MINUTES
Meramec Regional Emergency Planning Committee
12:00 p.m.
Wednesday June 23, 2010
MRPC Office
4 Industrial Drive, St. James, MO 65559
CALL TO ORDER:
Chairman Kraig Bone called the June 23, 2010 meeting of the Meramec Regional Emergency Planning Committee Meeting to order at 12:30 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT:
Margaret Biolsi, Kraig Bone, Dan Dyer, Buz Harvey, Bob Hutson, Allen Kimrey, John Lucas, Ray Massey, Les Murdock, Ken Ramsey, Deborah Rhodes, Andrea Rice, Ron Smith, and Shirley Stulce.
MEMBERS ABSENT:
Bob Baldwin, Kris Bayless, Edna Bridges, Andrew Careaga, Doug Drewel, Don Ertle, Larry Flescher, James Gamache, Sheila Gaughan, Jane Jadwin, William Patt, Brad Nash, Bruce Parton, Darrell Skiles, Robert Williams.
STAFF & GUESTS PRESENT:
John Green – Maries County EMT, Dave Clifton – Maries County Asst. EMD, Jamie Feldhacker – Missouri S&T, Michelle Bresnahan – Missouri S&T, Alan Cortvrient– DNR EER, Art Goodin – DNR EER, Matthew Jackson – Washington County 911 Dispatch, Tim Allen – Washington County, Michael White – MERC, Tammy Snodgrass, Cheryl Dupes, Teri Smith, Jessica Mattingly – MRPC.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA:
The June 23, 2010 MREPC meeting agenda was amended to add a presentation from Buckman Labs under New Business. The discussion of LEPC responsibilities was also removed from the agenda.
Les Murdock made a motion to approve the amended agenda for today’s meeting of the Meramec Regional Emergency Planning Committee. Ken Ramsey seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Andrea Ricemade a motion to approve the minutes of the February 24, 2010 meeting of the Meramec Regional Emergency Planning Committee. Margaret Biolsi seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
FINANCIAL REPORT:
Cheryl Dupes reported on the MREPC financials. Handouts were given to all members and guests.
February through May is the current activity. HMEP planning dollars revenue received is $7,000 - $1,000 per county. In the State of Missouri 2009 HMEP training grant funds we have $5,940 remaining. We will not count this as revenue. There is also $111 in bank interest, which brings the year to date revenue to $37,951. Expenses include $4,346 for Administration to MRPC, $150 for Meeting and Registration for a meeting that Tammy Snodgrass attended, $120 also goes for that meeting for travel and conference, $177 for Travel/Meals goes towards the last meeting that was held, and the miscellaneous $28 was for shipping charges to replace a projector cable. The year to date expenses are at $39,043. Overall, MREPC is under budget by $7,509; however after this meeting the remainder of the contract to MRPC will be paid. The budget allowed for MREPC to go negative by$2,603 and currently is only negative by $1,092.
The balance sheet was for the same time frame, ending on May 31, 2010. MREPC operation account has $32,628.55. The current liabilities are $5,940.28 which is for the training money that was received that has not yet been spent, and $926.00 is due to MRPC for the month of May. The fund balance as of June 30, 2010 is $25,762.27.
Margaret Biolsi made a motion to approve the financials. Shirley Stulce seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
Cheryl then presented the proposed budget for fiscal year 2010-2011 which will begin on July 1, 2010. The CEPF funds are based on the information that we have received from the state so far. They are slightly less than the previous year. MREPC is expected to receive the $7,000 in HMEP planning – this is $1,000 for each county. It is hopeful that MREPC will receive the HMEP training money as well, however at this point it is not in the budget. The bank interest is also included in the revenue section of the budget. This brings the total revenue to $27,344.00.
The expenses for the budget are as follows: Administration cost for the contract with MRPC remained the same at $27,000. Advertising stayed the same at $175.00. Advertising for trainers and contract services for trainer was taken out of the budget until notice of training money is known. Graphics and outside printing remained the same at $1,900.00. Meeting registration also remained the same at $150.00. Travel for conference was lowered from $275.00 to $200.00. This is for the one conference that Tammy Snodgrass attends each year. Travel and meals remained the same at $650.00. Postage stayed the same with $850.00 budgeted. $50.00 was also budged for miscellaneous expenses. Because total revenue is expected to be less for the 2010-2011 fiscal year, some expenses were cut to help offset the difference. With the proposed budget, MREPC would be $3,631.00 negative.
Tammy Snodgrass presented several ideas on how to cut expenses even further. $1,900 is currently budgeted for printing paper copies of the Haz Mat plan. One option for reducing costs is to put the plan on a CD and distribute to the necessary officials. CD’s are much cheaper than printing costs. Leaving some money on this line item was suggested to leave a cushion for printing the plan as needed. This could also help to save money on postage as well.
It was proposed that the following change be made to the 2010-2011 budget: Graphics & Outside Print line item be removed from the budget. This saves $1,900.00. The Postage line item was also reduced from $800.00 to $200.00. A Supplies line item of $75.00 was added to purchase the CD’s and necessary supplies. The proposals brought the total expenditures down to $28,500.00. This also decreased the deficit to only $1,156.00.
Ron Smith motioned to approve the budget with the above changes. The motion was seconded by Andrea Rice, which passed unanimously.
