Minutes_Dubuque County Emergency Management Commission 11 8 11Official Minutes of the November 8th,
2011 Regular Meeting
Meeting Called to Order
The meeting of the Dubuque County Emergency Management Commission was called to order at 1900
hours by Chairperson Mike Wuertzer. Roll call was completed with the following commission members
in attendance: Brian Arnold, Tim Pins, David Boardman, Wayne Demmer, Gene Hosch, Brad McAuliffe,
Mike Wuertzer, Tom Berger, and Roger Oberbroeckling.
Approval of Minutes
The minutes of the August 2nd, 2011, meeting were approved on a motion by Brian Arnold and second
by Brad McAuliffe, motion carried.
Old Business
Severe Weather Recovery
Tom reported on the recent flash flooding event and gave a breakdown of the damages incurred. The
changes in the FEMA individual Assistance program were discussed. In order to get FEMA Individual
assistance at least 250 homes with major damage or being destroyed. Tom also assisted Chief Brown
with an after action report for the city response. A meeting with the manager and various department
heads will be held at the end of November. A review meeting will also be held this month with Project
Concern on the results of the State IA program.
Cross Border Training Exercise
Tom is part of the Exercise Design Team that is planning a communications exercise with counties along
the Mississippi River in Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota. The full scale exercise is set for March 1'` and
Dubuque County will be the host county for the Iowa responding agencies. The exercise will focus on
communications plans and not so much mitigating the incident. The next meeting will be in Winona MN
in December. More information will be presented at the next meeting.
Other Old Business — None
New Business
Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan Update
Due to the recent disaster, DR -4018, we are required to certify our Part B Hazard Mitigation Plan and
our Part C Recovery Plan. The plans were presented. They were most recently certified in February due
to the disaster of 2010. A motion was made by Roger Oberbroeckling and second by Gene Hosch to
certify parts B and C and submit to the State Homeland Security and Emergency Management Division.
Motion Carried.
Federal Emergency Management Program Grant (EMPG)
All of the paperwork and required reports have been uploaded to the State for reimbursement. This
would be to request the $39,000 allocated from the federal government to the commission through the
state. The period covered would be from October 1St, 2010 through September 30th 2011. We still have
not seen any payments from the State. We are now in federal fiscal year 2012 and the grant application
for this period is not expected to be available until April or May, which is half way through the grant
year. It is expected that this grant will continue to decrease if not go away in the future.
Dubuque County Multi- Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan
Application has been submitted to FEMA and the plans submitted under other grants have been
approved. We are currently awaiting the official close out of the grants for Dubuque County, Dyersville,
and Dubuque. It is anticipated that once the open grants are officially closed out, the state will award
the grant for us to complete the MJHMP. This will be coordinated by ECIA.
Other New Business — None
Committee Reports
Budget Committee
Tom presented the committee with the proposed FY2012 -13 budget. There are numerous unknowns
with the budget for FY2013 including when we will receive federal money, if the city and county will
approve the requested increase of $5,000 per entity and what the future holds for the federal grants.
The committee did work on the proposed amendment and the next years grant and that was presented
to the commission. Increases in salary for the EMA Director, janitorial expenses, building maintenance
expenses and radio surcharge are scheduled in for FY2013. The committee will meet again in the first
couple weeks of January to review the first six months of expenditures, check on the status of the local
and federal funds and determine the need for an amendment to the FY12 budget or not.
A motion was made by Roger Oberbroeckling, second by Brian Arnold to accept the budget committee
report and allow the committee to meet again to revise figures at the six month period and file the
appropriate public notices and paperwork to conduct a public hearing at the February 7th 2012 meeting.
Motion carried.
Vehicle Replacement Committee
Chair Wuertzer updated the commission on the vehicle replacement committee work. The committee is
proposing to keep the 2005 Ford Excursion to best serve the needs for the interoperability radio
equipment as well as pursue a new four door pick up from a local dealer. Specifications for the vehicle
will be worked on, but the committee would be willing to pursue an end model truck from the lot should
it be in the best financial interest of the commission. It was also decided that until the federal money is
received, the funds in the vehicle replacement fund may be needed for cash flow purposes.
Good of the Commission
Upcoming Training Events
Tom reported on the activities of the Training Operations Committee and the recent classes. The
firefighter one class is underway with a good turnout. EMT classes are starting throughout the county
and another one will be starting at NICC in January. Tom will be hosting the four day FEMA
Communications Leader (COML) course, which provides training for individuals to work at a disaster to
provide interoperable communications between different agencies. The COML's would establish
communications plans for incidents and work with the IC at incident scenes.
Hazardous Materials Calls
Tom reported that there are two outstanding hazardous materials bills pending. One has been turned
over to the Dubuque County Attorney for collection and violation of the Dubuque County Code of
Ordinances as the responsible party is refusing to pay. The other incident occurred last week and will be
billed out when all expenses and reports are collected.
Open Discussion
Brian asked for an update from Supervisor Demmer on the status of the closed bridges in the county.
Supervisor Demmer provided information about the status of the various bridges that were damaged by
the summer floods.
Discussion was held on the FEMA national test that is scheduled for November 9th, 2011. It will be the
first test of the top down, national approach to activating the Emergency Alert System.
Next Meeting
The next meeting of the Dubuque County Emergency Management Commission will be held on Tuesday,
February 7th, 2012 at the Dubuque County Firefighters Association Regional Emergency Responder
Training Facility at 7:00 p.m. in the West Classroom. The public hearing for the FY2013 will begin at 7:00
p.m.
Adjournment
A motion was made by Roger Oberbroeckling and seconded by Gene Hosch to adjourn at 1948 hours.
Motion Carried.
Respectfully submitted,
Thomas I. Berger, EMA Director
Future Meeting Dates
Tuesday, February 7th, 2012, 7:00 p.m. at training center
Tuesday, May 1st, 2012, 7:00 p.m. at training center
Tuesday, August 1st, 2012, 7:00 p.m. at training center
Tuesday, November , 2011, 7:00 p.m. at training center