Disaster Planning Committee -- May 22 meeting minutes

Town of Candor Disaster Planning Committee

May 22 Meeting Minutes

At the Disaster Planning Committee meeting May 22, the following people were present:

Joe	Bish
Jim	Douglas
Sherry	Haner
Damir	Lazaric
Dan	Lindsay
Bob	Riggs
Steve	Truesdail
George	Williams

To summarize our discussion:

• We had some discussion about what the end result of these meetings should be.  We want to be better prepared for an emergency.  To do that we will improve our plan and to the degree possible better inform the public as to what they need to do.  Improvements to the Town’s existing emergency plan should include, but not be limited to:
• We should include an organizational chart describing the Emergency Operation Center (EOC) roles that will provide the leadership in case of an emergency.  This chart should not only identify the Town officials but it should also include the Fire Dept, Police, Village, Churches, School and volunteer organizations that might be involved.
• Names of individuals who will be fulfilling the roles identified in the org chart should be identified as well as a line of succession in case some of the identified individuals are unavailable.
• Reference information should be provided to help avoid many of the problems we have identified.  This could be provided in question and answer form.  This could be organized by EOC role so that the reference information can be divided up among the participants.  For example, there could be a folder that would be given to the Logistics Officer that would provide information on such things as what facilities could be used, what supplies are stockpiled, how to engage the Candor Food Bank, how to engage the Red Cross, etc.
• All contingency plans that we can document should be attached to the emergency plan.
• We then picked up where we left off the previous week in analyzing the list of ideas generated in our kickoff meeting on May 9.
• Which buildings have backup generators that could keep them operational in case the power is off?
• Candor Town Hall
• Candor Fire Hall
• Candor Central School
• We need to develop an evacuation plan.  This may go hand in hand with Jon Roman’s idea of dividing the Town into regions.   That is, each region might have a different evacuation route.  This plan might include the use of the School’s busses or the assistance of the snowmobile or ATV club depending on the situation.
• We need to identify potential shelters and distribution centers.  In the flood the Baptist Church was a shelter and the Methodist Church was a distribution center.  We need to communicate with other churches too (e.g., Congregational Church, Episcopal Church, Bridge of Hope Ministries, etc.) to understand their potential role in an emergency.  Furthermore, since the Candor School has a generator it is probably better equipped to be a shelter, but it does not have a stockpile of cots and blankets like the Baptist Church does.  In addition, we probably need a Memorandum of Understanding  (MOU) with these organizations to facilitate their speedy mobilization.
• We need to better understand how to engage the Red Cross for their assistance with shelters, distribution centers, etc.  There was tremendous confusion in this regard during the flood.
• By a resolution of the Town Board in an emergency the Village Police can be given jurisdiction over the entire Town.  This can be added to the Shared Service Agreement between the Village and Town.
• We could possibly have MOU’s for potential emergency support with Town businesses such as Robinson’s, Home Central, Rte 96 Power and Paddle, Candor Market, Food Pantry, Extra Mart, Iron Kettle, etc.
• Since the Town Hall would be the EOC, we need to determine if it has sufficient telephone lines?
• Do we need to procure additional radios and walkie/talkies?
• During the flood the Baptist Church operated well as a shelter, but they lacked sufficient laundry facilities.  We have heard that the Tide Corporation has mobile laundry facilities that can be engaged in an emergency.  We need to find out about that and, also, see if there are other options as well.
• How could we get portable toilets if we needed them?
• What methods could be used to notify and/or organize the populace?
• Tioga County Reverse 911
• Facebook
• Email
• Twitter
• Due to the fact that more and more people are relying more on cell phones and less on land lines to maximize the effectiveness of the Reverse 911 calling system we need to encourage everyone with a cell phone to register it with the County’s service provider.  That can be done by going to:  http://www.hyper-reach.com/comsignup.jsp?id=14982
• How would we become aware of the status of everyone in the Town?  If we could get the County to give us a copy of the 911 address info we would at least know where everyone lives.  Then we would have to figure out how we could check on everyone.
• We need a contingency plan for getting the Town Officials into the EOC.
• We need someplace to serve as a pet shelter.  People are not usually allowed to take their pets to the people shelters and that causes a reluctance to evacuate when necessary.
• How do we manage the clean up. 
• During the flood we had issues with out of towners using our dumpsters.  This was especially a problem in Catatonk which straddles the Candor/Toiga border.
• We may need to designate certain locations as temporary dumps.
• Be aware that Rick Porter sold off his dumpster business, so if we needed dumpsters in the future we would have to call someone else.
• Be aware that for the Town to get FEME reimbursement for debris removal we need FEMA’s approval IN ADVANCE.  We did not have it during the flood and it has caused enormous headaches in trying to get reimbursed.
• We need to inform everyone of such things as:
• What they should do in case of an emergency?
• Who do they call?
• Where is a central meeting place?
• Where is the local Emergency Operations Center?  The Town Hall
• What do you need to have on hand?
• We probably need a stockpile of:
• Cots, blankets
• MRE’s
• Water
• Sand bags
• Stockpiles could be stored in PODS kept at the Town Barn.
• How could we get PODS or similar containers?  We should check out government surplus.

