8 JANUARY 2001
Presiding / Conducting: Dave Watson, General Chair
MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE: Board of Directors: Hugh McMillan, JoAnne Gray, Marv Nauman, Bob Jardin, Committee Members: Dave Watson, Marsh Allen, Bob Black, Colleen Franz, Sue Gillmore, Don Lee, Tonya Lee, Mark Yordy,
GUESTS: Mabel Keele, Sharon Slone
REPORTS
Minutes of 4 October 2000 meeting: Approved
Treasurer’s Report: Colleen Franz - Approved
Deposits to account (Sept 2000 through 8 Jan 2001) included earnings from BigPlanet as well as barrel sales totaling $1,598.00. Various expenses incurred (June 2000 through November 2000) included the Michael Buschmohle seminar, barrel purchases, ISP charges, BigPlanet Affinity partnership including the new DWP website, State of WA license and sundry office supplies totaling $1,702.28. Current balance is $12,854.91.
COMMITTEES
1. PARET: Mark Yordy
2. Webmaster: Sue Gillmore – As of the last meeting, only information in the POTENTIAL HAZARDS section had been uploaded. Since then the following information has been uploaded to the site:
DISASTER PLANS section Why Plan?
Family Disaster Plan (12 downloadable worksheets for storage in a Family Disaster Plan notebook)
Prepare Your Home
How Safe is Your Home?
Masonry Chimneys
EQ Insurance
Information Sheets (4 downloadable forms including a site plan form, gas shut off, water shut off and power shut off instructions)
Instruction Sheets (7 projects including a home hazard hunt, strapping your water heater, adding foundation bolts, sheathing cripple walls, strengthening posts and beams, bracing outdoor structures and reducing interior damage.)
Checklists
Prepare Your Home for an Earthquake (4 lists that include checklists for things you can do right now, non-structural checklist, structural checklist and what to do after an earthquake)
Protect Your Home from Fires (6 lists that include protecting your home from wildfires, firesafe landscaping, home fire protection, electrical fires, holiday fires, precautions for the elderly)
Reducing Risks from Flooding (3 lists including getting prepared, what to do in case of heavy rains, what to do after a flood)
I am currently working on the flooding checklists pages and will proceed to upload the information indicated on the navigation bar as I get to it. There is still much to be done, but we are making good progress.
Our email account prepare@pep-c.org is now functional. I will forward e-mails to appropriate Committee members as I receive them.
3. Training: JoAnne Gray for Candy Anderson (not in attendance) – JoAnne gave two sessions on general preparedness at Peninsula Light on Oct 12th. While it went well, the attendance was not as good as hoped. The Gateway failed to run both our notice and that of PenLight. Fred and Mary Ramsdell are scheduled to give a seminar at PenLight on April 16. Lee's and Granquist's are trying to schedule one for November. We hear The Lakes are scheduling their annual preparedness update drill in April. We hope to be able to attend. JoAnne also indicated that she is about ready to unload her garage full of materials on the Lees since Tonya agreed to be the librarian for the Committee. Dave Watson indicated that he will be talking to Elementary School PTAs as part of his safety program and will solicit support and interest in hosting preparedness seminars.
4. Water Barrels: Marsh Allen – Sales in November were so poor that the December sale was cancelled. January 20h is the next sales event 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Hugh McMillan has volunteered to help that day. Dave Watson also said he could be there with his pick-up truck. Don and Tonya Lee volunteered to help out on the February 17th sale. Dave Watson takes his pick-up truck full of barrels throughout the school district as he visits various sites and is selling them a few here and there.
5. P.I.O.: Hugh McMillan
Our website address will be published in the Gateway newspaper 17 January. JoAnne indicated that our website address will be published in Pen Light’s newsletter as well as through KGHP. The 5 March meeting in Key Center is confirmed. Regarding his assignment to contact the local Boy Scout Troops, he has had no success in making contact with BS Troop 212 at Chapel Hill.
Anyone with news or information to publish to the general public should contact Hugh and he’ll get it to the local newspapers.
6. KGHP: Keith Stiles (not in attendance – JoAnne Gray reported in his stead)The translator located at Henderson Bay High School has been moved to the Fox Island Community Center due to the demolition scheduled of Henderson. The new location is providing better service to Fox Island and some other beach/bluff locales and also increasing awareness on Fox Island. The Spring Hill translator service and coverage is so good, the Henderson Bay location is not missed. Gretchen and Penlight were very helpful in communicating with the FCC and providing funds for this change. The radio station has been running full schedule over the holidays and there have been no emergencies requiring 24 hour operation. Keith also reported that today's bridge accident and closure was reported well by KGHP and that those stuck in traffic were calling in on cell phones with updates on the situation. This indicates an increased awareness of the role of KGHP in current emergency situation reporting.