Tammy discussed and explained the contract which is included in the budget. A copy of the contract was distributed. The amount of $27,000 for administration and operation of the committee remained the same. The dates were changed to reflect the 2010-2011 fiscal year. The hourly rates were adjusted. The scope of work will remain the same. Some employee hours and time will be saved by not promoting the HMEP training and coordination expenses. It was also suggested by Ms. Snodgrass that the hazmat exercise could be left out of the scope of work if it appeared that the MREPC was going to run out of funds before the end of the year. Andrea Rice voiced concerns about cutting the exercise. The exercise is the only thing in the scope of work that is not required by law; therefore it is the one thing that can be cut to save money. Everyone agreed on the effectiveness of the exercise. It was decided that instead of holding the exercise in the summer time as before, the budget would be reviewed in January to see if the funds are available to hold an exercise.
Ron Smith motioned to approve the contract. The motion was seconded by Les Murdock, which passed unanimously.
OLD BUSINESS:
Tammy Snodgrass reported on the HMEP grant. Several classes have been applied for as well as money spent for the presentation from Michael White today. $5,940.28 was left over from last year’s HMEP grant. Dawn Warren notified Ms. Snodgrass that the MREPC would have to spend last year’s funds before new funds would be awarded. A mailing went out to all fire departments asking them respond if they wanted awareness and operations classes. As of now, one fire department as shown an interest in this training. Tammy will send an email out to the EMD’s with a copy of the postcard sent out to fire protection agencies. The EMD’s will help to spread the word of this opportunity for training.
Michael White reported on the application process and how the money will be awarded. There are a few changes this year. The application will include a form to state what classes are needed, by what agencies and a contact for each agency so that Mr. White can coordinate directly with them. Tammy stated that she will send out a letter with a list of available classes to the regions emergency response agencies with a form for them to fill out. A couple of new classes may be available. One is on chemical suicide and the other is on hospital decontamination.
NEW BUSINESS:
Buckman Labs Presentation:
Kraig Bone provided a presentation on Buckman Labs which is located in Cade, MO. Kraig Bone gave a history of Buckman Labs and noted that one of their main products is pool algaecide. Buckman Labs has emergency response capabilities at their plant and if there is an incident with one of their trucks in the region. They serve in a supportive role, they do not take over, they are there to train and help the responders.
Updates and Information:
Tammy Snodgrass passed out an email from Dawn Warren. This was a synopsis from last MERC meeting. Tammy also had a list of the mercury drop off sites throughout the region sponsored by MDNR. She shared a flier on an Advanced Incident Command System class offered in Rolla.
Tammy also reported that the confined class that had been applied for several months ago ran out of funding and would not be made available in our region.
ELECTION OF OFFICERS:
Kraig Bone has expressed interest in continuing as chair. Margret Biolsi state that she would continue as vice chair, however if anyone is interested in being vice chair she is happy to step down. Andrea Rice was nominated for vice chair. Buz Harvey made a motion to accept Kraig Bone and Andrea Rice as MREPC Officers for the 2010-2011 fiscal year. Les Murdock seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
REPORT FROM SEMA REPRESENTATIVE:
No representative was available for a report.
REPORT FROM MDNR REPRESENTATIVE:
Allen Cortvrient reported that a mercury drop off collection program is being coordinated by MDNR. The collection will last a little longer this year going from now to the end of November. Several locations throughout the region are available for the disposal of elemental mercury. There is no cost to the public for this service. Through MDNR’s Homeland Security grant this year they received 6 new mercury vapor meters, biological agents test kits and ramen spectrometers.
Allen Cortvrient reported on the calls that DNR has received since the last meeting.
PRESENTATION BY MICHAEL WHITE:
Michael White is the training coordinator for MERC. MERC delivered 42 courses statewide last year through the HMEP program. This year he plans to provide over 100.
Some new programs are being developed. One deals with chemical suicide. In the United States last year there were seven chemical suicides. One of them was in Sugar Creek, Missouri. This year, so far, eighteen chemical suicides have been reported. This is a growing problem and is very challenging for responders. Haz Mat for Health Care is also a new option on our HMEP grant this year. It is a 24 hour program for the hospital community.
Michael White also reported on the Haz Mat Symposium. The date has been moved to August. There are 50 scholarships available for the symposium. They will be awarded on a first come first serve basis.
Michael White gave a detailed presentation on MERC’s new program to digitize hazmat plans statewide and make the information available through MERIS. This program will put all of the information that is needed in one location on the web. MERC is hopeful that the program will launch within the next 2-3 weeks. MERIS is a secure site. It is up to the LEPC’s to decide who will have access to the data.
MERC is developing an online training center. There is a link on the MERC website. There are various courses offered. More will be added as time goes on. Most online training sessions are 30 minutes to two hours. A quiz accompanies the sessions. After the course is completed and the quiz is passed, a certificate will be generated. This will hopefully launch within the next 2-3 weeks.
ANNOUNCEMENT OF UPCOMING MEETINGS:
The HMEP Application meeting will be on October 13, 2010.
January’s meeting will be on January 26, 2011.
SETTING OF DATE AND TIME FOR NEXT MEETING:
The next MREPC meeting will be on August 25, 2010 at 12:00 p.m.
ADJOURNMENT:
Les Murdock made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Ken Ramsey seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 2:17 p.m.
____________________________________________ ________________________
Kraig Bone, Chairman Date
____________________________________________ ________________________
Attest Date