WARREN
OF GASCONADE COUNTY
TO HEAD EMERGENCY PLANNING COMMITTEE
Committee honors outgoing
chairman of 16 years;
hears report on Rolla Regional HazMat, WMD team
ST. JAMES-In October 2004, Dick Hudson of Hermann retired as the Gasconade County
emergency management director; the county commission soon hired Dawn Warren
of Hermann as his replacement. On Jan. 19, Hudson stepped down as chairman of
the Meramec Regional Emergency Planning Committee after some 16 years of service.
The MREPC board, during that same meeting, elected Warren to replace Hudson
as chairman.
The committee also recommended that Warren serve as the liaison between the
MREPC and the Meramec Regional Planning Commission, as Hudson had done for nine
years. The final decision on that issue rests with the MRPC board.
Warren has been on the MREPC for five years, first as a representative of Koch
Pipeline and then for the Missouri Department of Health.
During the meeting, Hudson reminisced about the work of the MREPC, including
writing the first hazardous materials response plan to working with the legislature
to secure funding for the mandated effort.
"Everybody has been great to work with," Hudson said, citing past
and present MRPC staff members who have been assigned to support the organization.
"Everything has been a team effort, and I'm proud of being a part of it."
Fellow board member Buz Harvey of Phelps County told Hudson, "It's been
a pleasure to be a follower of yours for nearly 17 years. Down here in the Ozarks,
we would say that 'You're a man with whom I'd go hunting.'"
Margaret Biolsi, vice president of the MREPC, presented Hudson with a plaque
honoring his service and leadership to the MREPC.
Additionally, John Hummel of the State Emergency Management Administration also
presented Hudson with a framed certificate of recognition for his long-standing
commitment to emergency planning.
Following the regular quarterly meeting, Marvin Lewis and Eric Newman of the
City of Rolla Fire and Rescue discussed the new Regional Hazardous Materials
Team that has been formed through the Rolla fire department. Lewis explained
the team's capabilities and availability in the event of a technological disaster
in the region. Technological disasters are man-made ones such as those involving
chemicals, weapons of mass destruction and biological hazards.
The fire department has received some $1 million worth of state and federal
grants to equip and train a regional team to respond to incidents involving
hazardous materials and weapons of mass destruction. The Rolla team has two
trucks, two trailers filled with equipment and two all-terrain-type vehicles.
The team serves primarily Region I, but would strive to help any community in
need. Team members are volunteers, Lewis said, and are still in the learning
stages, and probably will continue to be in a learning mode because of the limited
number of incidents in Region I. The team is taking advantage of a variety of
training, all over the country, in order to maintain and enhance their skills.
The WMD team is still being developed and includes police and fire and representation
from other disciplines. MREPC members were able to tour one of the equipment
trailers and see some of the response equipment that had been purchased.
The MREPC will meet again on April 20. The committee, with the assistance of
Meramec Regional Planning Commission and SEMA, will host a damage
assessment class on March 2.
The Meramec Regional Emergency Planning Committee works with local governments
as well as the private sector to maintain plans responsive to chemical hazards,
which seriously threaten the area. The committee periodically coordinates and
offers training opportunities for emergency responders in the region. Quarterly
meetings are open to the public. Meramec Regional Planning Commission, a voluntary
council of local governments serving the Meramec Region, provides staff support
for the local emergency planning committee.
For more information regarding the MREPC, please contact Tammy Snodgrass at
573-265-2993 or by email at tsnodgrass@meramecregion.org.