7. Fire 16: Fred Ramsdell (not in attendance)
8. Fire 5: Bob Black – no report.
9. Peninsula School District: Dave Watson – 80% of the staff training is now complete and should be 100% completed by mid February. The Pierce County Responder System has complete and detailed emergency plans for the County. Dave may give us a special presentation in March on this system. He would like (later in the year) to have a link from our website to Pierce County for parents to access information from the County. He is working to increase security – or a sense of security – at the various schools by issuing security uniforms and safety equipment to key personnel.
GUEST SPEAKER: Mabel Keele – The Kodiak Island Earthquake and Tsunami Experience (March 1964)
On March 27, 1964, a massive earthquake rocked Southcentral Alaska. The earthquake did little damage to the islands, but triggered a series of tsunamis. The fourth and largest wave crested at 35 feet above mean low tide. Residents evacuated up Pillar Mountain. Kodiak's waterfront and central business district were all but destroyed. Villages also suffered extensive damage. The community was without water, lights and communication for several days. Mabel Keele, and her husband, Bill, were key players in the emergency survival efforts. As survivors congregated at the High School, Mabel and other emergency personnel immediately began working to see to meeting personal needs. She noted that the school was a scene of total chaos until tables were set up and women were assigned to start making lists of the names of survivors as well as family members still missing. This singular act of organization brought order to the chaos. Mabel, with her background in food services, worked with the Navy and Coast Guard to feed survivors and government officials who showed up on the scene to help the community. She reported that in the course of 8 days following the earthquake, 6,842 meals and 29,085 sandwiches were prepared and consumed. 1900 homeless survivors were sheltered, 225 people were evacuated to Seattle and 220 were evacuated to Anchorage. She personally clocked in 155 hours of emergency relief work in those 8 days. Ham Radio operators all over the Pacific Northwest went online for a solid 5 days to relay messages back and forth between survivors and outside family members. Everyone in the community volunteered supplies, services and time and much was accomplished. To read a personal account of the Kodiak Tsunami, click on the link below.
CALENDAR & NEW BUISNIESS
1. Health and Safety Fair (Saturday, 7 April 2001) 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dave Watson asked the committee if we want to have a presence at this event. It was proposed that if we have a good location and a good looking booth it would serve us well to have a presence at this event. She proposed that, YES, we do. The motion was seconded and approved. Discussion included a question from Hugh, “what are we going to do to jazz up our image and attract more people?” Various responses were offered. The discussion was deferred to a committee to be appointed for this event. Bob Black, Fire Dist. 5 addressed the problem in the past of selling water barrels at this event. The issue of sales will be addressed at a meeting of the District Fire Commissioners and a policy issued that will hopefully allow non-profit groups to engage in sales while disallowing retailers to engage in sales at this event. JoAnne and Tonya agreed to work on publicity for this event.
2. Parade (Saturday 2 June 2001) 10 a.m. Again, Dave Watson asked the Committee if they wanted to have a presence in the parade this year. Again it was proposed that, YES, we do. The motion was seconded and approved. Discussion included ideas about how we could participate in this event. JoAnne suggested that to make an impression and raise awareness of PEP-C as a community resource, we should strive to do something witty, humorous and memorable. She suggested that a number of men walking down the street wearing barrels and throwing rootbeer barrel candy into the crowd followed by a megaphone playing the “Wine Barrel Polka” might be a fun way to raise awareness of our presence as well as advertise water barrel sales and preparedness in general. The idea was well received and the committee is looking for volunteers to participate. All – both men and women – are welcome to wear a barrel and walk in the parade. It sounds like it should be a real blast!
3. Bob Jardin, in the way of New Business, proposed two things. First that we reprint our PEP-C cards with a brief emergency information form on the back. Hugh McMillan took on the assignment to pursue this. Second, Bob proposed that local government and groups such as the Rotary, Elks, etc. be encouraged to sponsor a dinner / spaghetti feed to recognize PEP-C for their contribution to the community. This would be a way of raising public awareness, interest in preparedness, and a means to acquiring volunteers to join with us. No assignments were made however, to pursue this at this time.
ADJOURNMENT – 7:40 p.m.
NEXT MEETING
Date: Monday, 5 March 2001
Time: 5:30 for BOD / 6 p.m. for Committee
Location: Key Center Fire District Building
October 2000 Minutes
March 2001 Minutes
