Sangamon Sun

Sangamon County Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) met March 16.

Here is the minutes provided by the Committee:

Call to Order - The Chair, David Butt, called the meeting to order at 8:30 am, at the Illinois State Fire Marshal’s Office Auditorium, 1035 Aldai Stevenson Drive, Springfield IL 62703.

There was a quorum with 23 members present: Thomas Abbott, Illinois National Guard; Katie Bates, Lincoln Prairie Behavioral Health Center; John Brennan, Village of Williamsville; Matt Bryan, Chatham EMA; Mike Burg, Menard County EMS; David Butt, Sangamon County OEM; Brian Churchill, St. John’s Hospital (SJH); Joe Crowe, Athens Fire Department; Roger Cruse, Ameren Illinois; Brian Hollencamp, Menard County GIS; Tracy Garrison, Sangamon County GIS; Ernie Goetsch, National Weather Service (NWS); Deb Hamrick, Illinois Air National Guard (IANG); Brian Hollencamp, Menard County GIS; Jim Johnson, Springfield Fire Department (SFD); Jim Leach, WMAY Radio; Tamara Leone, Memorial Medical Center (MMC); Ralph Long, IANG; Mike Moos, Sherman EMA; Bill Russell, Sangamon County Rescue Squad; Katrina Schroeder, United Way of Central IL (UWCIL); Eric Staley, City Water, Light and Power; Laura Valente, IANG; and Diana Wade, Sangamon County Department of Public Health.

Approvals of the Minutes - Minutes from the LEPC meeting of January 19, 2017, were distributed via email prior to this meeting. A motion was made by Brian Churchill, seconded by Katie Bates and approved unanimously to accept these minutes.

Welcome - A sign-in sheet was circulated. Self-introductions were made. Five visitors were present: Allie Schlosser and Heidi Winslow, SJH nursing students; Lori Canterbury, Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA); Eric Stone, IANG; and Cris Burch, Norfolk Southern Railway (NS). All were welcomed.

New Business 

Annual Review of Comprehensive Emergency Response Plan for Sangamon County – The entire plan for Sangamon County with highlighted updates needing approval was distributed by email ahead of the meeting. The Chair identified changes that appear on 14 of the plan’s 25 pages. A motion was made by Matt Bryan and seconded by Tracy Garrison to accept the revised plan. Cris Burch found a scrivener’s error in the railroad section, where an extra zero was printed. The motion was approved unanimously with the Chair agreeing to make that one correction. This plan will be dated March 16, 2017, and distributed to all LEPC members, all fire departments serving the county, IEMA Region 6 and the SERC at IEMA.

Update of Sangamon County EOP – County EOPs have a biennial update schedule, while the HazMat Response Plan must be annually updated. The plan we just approved will be the new Section 9 of the County EOP, reflecting both the 2016 and 2017 changes. At the urging of IEMA, the EOP will have a new section addressing Warning/Emergency Information. The Chair recognized Ernie Goetsch and Jim Leach for the work of their organizations to inform and educate the public after warnings are issued as emergencies are occurring. He read aloud a new paragraph about emergency information for recovery purposes thru 2-1-1 service provided to both Sangamon and Menard counties by UWCIL, recalling several presentations on this topic that Katrina Schroeder has provided the LEPC.

The Hazard Analysis Section’s update of the EOP is supported by data from a county-wide Hazard Vulnerability Assessment (HVA) that was begun as a November 2016 activity by the LEPC. The 25 evaluated hazards were rank ordered for perceived risk: 1) Cyber Incident, 2) F1/F2 Tornado, 3) Winter Blizzard, 4) Ice Storm w/short power interruption & 5) Extreme Temperatures. Everyone was thanked for participating and all were asked to answer a request to complete another HVA later this year. This section of the EOP includes a couple paragraphs on Pollution. A report was given to update us on the U.S. EPA Superfund remediation at Pillsbury Mills.

2017 Hazardous Materials Commodity Flow Study (CFS) – The Chair reported that American Environmental Corp. (AEC) was the successful bidder among 2, for approval by the County Board. AEC benefited from the mild February weather and completed winter truck counts in Christian, Menard and Sangamon counties. Greg Michaud will brief us at the May LEPC meeting. Cris will assist the Chair in securing annual CFS info for NS.

Old Business 

Quarterly Report on SFD Planning Update for Hazardous Materials – Jim Johnson gave his quarterly report. Marplot®, free, downloadable software, is the basis for this project. SFD is adding it to many computers and can facilitate this for volunteer departments also. Many base maps are still be loaded.

2016 Tier 2 Reports – Menard County Tier 2 Reports are 11 of 12 received. For Sangamon County, it is 127 of 134. Reports for Chlorine at one Menard water plant and 2 Sangamon water plants are the most serious omissions.

Hazardous Materials Emergency Planning (HMEP) Grant – The steps taken to properly procure the vendor for our CFS called upon many hours from an Assistant State’s Attorney and the county’s Webmaster. These are classic examples of indirect costs pertaining to grant activities. The Chair must submit a new grant application to permit our LEPC to be considered for the de minimus 10% indirect cost rate. This will occur before any of our expenses for the first or second quarters are filed.

Other Business 

Public Comment – The Chair asked if the nursing students cared to comment. Both did, saying that their current topic of interest is Public Health and our meeting today broadens their perspectives.

Around the Room – The Chair began by telling the IANG members how nice it was to see military jets flying into the base on Wednesday afternoon. It is noted that all introduced themselves to be from the “183d Wing”. Lori announced a HazMat Awareness Trainer class in Springfield, 3/23-24, with openings. Matt Bryan will be the class instructor. Tamara and Brian told about MMC and SJH working with amateur radio to provide for antenna spaces on both hospitals’ roofs. Diana Wade has a project with large employers like IANG for “closed POD” distribution from the Strategic National Stockpile during a Public health emergency.

Meeting Closure – The next LEPC meeting is scheduled for 8:30 am, May 18, 2017, at the Athens City Hall. Mike Burg will have hot coffee ready and he was encouraged to bring donuts too. There being no further business, a motion was made by Mike Moos, seconded by Brian Churchill and approved unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 9:55 am.

http://co.sangamon.il.us/Portals/0/Departments/Office%20of%20Emergency%20Management/Docs/Sangamon%20Valley%20LEPC/LEPC%20Minutes%2003-16-17.pdf