Future meetings will be Wednesdays from 7-8:30 PM at the Town Hall.

Next steps include, but are not limited to:

• These minutes as well as the minutes from the previous meeting document a number of problems and questions.  We need to define a solution to those problems and answer those questions.  This should all be documented and organized into the new plan.
• At the beginning of these minutes we discussed what the finished plan should look like.  We need to complete that definition. 
• There is a lot to be done to fully develop and implement a new plan.  To accomplish that we will also need to engage many other people.  It would be a good use of time to sit down and map out a plan for plan.  That is, just how do we want to go about doing all of this and on what schedule?

Bob Riggs

Town Supervisor

Special Meeting

Disaster Preparedness

Candor Fire Hall

Owego Road

Candor, New York 13743

Supervisor Riggs opened the meeting at 7:00pm.

Present:  Supervisor Riggs, Clm. Williams, Clm. Strosahl, Clm. Bish, Clm. Lindsay, Former Clm. Dougherty, Code Officer James Douglas, Highway Superintendent Kevin Noble and Town Clerk Connie Kulze.

Guest:  Candor Emergency Squad, Candor Fire Company, Weltonville Fire Company, Press, Village Board, School, County Emergency Management Officer, Village Chief, Churches, State Police, Candor Market, American Legion, Local Business’s, Red Cross, Candor Food Pantry, Amateur Ham Operator, County Legislator William Standinger and several people from the Public.

Supervisor Riggs suggested breaking up into two groups.  The plan for the meeting was to make a list of What Went Well and What Needs Improvement.

Many wonderful ideas came from all.  Supervisor Riggs asked for volunteers to form committees.  James Douglas, Joseph Bish, Dan Lindsay, Nancy King, George Williams, Jon Roman, Kathy Ballester, Steve Truesdail, William Kulze and Georgia Westgate graciously volunteered.

Special Meeting for the Committees will be held at the Town Hall May 16, 2012 at 7:00pm.

Meeting ended at 9:00pm.

Disaster Planning Committee -- May 15 meeting minutes

Town of Candor Disaster Planning Committee

May 16 Meeting Minutes

At the Disaster Planning Committee meeting May 16, the following people were present:

Kathy	Ballester
Joe	Bish
Jim	Douglas
Sherry	Haner
Sue	Heavenrich
Nancy	King
Bill	Kulze
Damir	Lazaric
Dan	Lindsay
Bob	Riggs
Jon	Roman
Steve	Truesdail
George	Williams

To summarize our discussion:

