February - Kane County Office of Emergency Management

Local Emergency Planning Committee
C/O KCOEM
719 S Batavia Ave, Bldg. C
Geneva, Illinois 60134
(630) 208-2050 / Fax: (630) 232-7408
Kane County
Local Emergency Planning Committee
Meeting Minutes
February 18, 2014
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 1:05 p.m. in the Kane County OEM EOC.
ATTENDANCE
Members present – (Names taken directly from the sign-in sheet):
Bob Balsamo – South Elgin EMA, Paul Bumba – St. Charles EMA, Ken Dake – DSM Functional
Materials, Deborah Dortmund – KCOEM & KCLEPC recording secretary & treasurer, David
Esterquest – FERMI Lab, Bill Glisson – Kane County Forest Preserve Police, Ken Hebert – RushCopley Medical Center, Anna Ishmael – Aurora Fire Department,
Sean Madison – KCOEM & USCG Auxiliary, Jon Mensching – Carpentersville Fire Dept. & LEPC
Chairman, Dwight Randall – KC Sheriff‟s Office, Dave Sweigert – Producers Chemical & LEPC
Vice-Chairman, Bob Usab - PCCR USA, Inc., Scott Vance – Presence Mercy Medical Center, and
Andy Zawada - Elgin Fire Department .
WELCOME: Everyone was welcomed. Jon officially opened the meeting at 1:05 pm and asked the
group to stand and join in the Pledge of Allegiance.
INTRODUCTION: Jon welcomed the members.
CORRESPONDENCE: We have not received much in the way of correspondence. Jon brought in all
the copies of the appointment letters that the State had sent to him. Just reminders if you have not
submitted your LEPC membership application; please get it to Jon or Deborah as soon as possible so
we can get them to the State. If you have not received a letter back from the State they do not have
your application. The State is trying to get a handle on who we have as members and so we can prove
who we actually have on the committee.
Since the last meeting, the State is no longer paying for the IEMA conference via the HMEP/LEPC
grant. They will continue to pay for the registration fees for the Winnebago conference. Things are
still in Flux with what they will allow from the grant. Jon added that you would think that since it is the
State conference, they would allow the grant to cover the fees.
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February 2014
APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES: Jon asked if everyone received the previous meeting
minutes, from the November 2013 meeting. As there were no additions, corrections or omissions, Sean
Madison moved to approve the minutes. The motion was seconded by Dwight Randall. Motion:
passed by voice vote.
LEPC CHAIRMAN’S REPORT:
Partnership Program:
As mentioned in the last meeting, Jon would like to revive the Partnership Program for the LEPC. In
the past we have had 3 levels of participation; silver, gold and platinum. Jon reviewed some of the
information from the letters with the membership. At the platinum level, we used to give the facilities
and engraved plaque with a yearly anniversary tag that could be put on if they continued to participate
in the program annually. In our last discussion, we decided not to continue with the plaque program,
but to use a certificate which would be suitable for framing to cut down our expenses and be able to
utilize more of the donations for the LEPC. The question to the membership was do we still need to
have all 3 levels of participation? If we are looking at funding for ourselves, what is a reasonable
dollar amount? Jon asked, in a facility world what would be a reasonable amount? Have funds dried up
for donations or those items? Do we look at making it a general amount? Should we request a specific
recommended donation amount? Do we still want to offer different amounts with different
„incentives‟ or perks? What are the thoughts of the committee? Dave stated that if you only ask for
$100.00, that‟s all you will get. If you have different levels with recognition, companies love
recognition, you may be more likely to get a larger donation.
Bob Balsamo asked if we had statistics from our previous run of the program. Deborah stated that she
did not have those statistics. Jon stated that in 2003, it was noted that we acquired $2000 from the
partnership program. We – the LEPC – had a fairly decent response with this program the first time
out. We just did not continue with the forward momentum possibly because we really did not have a
good idea of where we wanted to go with the money. We spent it on sending people to conferences and
training seminars; we did some brochure printing and used it to front the grant funds for
reimbursement. But now the grant funds are just not there for the seminars etc. So now with these
funds, we want to have a list of things to accomplish and specifically put the funds towards. In addition
to supporting our operations here, we looked at using a contractor to do the different surveys for the
plan. One of the things we had talked about is getting a non-profit group of people that would
volunteer their time to do that. Well how do we give them the „Atta-boy‟? Jon added that in the fire
service they do that by buying lunch. Most fire guys will do stuff as long as free food is involved.
When it came to the grant, you can‟t do that using the grant funds. We thought that would be a good
use of the Partnership Program funds. We can supply refreshments, lunch and drinks, for those doing
the transportation study for the plan and the commodity flow study in the field. There have been
several different discussions on available people to do those studies.
