EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

CONFERENCE CALL MEETING SUMMARY

WEDNESDAY, May 7, 2008

Participants:Teresa ScottCurt Edwards

David Himes Chris Walsh

Brian UsherDiane Linderman, APWA Board

Larry ZensingerMike Geisel, Ed. Comm. Liaison

Staff: Teresa HonAshley Scherzer

Jim Fahey

1.Teresa Scott called the meeting order and asked if there were changes to the agenda. There were none.

2.Participants approved theApril 9, 2008, meeting summary.

3.Legislative Update – Jim Fahey reported that the recent Policy Forum Meeting went very well. There were 33 participants and 70 meetings took place on the hill. Teresa Scott was one of the participants and felt the event was well organized, positive and productive.

The Government Affairs Committee meeting was in conjunction with the Policy Forum Meeting. They received a report from the Chapter Advocacy Task Force. The report will be forwarded to the APWA Board of Directors and if accepted, action items will be identified.

The GAC reviewed the Emergency Management Committee’s proposed position statement on statewide mutual aid agreements. It was suggested that a sentence be added to the second paragraph under purpose which reads “Public Works is a recognized first responder.” The committee was fine with the addition but wanted to include a definition of first responder. Staff will update, distribute to the committee and check with the GAC members (via email) prior to sending to the board for approval.

Jim mentioned that Senator Landrieu is proposing an overhaul of the Stafford Act. Larry Zensinger commented on a range of issues and will send a report to Jim Fahey and the committee.

4.Education report – Education Committee member Mike Geisel and APWA staff member Ashley Scherzer reported that the Climate Change Symposium handouts were now available on the APWA web site. The first public fleet workshop to be held in Canada starts today, with 39 registrants plus five walk-ins. Development of the masters degree program continues. The final recommended list of Click, Listen and Learn and sustainability series topics will be distributed to Technical Committees in the coming weeks. Upcoming CLL topics include Delta Force Readiness! Developing Tomorrow’s Elite Corps of Public Works Leaders on May 15 and Green Buildings – LEED the Way on May 29.

5.At-Large Director Report – Diane Linderman reported that the APWA Board meeting will take place the second weekend in June. The Finance Committee met in Kansas City and while the association remains financially sound, adjustments have been made to reflect the potential effects of the economy and increased costs for Congress. A reception will be held in Washington DC during National Public Works Week at which Congressman Oberstar and John Mike (ranking member of the Transportation Committee) will be recognized.

6.Subcommittee Reports:

  1. Stafford Act Coalition – Was discussed previously during the legislative update. Larry provided three reports via e-mail and mentioned the bill introduced to define specific public broadcasters as first responders and provide funding to reestablish broadcast capabilities in time of a disaster. Larry Zensinger will send a report
  2. Homeland Security Advisory Committee (Judy Mueller) – no news to report
  3. HSPD-8: National Preparedness Goal, Target Capabilities, Universal Task List, NIMS and NPR Update – Teresa Scott reported that an announcement regarding the NIMS comment period had been posted to infoNOW.
  4. Credentialing: NFPA Standards Committee – Brian Usher reported that NFPA 1026 is set to be approved next month and recommended the item be removed from future agendas.
  5. Credentialing: DHS Committee – Diane Linderman indicated that a conference call is scheduled for Thursday and a face-to-face meeting in June. They’ll be discussing marketing information and education. Four positions are in the process of revision. David Himes is working on teams.
  6. NEMA Homeland Security Consortium – Chris Walsh reported that a meeting has been scheduled in DC for August (Jim will attend with Chris). There was a phone conference call concerning NIMS documents. She mentioned that it is important to read the cover sheet. The goal is to finalize in late July.
  7. SAFECOM (Jeff Wilson) – Jim Fahey indicated that SAFECOM is looking at scheduling a summer meeting.
  8. Conference Calls: TSA, Water Security – Jim Fahey had nothing to report

7.Update on individual representation on working groups

  1. Incident Management Working Group – Brian Usher forwarded a draft to member earlier today and asked that they look it over and get comments to him today.
  2. NIMS Credentialing Standards Working Group – David Himes and Teresa Scott reported that things are moving very slowly. There is nothing new to report other than a meeting will be scheduled soon.

8.2008 Congress – all members are registered for Congress

a.Education Sessions –

  • Cascading infrastructure failure – Curt & Larry
  • What Am I? What Is It? How Do I Do It? – Credentialing, Resource Typing & NRF – Brian
  • Role public works plays in evacuation: A panel discussion addressing hurricanes, special events, etc. – Teresa/Teresa
  • Employee care during a crisis – Brian & Teresa (joint session with Facilities & Grounds Committee/Harry Weed)

b.Think Tank session - Monday, August 18 from 10:30am to noon. All members will be in attendance

  • What is the APWA Emergency Management Committee doing? (committees, coalitions and working groups and how that helps our the members)
  • Outreach to chapter committees or representatives interested in emergency management issues
  • Current issues/trends
  • Goals & objectives
  • Bring up mutual aid issues which have arisen
  • Open forum for questions and discussion

9.Publication Subcommittee to develop Recovery Operations Field Manual – Brian Usher has been preparing for their agency’s accreditation site visit so Teresa Hon will send an e-mail to participants to obtain feedback to develop a table to contents from which to start.

10.White Paper on request for Presidential Task Force composed of one member from each Technical Committee to address APWA’s position on Mutual Aid Agreements. Teresa Scott will draft a white paper for the committee to review and comment.

11.Reporter articles: Discussion of topics and authors for articles for the January edition of the Reporter (due November 28)

a.Emergency management 101 or Emergency Management for Dummies: I’m supposed to do what?

b.Homeland Security Consortium – Chris

c.Recovery & Continuity – Teresa Hon to check Jim Martin’s comments and contact John Ostrowski for contact person from new publication

d.I-90 blizzard fiasco – Chris

e.COOP Plans – Brian & Teresa

12.Schedule for monthly InfoNOW Community Postings (e-mail addressed to )

May – Larry Zensinger will post a message with the flood mapping PowerPoint once Teresa Hon provides a link

June – Brian Usher

13.Action items from March meeting for completion of the 2007-08 Business Plan

  1. Develop five abstracts/hot topics from which chapters can choose for chapter events. Assist the chapter in locating regional speakers on those topics – Members are to have one topic for consideration during the May call. Teresa Hon will establish a timeline for this to be dealt with via e-mail.
  2. Secure involvement of Army Corps of Engineers as an ex-officio member of the committee – Larry Zensinger will follow-up on his initial contact. Larry will initiate contact again as he hasn’t received a response.
  3. Conduct outreach with other associations/coalitions on the role of public works – Brian Usher to work with Diane Linderman to update the Homeland Responder Training Network video. Chris Walsh had spoken at two regional events.
  4. Develop and/or partner in the preparation of standardized emergency contract for engineering services and debris removal – Larry felt that something at been posted to the infoNOW community regarding FEMA’s availability of sample documents and/or guidelines. Teresa Hon will check past messages.

e.Update on outreach with chapters who have an Emergency Management Committee

  • Central Pennsylvania Chapter – Brian Usher
  • Florida Chapter – Teresa Scott
  • KC Metro Chapter – Curt Edwards
  • New England Chapter – Larry Zensinger
  • Texas Chapter – David Himes
  • Wisconsin Chapter – Chris Walsh will be speaking at the chapter meeting next week

14.Next Conference Call Meeting – June 4, 8:00am Pacific/9:00am Mountain/10:00am Central/11:00am Eastern

Emergency Management Committee Conference Call Meeting Summary – page 1