• A good planning resource can be found here:
• http://www.dhses.ny.gov/oem/planning/documents/Planning-Guide.pdf
• Challenges:
• Elements of this plan need to be communicated to everyone in the Town of Candor so at least they know who to contact for help.
• Once we develop this plan the participating organization must treat it as a “living document” that gets continually updated and reviewed.
• HAM radio operators should be enlisted as a communications resource in case the telephone system is inoperable or overloaded.
• Dick LeCount says the County will be getting “Go Kits” that HAM operators can use to set up a station in the Town Hall.
• Do we need to procure and install a permanent antennae at the Town Hall to facilitate this?
• Jim Kulze says there are about a dozen HAM operators in our area.
• We need to develop a complete list of possible resources that could be used in an emergency.
• An emergency can be declared by the Village Mayor, the Town Supervisor, the Chairperson of the County Legislature, the Governor or President.  When that occurs Article 2-B of NY Executive Law comes into effect.
• Jon Roman said it would help emergency response if we divided the Town into a number of districts/communities.  Perhaps each would have its own community leader/go to person in case of emergency.
• We need to have a contingency plan for telephone outages.
• This might include having runners, portable radios, HAM radio operators, etc.
• There needs to be representatives from the Town Board, Village Board, Highway Dept, Fire Dept, etc. in the Emergency Operations Center (i.e., the Town Hall) for the duration of an emergency to facilitate coordination of resources and response.
• Chief Lazaric pointed out that any NY Police Officer would have jurisdiction here in Candor once they are requested to be here. 
• We could use PODS to store such emergency supplies as cots and MRE’s.  Those PODS could be stored at the Town Barn and transported to wherever they are needed with Highway Dept resources.
• We need to determine how to address medication needs for the elderly in case of an emergency.
• The Fire Dept has a snow sled that is to be used by the EMT’s to perform a rescue via snowmobile.
• We should put key information about the Disaster Plan in the Candor Community Directory.
• The Fire Dept a cold water rescue team.
• The Town and Fire Dept have a radio tower that allows local traffic (including the school) to reach distant areas such as Owego.
• We have had good cooperation between the Fire Dept and the County.
• School buses could be used for transport of evacuees.
• We need to adopt the FEMA (i.e., NIMS) chain of command structure.  This is explained in the FEMA ICS 100  and ICS 200 classes.
• We may need a District Fire Chief to coordinate between the Candor and Weltonville Depts. and report to coordinate with the Town Supervisor/EOC.
• We need phone trees.
• The County has a reverse 911 system that can be used to send an emergency message to everyone in a selected area.  We need to communicate to everyone with cell phones that they if they register their cell phones with this system they can receive emergency messages as a text message and/or voice message on their cell phones.  To register go to:  http://www.hyper-reach.com/comsignup.jsp?id=14982
• We need to develop an Education Plan for Key Response Leaders that they can communicate to their teams.
• Our Fire Dept doesn’t have a boat.  We have to rely on assets from neighboring districts.  We need a Swift Water Rescue team.
• We need better communication between the School, Town, Fire Dept, Churches, Highway Dept, etc.
• We need a structure/procedure for mobilizing volunteers.
• We need to better understand the procedures for engaging the Red Cross and opening a shelter and distribution center.
• During the flood the Distribution Center closed too soon.
• The Dept of Health gave Tetanus and Flu shots.
• We need to clarify who is responsible for debris cleanup in creeks.  The Highway Dept is responsible for cleanup near bridges and culverts, but otherwise it is the property owner’s responsibility.
• Our contact lists should include:
• NYSEG – be aware there are multiple districts, so the correct team must be engaged.
• DOT
• State Police
• Frontier telephone
• Food Pantry
• Local businesses (e.g., Robinson’s Contracting, Candor Market, Signs Equipment, etc.)
• Public Health Dept
• Medical Reserve
• We need an evacuation plan.
• We need to identify buildings that can be used as shelters.

We did not finish our analysis of information collected at the kickoff meeting last week.  We will continue at our next meeting Tuesday May 22 from 7-8:30 PM at the Town Hall.

Bob Riggs

Town Supervisor

Agenda for Regular Town Board meeting June 12

Town of Candor

Regular Town Board Meeting

June 12, 2012

Agenda

1.       6:30 PM -- Call to order

2.       Review/Approve vouchers

·         Approve funds for flags on veterans graves

3.    7:00 PM -- Opening Prayer & Pledge of Allegiance

4.    Privilege of the floor

5.    Review of the minutes from the May 8 Regular meeting.

6.    Committee reports

·                   Assessor’s Committee – Bill Strosahl & George Williams

o   Town Assessor

·                   Buildings & Grounds – Bill Strosahl & Danny Lindsay

·                   Code Enforcement – George Williams & Bill Strosahl

o   Code Enforcement Officer

·                   Equipment, Cemeteries & Cable TV – George Williams & Dan Lindsay

o   Discuss Time Warner Cable contract

·                   Highways & Highway Contract – Joe Bish & Bill Strosahl

o   Highway Superintendent

·                   Planning Board Liaison – George Williams & Joe Bish

·                   Dog Control & Kennel – Joe Bish & Danny Lindsay

7.    Old Business

8.    New Business

·         Adopt resolution to sponsor the Independence Day parade

·         Adopt resolution on Elected and Appointed Officials Reporting to NYS Retirement System

