Peninsula Emergency Preparedness Committee Meeting Minutes
Monday, 16 January 2006
Board of Directors:
Gretchen Wilbert, Former Mayor of Gig Harbor (June 2007)
Marv Nauman (June 2007)
Hugh McMillan (June 2004)
Bob Jardin (June 2007)
Joseph Jones (June 2004)
Tonya Lee (June 2007)
Officers
General Chair: Dave Watson (June 2006)
Vice-Chair: JoAnne Gray (June 2006)
Secretary: Sue Gillmore (June 2007)
Treasurer: Don Lee (June 2007)
Presiding / Conducting: Dave Watson, General Chair
MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE:
Board of Directors: Tonya Lee, Hugh McMillan, Bob Jardin
Committee Members: Dave Watson, Sue Watson, JoAnne Gray, Sue Gillmore, Don Lee, Keith Stiles, Michael Nolet, Hal Roberts, Jeanne Roberts
Called to order: 6:00 p.m.
REPORTS
Minutes from November 2005 - approved
Treasurer's Report: approved
Committees
1. KGHP: Keith Stiles reported that they have responded to a few local, small power outages but overall, it has been a quiet winter. He also announced that the FCC will be ruling within 4 months on their long, drawn out battle to retain a couple of local frequencies. Questions from the committee led to an excellent explanation of the communication procedures between Peninsula Light Company and KGHP during a power outage. The bottom line is, in a power outage, residents are most interested in when power will be restored rather than the details of what caused the power outage.
2. PIO: Hugh McMillan announced that he has been given an opportunity to "sell" PEP-C to the public an upcoming issue of the Gateway newspaper. The committee proposed a number ideas that could be included:
- Number of water storage barrels sold in the last 2-3 years
- PEP-C's partnering efforts with Pierce County DEM in neighborhood preparedness training
- Eye witness report from Marv Naumann on what he's seen back east in the wake of recent hurricanes with regards to the consequences of being unprepared
- Website promotion
Dave Watson issued an assignment to each committee member to send Hugh an email Monday or Tuesday with some information he can use to put together an article promoting PEP-C services to the community.
3. Former Mayor, Gretchen Wilbert informed the committee that the City of Gig Harbor has recently partnered with the Chamber of Commerce to promote a Volunteer and Visitor's Center at the Bogue Volunteer Center in downtown Gig Harbor, across the street from the Post Office. The new Volunteer and Visitor's Center is stocked with an abundance of information for local residents and is making their facilities available for public meetings. Gretchen suggested this would be a great place to conduct preparedness presentations and have a water barrel display. She suggested that Committee members visit the new Volunteer Center and apply for permission to conduct training meetings.
The committee agreed to visit the new volunteer center this Wednesday, January 18th, at 10 am.
Gretchen also announced that of the 54 neighborhoods within the city limits of Gig Harborm 20 neighborhoods have been, or are in the process of receiving PC-NET training. Barbara Nelson is working diligently towards getting all of the Gig Harbor neighborhoods fully trained.
Reminder: Elections will be held in June 2006
Community Events
1. Girl Scout "Be Aware - Be Prepared" (November 11, 2005) Don & Tonya Lee as well as Dave & Sue Watson were on hand at this event to answer questions on preparedness. Unfortunately, the event was not well attended and attracted young kids rather than adults. Tonya Lee noted that it was good to support the Girl Scouts in this endeavor and to be supportive of kids in the community. However, Dave Watson suggested that the committee gather more detailed information about other similar events before committing time and resources to something not likely to be highly productive.
2. City Hall Workshop on Bird Flu
This event was attended by JoAnne Gray, Michael Nolet and Dave Watson. Dave Watson informed the committee that the school district has been fully informed on the Bird Flu threat and is prepared to respond as per the State Health Department's mandates when the first incident of Bird Flu is reported. It was noted that this is the first time Pierce County DEM officials have recommended being prepared for a minimum of 7 days. Committee members suggested that local residents would be better off if they were prepared for a two week Quarantine. When the first case of Bird Flu emerges in Washington State, the Health Department will mandate closure of schools and churches statewide. Those between the ages of 20 and 45 are at the highest risk of death from this strain of flu. The State of Washington is anticipating 8400 deaths as a result of this pandemic.
