Emergency Management/911 Commission/Communications Commission Meeting Minutes
Wednesday September 11th, 2024, 6:00 PM
Washington County EOC – Emergency Communications Building
2183 Lexington Blvd., Washington IA 52353
In attendance: Richard Young, Mark Robe, Cara Sorrells, Stan Stoops, Ryan Miller, Jack Seward, Jr., Marissa Reisen, Jared Schneider, Roy Felts, Melvin Rich, Allen Schneider, Millie Youngquist, and Tara Polek (RACOM).
At 6:01 PM, Chairman Ryan Miller called the Emergency Management Commission meeting to order.
A roll call was conducted, and a quorum was present. Present were representatives from Brighton, Crawfordsville, Kalona, Riverside, Washington, Wellman, the Sheriff’s Office, and the Board of Supervisors. Absent were representatives from Ainsworth and West Chester. The approval of the agenda was requested. Mark Robe made a motion to approve the agenda. Richard Young seconded the motion, and the agenda was approved with no one opposed. Chairman Miller then requested a motion to approve the minutes from the previous meeting, dated August 14th, 2024. Mark Robe made a motion to approve the minutes. Melvin Rich seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously.
The only item on the agenda under old business was the siren system update. Marissa Reisen reported that she still needs some IT involvement for the technical implementation of the project.
The next item on the agenda under new business was the coordinator report. Reisen’s first agenda item was the Washington County EMS Advisory Council representative. Reisen questioned if any other members were interested in taking her place on the board as the EMA/911 representative. There were no volunteers from the Commission members to sit on the Advisory Council. On September 12th, 2024, she did host a FEMA training class here in the EOC entitled: Disaster Recovery in Rural Jurisdictions.
Under other Reisen reported that there are a lot of needles in storage from building 3, that were acquired with preparedness supplies. They are outdated and need to be disposed of. Disposal is going to be difficult and could have a cost associated to it. There is a guy from Johnson County who takes them and ships them over to Ukraine. Reisen asked if there were any concerns if she did that with the old needles. There was support from the Emergency Management Commission to dispose of them in this fashion and supported their repurpose.
For purchases there was nothing new to approve. Reisen is in the process of distributing the Stop the Bleed Kits.
There was nothing for the Commission under public input. The next meeting was scheduled for November 13th, 2024, at 6:00 PM in the Emergency Operations Center.
Mark Robe made a motion to adjourn the Emergency Management meeting, and the motion was seconded by Millie Youngquist. The Emergency Management meeting was adjourned at 6:12 PM.
At 6:12 PM, Chairman Richard Young called the 911 Commission meeting to order. Present were representatives from Brighton, Crawfordsville, Kalona, Riverside, Washington, Wellman, the Board of Supervisors, the Sheriff’s Office, and Emergency Management. Absent was representation from Ainsworth. A quorum was determined. Chairman Richard Young made a request for an approval of the agenda. Roy Felts made a motion to approve the agenda as presented. Millie Youngquist seconded the motion, and the agenda was approved with no one opposed. A request was then made for a motion to approve the minutes for the last meeting dated August 14th, 2024. Ryan Miller made a motion to approve the minutes from the last meeting and the motion was seconded by Melvin Rich. No one was opposed and the motion passed.
The approval of claims was next, and Cara Sorrells detailed the claims. This month’s 911 claims contained a payment to Priority Dispatch for $24,934.56 for the Pro QA (computerized Emergency Medical Dispatch protocols) implementation. This is a progress billing, and it is the first of two payments. Also to be paid is an invoice for radio system maintenance to RACOM for $138,013.80. The total of the claims was $166,938.81 and the total of the revenue was $547.23. Mark Robe made a motion to approve the claims as presented. Robe’s motion was seconded by Millie Youngquist. The motion to approve the claims was passed unanimously.
Under new business Sorrells reported that the new spare replacement antenna had arrived. Tara Polek had previously provided a quote for $3,693.75 for the replacement. Sorrells had a sympathy card for Owen White’s family and updated the Commission that he had passed away. White has been doing the 911 rural residence and street signs, as well as being a past Emergency Management Coordinator for Washington County. Sorrells also mentioned that in regard to the RACOM maintenance invoice, yearly PM’s still need to be scheduled for the law enforcement and ambulance radios.
The next 911 meeting date was set for November 13th, 2024, at 6:00 PM. The update on the Wellman tower storm damage will be discussed in the joint meeting with Communications.
At 6:17 PM, Chairman Ryan Miller called the Communications Commission meeting to order. Present were representatives Stan Stoops, Ryan Miller, Mark Robe, Millie Youngquist, Jack Seward, and the alternates Richard Young, Melvin Rich, and Allen Schneider. A quorum was determined.
Chairman Miller made a request for an approval of the agenda as published. Jack Seward made a motion to approve the agenda as presented. Millie Youngquist seconded the motion, and the agenda was approved with no one opposed. A request was then made for a motion to approve the minutes from the previous meeting dated August 14th, 2024. Mark Robe made a motion to approve the minutes from the last meeting and the motion was seconded by Millie Youngquist. No one was opposed and the motion passed.
The approval of the claims was next, and Cara Sorrells detailed the claims. The total of the claims was $2,017.83 with no revenue reported. A motion was made by Millie Youngquist to approve the claims as presented. Mark Robe seconded the motion, and the claims were approved with no one opposed.
The small radio system committee met prior to these meetings to discuss a couple of inquiries about schools accessing the radio system. A couple of different scenarios were discussed, one being a school asking for space on our radio tower, and the other being a radio upgrade and actually sitting on our network. There would need to be some inquiries made of the SARA network to see if schools would be considered allowable on the public safety network. Tara Polek gave the estimated costs of an XG-25 mobile ($3400-3500) and an XL-45 portable ($2300). She also described other methods that could be available to the schools. Jack Seward would reach out to Mid-Prairie about their request and Jared Schneider would have Chief Deputy Shawn Ellingson reach out to Washington about their request. It was requested that they find out what access they are asking for and detail their future plans.
There was nothing for the Commission under new business. The next Communications meeting date was also set for November 13th, 2024, at 6:00 PM.
Under old business was the update on the storm damage to the Wellman site. Dion Schminke reported that they are moving equipment in today and will be getting started this afternoon. They will work on the footings and pillars first. They hope to be ready to pour the first part of next week. Then they will get started with grading and civil work. It was suggested that Shawn Ellingson deploy the time lapse drone there to capture the reconstruction.
Sorrells reported under the staffing update that we are still looking to hire one more full-time person to bring us back up to full staff. We are training someone currently with experience, and they will not take the full four-five months to train.
Millie Youngquist made a motion to adjourn the Communications Commission meeting. Mark Robe seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 6:37 PM. A motion was made to adjourn the 911 Commission meeting by Ryan Miller and seconded by Marissa Reisen. The 911 Commission meeting was adjourned at 6:37 PM.
Respectfully submitted by,
Cara Sorrells
Official Publication, minutes to be approved at the November 13th, 2024, meeting. Any amendment to the minutes will be reflected in the following meeting minute
Published in The News, Thursday, October 3, 2024 L-241
