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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCommission On Disability - Minutes - 05/11/2006COMMISSION ON DISABILITY MEETING MINUTES Thursday, May 11, 2006 Fort Collins City Hall Council Information Center 12:15 p.m. Approved June 8, 2006 Attendance: Susan Williams, Steve Rierson, Joanie Cook, Peggy Graff, Beverly Hageseth, Bill Livingston, Dawn Scott, Melinda Suits City Staff Liaisons: Steve White, Annie Houston Guests: Steve Blois, Laura Burnett 1. Call to Order: Susan Williams, Chairman called the meeting to order at 12:15 p.m. 2. Approval of Minutes of the April 13, 2006 Meeting: Peggy Graff made a motion to approve the minutes of the April 13, 2006 meeting. Bill Livingston second. Motion carried. 3. Introductions: Introductions were made around the table and included Steve Blois, Director of Emergency Management. 4. Open Discussion General Public: 5. New Business Steve Blois — Emergency Preparedness: Steve introduced himself and stated he is a 26 year veteran of the Ft. Collins Fire Department and is in an interim position as Battalion Chief, Director of Emergency Management. He stated his duty in emergency management is that of an organizer in the event that any hazardous materials incidents or any disaster emergency befalls the community. He is responsible for moving all the resources of the community around to meet needs. He stated an emergency preparedness is referred to as more of an art than a science in that there are different components to it such as mitigation; trying to minimize the effect of potential disaster. He stated another aspect of emergency management preparedness is getting responders ready for disasters through training. He explained the recovery aspect of emergency management, stating that was what happens after a major event occurs and includes putting things back to normal. He stated that in a recovery stage the most important thing is to get the critical infrastructure up as fast as possible (includes fire stations, streets, police stations, public facilities). He stated that recently, an intelligence sector has been added to emergency preparedness (established after 911) and deals with dissemination and collection of intelligence to be utilized in a counter terrorism type of an application. Steve reported the office of emergency management is located on West Vine Street which is the training facility for the fire station. He stated that in the event of an emergency, that is where the entire city heads including Council members, department heads, city managers and the Mayor will meet to deal with the emergencies. He stated that the reason for them to be centrally located during an emergency is because of all of -1- the paperwork involved with being able to declare a state of emergency. He explained the phases the city would have to go through to get assisted from the local, state and federal government. He stated that because of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina's affects, one of President Bush's directives was to have every State's local managers to look into developing emergency operations plans for the special needs population if they didn't already have a plan in place. Steve stated that in his capacity as emergency manger, he is stating a focus group with the 211 organization which is the clearing house for volunteers in the City, and the County Health Department and one of their first responsibilities is to identify the special needs population in the community. He stated the special needs population could include the homeless, the non-English speaking community, business travelers, the senior community as well as the physically, visually and mobility impaired population. He stated that although they don't have the resources to build a system right away, they will be working toward a goal of having a plan developed. Recommendations were made to be sure to include people with special needs and the developmentally disabled people be included in the emergency preparedness plan. Dawn suggested contacting Foothills Gateway about the possibility of having some type of training session for their clients so they can practice what to do in an emergency. Steve stated that meetings will be open but they are still in the information gathering phase right now. He did state that minutes could be sent to those who are interested and if anyone has questions or comments, they could e-mail them to him and he would respond in a timely manner. He stated that when the group is ready to gather public information, they would be happy to receive that information. A suggestion was make to have Steve review this years NOD's winning city's emergency preparedness plan as that is one of the reasons they won. The NOD website is www.nod.org. Some discussion ensued regarding the emphasis being put on Pandemic Flu emergency plan and the fact that families should have FEMA's recommended 72 Hour Go Kit on hand. Steve explained the kit should be kept on had to be prepared for any type of disaster. The kit should include a list of emergency number — including doctors and family contacts, prescriptions, clothes and enough food and water to sustain a family for at least three days, however he stated that the President and Health and Human Services Director suggested all families have a three month supply on hand because in the worst case scenario, especially during a flu epidemic, the City's infrastructure would be severely strained. The Commission thanked Steve for his very informative presentation. 6. Old Business COD Brochures: If anyone needs copies of the brochure, please contact Joanie and she will bring them to you. Periodic Review Process: Susan stated that she had filled the survey and sent it in already not realizing that it should have been a combined effort by the Commission. Joanie will bring copies of the survey to the June meeting and if anyone wants to add -2- information, let her know and she will complete the form and get it in by the July 7 deadline. Peggy expressed concerns regarding the question about board meetings being conducted in an effective manner. She stated information on when and where the meeting are held should be posted and whether or not the meeting sights are easily accessible to the public. 7. Subcommittee Reports Art Show: Update: Susan reported that she and Joanie met with Amy Resseguie who is the Marketing/Publicity Assistant in Kelly DiMartino's office to discuss the art show survey. Amy took a lot of information and will develop the survey and get it back to Susan and Joanie for review. After that is done, a copy will be mailed out to former participants about the middle of June requesting they return it by a date in the middle of July. Surveys will be returned to Laura's address. Mayor's Awards/Event: Susan stated that the subcommittee will be looking at other, less expensive options for Mayor's Awards plaques for this year's event. However, no decisions will be made without the full Commissions approval. The event was briefly discussed with a suggestion that we open up the full Council Chamber for the event and have the food set up in the meeting room. That way there will be room for people to move around and mingle. Heavy Doors: No report. 8. Community News and Updates: Susan stated she had talked to Mark Orant about the possibility of airing the soccer game held at CSU during the Disability Awareness Days at CSU in March on the local cable station. She stated she will talk to Terry Schlicting about the possibility of filming him at work as he has access to rooms at CSU that are equipped with adaptive computers for disabled student use. This segment could possibly be aired on the local cable channel during October. A suggestion was made to contact Pat Ferrier at the Coloradoan for newspaper coverage during October as she is a good reporter for disabled issues. Susan asked that the minutes reflect that we have received a letter of resignation from Paul Osteroff. He is now employed and will not be able to continue on the Commission. 9. Adjourn: Bill Livingston made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 12:29 p.m. Melinda Suits second. Motion carried. Respectively submitted: Joan A. Cook, Secretary -3-