·         Appoint Disaster Planning Committee

·         Review/approve Planning Board recommendation on a resolution supporting natural gas development in the Town of Candor

9.    Roundtable

11.  Executive session, if necessary

12.  Adjournment

Candor Town Board Meeting

May 8, 2012

101 Owego Road

Candor, New York 13743

The Regular meeting of the Candor Town Board was called to order at 6:30pm with review and approving vouchers.  At 7:00pm the Board opened with Prayer and Pledge of Allegiance.

Present:  Supervisor Robert Riggs, Clm. George Williams, Clm. William Strosahl, Clm. Joseph Bish and Clm. Dan Lindsay.

Others Present:  Highway Superintendent Kevin Noble, Attorney Kurt Schrader, Assessor Denise Spaulding, Code Officer James Douglas and Town Clerk Connie Kulze.

Guest:  Tom King and Doug Haner from the Candor Fire Department, 5 people from the Public and 2 Press Representatives.

Privilege of the floor:  Tom King and Doug Haner representing the Candor Fire Department presented Superintendent Kevin Noble with the Roger Townsend Award for his outstanding service.

M-41  Supervisor Riggs moved, seconded by Clm. Williams to give Highway Superintendent Kevin Noble permission to assist the Fire Department when in need.  Vote:  Riggs-aye, Williams-aye, Strosahl-aye, Bish-aye and Lindsay-aye.

M-42  Clm. Strosahl moved, seconded by Clm. Bish to accept the minutes of April 10, 2012 as presented.  Vote:  Riggs-aye, Williams-aye, Strosahl-aye, Bish-aye,

Town Clerks monthly report and the Dog Report were presented to the Board and is filed with the Clerk.

Committee Reports:

Assessor’s Committee – No report

Assessor Denise Spaulding reported the Tentative Assessment Roll and was filed on May 1, 2012 and also thanked Supervisor Riggs for putting it on the Website.  Tuesday May 15 Mike Maxwell, the Board of Assessment Review and Assessor Spaulding will be meeting at the Town Hall to go over the reval and answer any questions.  Assessor Spaulding addressed the Board regarding the need of having a color printer in her office; Supervisor Riggs graciously gave Assessor Spaulding his color printer from his office. 

M-43  Clm. Lindsay moved, seconded by Clm. Strosahl to give permission for Denise Spaulding to attend the Seminar on Appraising at Cornell University in July with Candor’s share being $186.00.

Clm. Lindsay brought up the last voucher that Mike Maxwell submitted which will be held until some issues are taken care of and Assessor Spaulding is satisfied.

Buildings & Grounds Committee – Clm. Strosahl received one bid for the Town Hall Moving from We Mow at $60.00 per cut.

M-44  Clm. Strosahl moved, seconded by Clm. Williams to accept We Mow’s bid for the Town Hall at $60.00 per cut.  Vote:  Riggs-aye, Williams-aye, Strosahl-aye, Bish-aye and Lindsay-aye.

Clm. Strosahl reported the estimate for having the Town Hall repaved by Spencer Paving came in with 2 different quotes: 1 ½” top @ $21,000.00 and a 2” top @ $26,875.00.  Clm. Strosahl felt it was too high and would like to see the shoulders backed up and just sealed this year.  It was left that Superintendent Noble would get some bids for sealing.  Clm. Strosahl and Clm. Lindsay will do more research on the mobile tanks for fuel accountability.

