting emergency messages.
John Coderre relayed to members that the Town Hall generator now includes circuit wiring to the MIS/GIS Department to keep the town computer system running to accommodate computer use by town officials during an emergency.
John Coderre added that a one-page sheet should be created and mailed out with one of the town mailings with emergency telephone numbers and emergency procedures for townspeople to follow as a companion document to the Town of Northborough Emergency Preparedness Handbook – Preparing for the first 72 hours of an emergency or disaster. Chief Durgin added that the public needs to be aware of self-preparation for emergencies with a family plan and emergency supplies for 72 hours. Families should also think about methods of communications among family members should they be separated, pre-determined meeting places to reunite, and safe places that their children may go to if the parents are unable to travel home. Dr. Gobron also relayed that should an emergency early dismissal occurs with the
schools, if the demographics of the parent is too far to get home, young children not met by a the family designee are returned to the school by the bus driver to wait for their parents with school officials. Sergeant Bruce added that an emergency family plan including a contingency if you are separated from your children is essential. Both he and Dr. Gobron said that department phone lines are overwhelmed in an emergency by families and citizens seeking information. Sgt. Bruce said that the police department (PD) has a pre-recorded message directing callers to the PD information on the town website in a case like this. This would free up personnel to deal with the emergency. John Coderre added that there is a proposal for a new town phone system in capital planning to add greater capabilities that would be beneficial during an emergency.
Chief Durgin added to the previous information about the pending Regional Pre-Disaster Mitigation Plan saying that any granted projects as an outcome of this plan will require a 25% matching funds by the town.
Chief Durgin also mentioned that the town would be conducting another LEPC tabletop exercise towards the summer. And, he added that he had just attended a State Fire Mobilization Plan tabletop exercise that simulated simultaneously 2 forest fires in East Brookfield and Auburn, a commuter rail crash in Mansfield with 450 injuries and involving the MA Dept. of Fire Services (DFS), MEMA, MA Dept. of Public Health (DPH) and Emergency Medical Services (EMS). As a result of this exercise the plan was reviewed by IAFC (International Association of Fire Chiefs) with a review to be forwarded.
Ms. Lepore and Chief Durgin told the membership that the signboard was used during the flooding to assist with traffic closures and that other signboards in surrounding communities may be borrowed by Northborough if they are already not in use.
The meeting adjourned at 11:25 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Nancy Lepore, Coordinator
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