3. Health & Safety Expo - Saturday, April 1st, 2006
Dave Watson asked the committee if we want to participate in this event this year? Committee members agreed this is a productive use of time; PEP-C has participated for years; it is a good opportunity to expose the public to PEP-C services. Volunteers for this event: Don & Tonya Lee, Dave & Sue Watson, Michael Nolet. Don will send the appropriate fee to Cathy.
4. Key Peninsula Livable Community Fair - Saturday, May 13, 2006 (10 am - 3 pm)
This is another very well attended community event and the committee agreed it would be productive for PEP-C to host a booth. Volunteers for this event: Michael Nolet, JoAnne Gray, Don & Tonya Lee, Dave & Sue Watson. Don Lee will submit the application and a check for the fee.
5. Peninsula Light Company Preparedness Seminar
JoAnne Gray mentioned that the Light Company is very anxious for PEP-C to partner with Pierce County's PC-NET crew to present a public seminar on preparedness. Pen Light handles the publicity, provides refreshments, AV equipment and the use of their facility. JoAnne Gray set a tentative date for March 1st or 8th and will contact PC-NET for their availability.
Water Barrel Status: Don Lee will be placing a water barrel order soon since current inventory is pretty low. Gretchen Wilbert proposed producing a short DVD on the cleaning and use of our water storage barrels that could be distributed to buyers. Dave Watson proposed such a "movie" could be posted to the website. Don Lee proposed that such a DVD be professionally produced. Marv Naumann has the capabilities of producing such a DVD but is not currently available (he is still back east working with FEMA in the aftermath of the hurricanes).
School Request from California: 160 Emerson Middle School 8th grade English students (in California) are researching natural disasters and what steps they need to take to prevent and prepare for emergencies. They have requested a donation of cash or supplies from PEP-C. The request was discussed with the Board of Directors and it was agreed that the committee could send some literature for the cost of postage as well as information via email for online resources. The BOD also determined that PEP-C funds ought to be spent in support of local residents over out of state groups.
Website Proposal: PEP-C became an Affiliate partner with BigPlanet in order to take advantage of some income producing opportunities as well as to take advantage of their Dynamic Website Builder. PEP-C members never did anything with the income producing opportunities and no one except Sue edits the website. So why should we continue to pay $19.95 / month for ISP services when we could have our website hosted elsewhere for $7.95 to $9.95 / month?
Pros:
1. Lower monthly cost
2. Create a "new" look for the website
3. More control of the website (remember when the website disappeared because BigPlanet upgraded their Dynamic Web Builder program without advance warning?); fewer restrictions regarding layout
4. Transferring the information from the old website to the new website will give Sue a chance to update content
5. ISP fees paid in advance annually
Cons:
1. It will take many hours of work to transfer the information from the old website to the new website. (The good news is, we don't have to de-activate the old website before we're ready to publish the new one) 2. Cost of a pre-engineered web layout (website template) $50 - $85 (one time fee) - VERY worth it & highly recommended, however.
The committee's primary concern was the time burden involved. Sue assured the committee that she is willing to do this and if done one or two pages per day will take some time to complete but will not pose a time burden. The proposal for a "new" website was approved.
Real Estate Efforts: Michael Nolet distributed a copy of a flier he prepared to introduce Real Estate Agents in Gig Harbor to PEP-C and PC-NET and discussed his successes and challenges in promoting support.
School District: Dave Watson reported that Rapid Responder, a new emergency mitigation plan that will be replacing the old Pierce Responder plan is 90% complete and ready for implementation. The new plan is a comprehensive response plan for emergency personnel in the event of a school related emergency such as a shooting incident.
Dave also reported that his proposal (Nov. 2005) for PEP-C to use up to $9000 of their funds to purchase and install a large capacity generator at one of the school locations is undergoing very careful review.
ADJOURNED: 7:35 pm