In addition, Jon, has added that we would like to start talking to the 2 hazmat teams and offering them
some of the funds in the form of a grant. Jon showed the membership the generic application form for
the Hazmat teams to submit. It could also support sending a couple of the Hazmat team members to a
conference or seminar. This would support the teams by them getting additional training. It could
support them buy aiding in buying a specialized piece of equipment. In turn these members are the
ones that respond to the facilities within the county. It would show our partners that we are not using
the money solely for our benefit; we are turning it around and putting it back into our two teams that
will be showing up at the facility. It gives us good press, it gives the departments an additional way to
be supported and it shows the facilities that what they are giving to the LEPC, a portion comes right
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Meeting Minutes
back in to the communities. Deborah added that she had hoped that when departments had drills and
they needed something specific; that we – the LEPC – could throw that back at the grant and tell the
State that Division 2 is having a drill and we are supplying the foam or whatever. We will be able to
show the State that we are actually DOING something within the communities and with our partners.
Jon added that perhaps we could even recoup some of those funds back from the grant, but realistically
he does not see a lot of financial assistance coming from the State. If we can make this a positive spin
for us as the LEPC, it becomes a win-win situation. The LEPC gets some funding AND the Hazmat
teams get some additional assistance AND the facilities see a return on their donation. Once the
program gets set up, it should not be a lot of work to maintain.
It was mentioned that keeping the multiple levels of the program may help us judge where the facilities
are with funds. We may only have a few that will donate the $500.00 and get the Platinum Certificate.
Bob asked if we have a goal amount or a project with a specific funding amount that we wanted to
achieve. Deborah stated that the first year she really did not have a goal amount as she just wanted to
see what sort of funds could be expected. Once we knew a little of what we could expect to work with
we could go from there. There was additional discussion on perhaps bumping it up to asking for
$1000.00. If we discover we actually are being ambitious and need/want a budget of $25,000.00, how
do we go about get that in donations? The facilities may consider it a bonus to know that they were
one of the few that did donate to that high level.
There were suggestions on perhaps putting facility logo‟s on additional public education information.
If we noted the facility as a sponsor or state that the exercise was made possible by the partner
facilities in some manner.
It was also suggested that we keep a percentage back to support the LEPC and perhaps be able to send
members to more conferences. We would not be giving a grant to the MABAS divisions for all of the
funding we received perhaps only 20% or 30% so that we could keep most of the money for our
operating funds and for training our members.
Jon noted that the finance committee would review all grant fund requests to ensure grant funds were
spilt among the two MABAS division Haz-mat teams. Some of the specific areas of review would be
what exactly the fund would be used for and how would they benefit the team and the community.
Basically “X” % would be held back for the functioning of the LEPC Committee and things we want
to do and then “Y” % split amongst the Hazmat teams. There was additional brief discussion regarding
funding and some more of the positive uses.
Sean suggested that an ad hoc subcommittee be created to look over the Partnership Program
documents and make suggestions or changes once they were in a completed draft form. They could be
emailed to the membership and then presented at the May meeting for comments, questions or changes
and approval. After it is approved the program will revert back to the finance committee.
Bob Usab suggested a managerial review of the program. Sean, Jon, Bob are the overseers of the
program.
David Esterquest added that he had attended a Will County LEPC meeting and brought their bylaws
back. He stated that they charge a fee for the Tier 2 filings to help offset their expenses. Deborah
stated that we were not allowed to charge a filing fee by the County. And if we did, there would be no
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guarantee that the money would come to the LEPC. It was thought that Will County LEPC was a
separate stand-alone entity and they may have incorporated.
In our introduction letter with the Partnership Program, we state that in order not to charge a filing fee
we fund our program thru voluntary donations. This keeps the facilities filing costs down and it is not
coming out of the business expense line.
When completed, Deb will send out the draft version of the letter to everyone so that if you have
comment, questions or suggestions you can send them back and we can have this polished up for the
next meeting.
THE STATE TIER 2 DATABASE:
Jon mentioned he would like to show the membership how the State Tier 2 database works and the
information that can be found in the database. He also stated that it would be great to get the local fire
departments access to the database and the ability to use software. The data from the State database
can be imported into the CAMEO programs. This would aid the fire departments with their data
collection and they could encourage facilities to file, so they would not be getting fined.
Once the data from the State Tier 2 database is exported into CAMEO, it can be used for spill
modeling and plume modeling. The data can then be used in ALOHA and MARPLOT for show you
the communities effects by the spill or plume. It is a very nice software suite and it does not cost us
anything for it. Jon said that we need to get more of the fire departments on line with the data.
Deborah mentioned that the data she got when exporting to Cameo does not have the contact
information for the facilities. When she has used it, she has had to go back and manually enter all of
that contact information. For the fire departments that may not be a big deal but if you want to use it
for everything you need to keep the contact information.
Jon suggested the committee to schedule the fire department training on the State database and how to
use the database. It was suggested that we could schedule a seminar for the facilities as well.
Sometime in January - after the 1st of the year. The facilities Tier 2 have to filed by March 1, so this
would enable the facilities to be shown how to use the database before they file their data.