Code Enforcement Committee – No report

Code Officer James Douglas presented his monthly report to the Board and is filed with the Clerk.  Officer Douglas reminded of the Hazard Mitigation meeting May 9^th at the Town Hall at 11:15-1:15 and the Disaster Planning Meeting May 9^th at 7:00pm to be held at the Candor Fire Hall.  May 15^th at 11:00am Officer Douglas will be meeting with James Kazda/Town Engineer and Tectonic/Engineer Firm for a preliminary on site review of the Upper Dam.  Code Officer Douglas donated a new Lectern for the meeting room that was built by him from locally grown lumber; the log was donated by Cotton Hanlon.

Equipment, Cemeteries & Cable TV Committee – Clm. Williams reported the cemeteries are being mowed.  Milton Dougherty sold 2 plots in the Woodbridge Cemetery.  Clm. Williams also brought up receiving a map on the Weltonville Cemetery.  It was decided that all maps and documents would be kept here at the Town Hall.

Highway Superintendent Kevin Noble reported receiving one bid for a Broom Mower from Bradco Supply Company.

M-45  Clm. Bish moved, seconded by Clm. Lindsay to accept the bid from Bradco Supply Company for a 6430 John Deere Broom Mower w/48” Fail Axe Head and a New Alamo 60” Rotary Head w/Center Hyd Door and Blade Bar for not more than $56,708.00.  Vote:  Riggs-aye, Williams-aye, Strosahl-aye, Bish-aye and Lindsay-aye.

M-46  Clm. Bish moved, seconded by Clm. Strosahl to accept the County Bid for Bituminous Concrete, Coarse Aggregate, Hauling Bituminous Concrete, Liquid Calcium Chloride, Liquid Magnesium Chloride, Granular Fill and Aggregate Processing Crushing.  Vote:  Riggs-aye, Williams-aye, Strosahl-aye, Bish-aye and Lindsay-aye.

Superintendent Noble stated receiving the final number for CHIPS are in and Candor is down $45.00 from last year.

M-47  Supervisor Riggs moved, seconded by Clm. Bish to allow Superintendent Noble and Supervisor Riggs to attend a class on Local Roads at Cornell University in June.  Vote:  Riggs-aye, Williams-aye, Strosahl-aye, Bish-aye and Lindsay-aye.

Planning Board Liaison – no report

Dog Control & Kennel – Clm. Bish, Clm. Lindsay and Code Officer Douglas met at the kennel  and discussed replacement and upgrading the Dog Kennel.  Clm. Bish stated that it’s mandatory that all dogs being adopted be spayed or neutered.  Clm. Bish also thought we should lower the fees for dog licensing once we have the spay/neuter program under way.

Supervisor Riggs stated the 2011 Annual Report is finished and will be sent to the State Comptroller’s Office.

Supervisor Riggs was approached by the Legion Auxiliary to have Doug’s Fish Fry at the Town Hall Parking lot to raise money for the 4^th of July Celebration.  The Board decided it would ok.

Mr. Leonard and Mr. Potter reported the race went well, had about 1400 people in attendance and the North East Off Road Championship Series (NEOC) will be donating $500 to the July 4^th Celebration.

Former Supervisor Terry Collins wanted to know if anything has happened with the Darlington Case and Clm. Bish quoted it is still in the Judge’s hands.

Superintendent Noble stated the Four Wheeler Club had their road side clean up and the Town picked it up Monday and delivered it to the land fill.  Superintendent Noble asked if the Town would pay for it.  Supervisor Riggs suggested filing out a voucher.

Supervisor Riggs was contacted by a company that recycles computers and would like permission to place a Computer Dumpster here at the Town Hall.

General Government claims on Abstract #5 for 2012, numbers 140-161 in the amount of ---- were audited by the Board.

Highway Claims on Abstract #5 for 2012, numbers 360-381 in the amount of --- were audited by the Board.

M-48  Clm. Bish moved, seconded by Clm. Bish to adjourn the Regular Meeting at 8:07pm.

Special Meeting for Disaster Planning 7:00 PM Tuesday May 22 at the Town Hall

The Candor Disaster Planning Committee which includes members of the Town Board will have its second meeting on Tuesday May 22 at 7:00 PM at the Town Hall.  This committee is charged with doing the following:

• Analyze ideas gathered from the first meeting
• Review existing plans
• Recommend improvements
• Help implement the new plan