Lowndes County Emergency Planning Committee s1

Lowndes County Emergency Planning Committee

Minutes from Meeting on November 17, 2004:

The meeting was held at the Columbus Fire & Life Safety Training Office and called to order by Ken Dyer, Chairman of LEPC.

Members Present: Ken Dyer Weyerhaeuser – CPPC Cindy Lawrence EMA LaTonya Wesley MEMA Harrell B. Neal MEMA Simeon Sungi Colom Foundation Bill McCord District 3 VFD Neal Austin Columbus Fire Department Martin Andrews Columbus Fire Department Robert Kain Columbus Fire Department James Cunningham Columbus Fire Department Mary Slater MUW Police Sharon Jones Red Cross Clint Sims Lowndes County Sheriff Department Kristin Mamrack Commercial Dispatch Larry Leavell Baptist Memorial Ambulance Carole Summerall Columbus Fire Department

8/10 areas represented and noted as quorum for meeting.

The minutes from the last minutes, September 22, were accepted as printed.

Meeting Program:

Cindy Lawrence introduced LaTanya Welsey and Harrell Neal both from the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. They gave a brief overview of LEPC and the grant award. Lowndes County LEPC received $2000.00.

. Homeland Security Update Neal Austin gave briefing on Homeland Security. Cameras are being placed around the city to monitor weather and other events. The first camera has been placed on top of City Hall in downtown Columbus. Lowndes County Sheriff Deputies attended a training class in Anniston, Al. Neal will be attending a Homeland Security Meeting on Thursday.

. CERT Teams Carole Summerall talked about the new Community Emergency Response Teams. Each team member receives 16-20 hours of training in CERT Organization, Disaster Preparedness, Fire Safety, Medical Operations, Light Search & rescue, Disaster Psychology, and Terrorism. Also, an exercise is held on the final day of training. All team members receive a CERT Kit, (goggles, first aid kit, gloves, flashlight, hardhat, whistle, etc). Training classes will be held November 29-Dec 3 from 6 – 9 p.m. at the Fire & Life Safety Training Center.

. Shelter-in-place Brochure The brochure needs a logo to identify Lowndes County LEPC.

. Other Business: Larry Leavell spoke briefly about the Decon Shelter and training that will begin in 2005.

New Business:

. Project Matter (Mississippi Anti-terrorism Training and Emergency Response) The 4-hour course focused on various forms of terrorism, community preparedness, the Incident Command System and community response.

. Election of officers will held at the meeting in January.

Next Meeting: Wednesday, January 19, 2005 at 3:00 p.m. in the President’s Room, second floor Hogarth Dining Center on MUW Campus.

Meeting was adjourned.