As of last year, Illinois became an OSHA state. If you read the SARA rules, it states that facilities that
are required by OSHA to maintain MSDS (SDS) now have to file. We had always been an IDOL
compliant state. So the water departments, the water treatment facilities, the fire departments, the
airports etc. – they fall under IDOL. They are no longer exempt. With that said we are going to need to
be sure we reach out to all of the wastewater treatment facilities, airports and municipal treatment
facilities and sewer departments. These facilities are now required to file Tier 2 reports. We may need
to educate them on that fact that they need to report. A lot of them may not be aware of it. We can
work for the betterment of everyone and also get them the information on what is required for
reporting.
Jon asked for assistance on a committee to put together a program to train the fire departments and
schedule the training. Sean will assist Jon in setting up training for the fire departments on how to use
the database and the information it contains. There was continued discussion on when the training
should be put on and where it should be held. It was suggested that we do two separate sessions; 1 for
the fire departments and a separate ne for the facilities that are using the Tier 2 Manger database. Jon
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asked some of the facilities people how long it takes them to put together their Tier 2 entry. Perhaps we
could get Kevin Sledge to come up to work with us in the training. More to come – stay tuned.
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS REPORT:
A copy of the report with the reported spills from November 2013 to February 2014 was available on
the sign-in table on the reverse of the agenda.
The 1st spell on the report was probably spoken about at our last meeting. This was the one where the
car driver was told by his GPS to make a U-turn and he did, right into the saddle tank of the semi
which was driving right behind him. Sean went into a little more detail behind this call. He made a
specific comment regarding the contractor list and their unavailability.
The third item listed was not a spill but an incident report from IEMA regarding a missing person
search that OEM was on that involved the Civil Air Patrol. Deb stated that she added it to the database
because the State sent the report so it was added to the list.
The incident in the rail yard was human error and there were no spills reported. Again this was an
incident report.
SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS:
Planning:
Planning Committee: Co-Chairs: Sean and Dwight.
Jon asked if there was any news back on the plan. No we have not heard anything. It will be reviewed
again when the State reviews the County EOP in August or September. This year is just the review
year and next year will be the re-write year. There are still logistical issues with getting people out to
work in the traffic flow studies.
OLD BUSINESS: The Rockford Midwest Emergency Preparedness Conference has been moved to
April and shortened it to two days. If you wish to attend, please let Deborah know. Registration is still
being paid for by the state. Registration is still $125.00 for early registration. If you take your own
vehicle, please document your mileage so we can use it towards the grant. We will continue to use the
exercise at the end of the conference at the annual test / review of our plan. Please see attachment at
end of minutes.
NEW BUSINESS: Pipeline Safety flier
Pipeline Safety:
A fax was received for the pipeline safety seminar that is presented annually. It is presented in Crystal
Lake on Monday March 17th. If anyone goes and uses their personal car, please let Deborah know so
we can track it for the „in-kind‟ donation for our grant. See attachment.
FOR THE GOOD OF THE ORDER:
Weather Spotters training Class: Sean announced that if anyone needs a weather spotters training
seminar to please contact him.
LEPC Membership Application: If you have not submitted your LEPC membership application,
please get that to Jon or Deb as soon as possible.
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Open Meeting Act Training: If anyone has not yet completed their Open Meeting Act training and
forwarded your certificate to Deb, please do so. Information on the training is at the end of the
minutes.
NIMS Classes: Sean and Jon are presenting the ICS 300 and 400 classes; if anyone needs NIMS
training contact them (Flyer is attached)
2014 Meeting Dates: May 20, August 19 and November 18. Please mark your calendars.
NEXT MEETING DATE: The next meeting is Tuesday May 20th 2014 at 1:00 PM.
MEETING ADJOURNMENT:
Bob moved to adjourn the meeting. Scott seconded the motion. Voice vote: Approved.
The meeting adjourned at 2:06 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Deborah Dortmund
KCOEM Administrative Assistant
LEPC Secretary
Summary of Motions
1. Acceptance of previous meeting minutes.
2. Motion to Adjourn
Summary of Attachments
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Letter announcing the change to the Rockford Conference.
Pipeline Safety training information
LEPC Membership application
Information on the Open Meetings Act training for all members.
NIMS training
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Attachment #1
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Attachment #2
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Open Meetings Act Training:
Everyone must complete the Open Meeting act training. It is a one-time training for the Open Meetings
act. There specific training items on what you can and cannot do with meeting and things you can talk
about regarding the meeting and information pertaining to the meeting. It is about 30 minutes on line at
the link below. LEPCs are considered “Public Bodies” and therefore subject to the Open Meetings Act
(OMA).
Visit the AG‟s website: www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov for general information and
on-line training
http://foia.ilattorneygeneral.net/default.aspx
(Register for on-line training as a public body)
After completing the training, please e-mail a copy of the certificate to Deb for the file.
ICS 2014.pdf
ICS 300-400 application.pdf
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