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How is Homeland Security Working at Home?
Responses to Questionnaire for Participating CMAL Units

NOTE:  I am just starting to enter your responses, so don't be worried if your's is not here yet.

City

By question: 1  2  3  4  5  6  Comments

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City: Andover

Who was interviewed:

Interviewed by:

1. Does your jurisdiction have an emergency preparedness plan and what area does it cover?

Andover has an Emergency Preparedness Plan that covers the City of Andover.  It includes plans for how, who and when a command center is put into place; roles and responsibilities for all city employees.  It includes details such as who talks to press/media; who notifies whom, and how the public is notified.  It also outlines if, when and how an emergency city council meeting is called.  Relocation of people and a estimation of numbers of affected citizens is also in the plan.

The Administrator said that all city employees know the basic duties and protocol.  The city council members know for instance that it is their responsibility to call the city because during and emergency the city employees will be too busy to call others.

There is a separate/individual plan for utilities such as the water plant.  The water plant for instance has a plan to notify those in proximity to the plant incase of a chlorine spill, etc.  The plan includes who contacts the media/press to notify the public; and how the sheriff’s department will take care of going door to door in specific neighborhoods.  There is no system or plan for automated notification of the community such as the one in place in Eagan.

Schools have their own plans, and the city’s only responsibility is to contact the school district and the district will implement their own plan.  There is some coordination, for instance the city is aware of where/ how children are evacuated.

Sensitive sites within the city have been identified and the plan covers emergency responses for those sites.

2. Who implements your plan?

All staff and all elected officials have checklists of responsibilities,  Depending on the type of emergency, the overall responsibility could be the fire chief, the sheriff’s department, or another city official.

Andover does not have a lot of public places but has designated places for the public to go in case of an emergency,  For instance the Y is designated as a place to seek shelter and several churches are listed as available locations as well,  The ice arena has been designated as a place to collect bodies in case of a pandemic.

When asked if the public is aware that those sites have been identified, we were told that there is only so much the public can be told and that it is not the responsibility of the city to tell people where to go,  If there was an emergency they would tell the public what is available

3. What, if any, actions have you taken under your plan?

In 2005, Andover had an opportunity to test the plan after a tornado,  They recognized that there needed to be better communication,  “Learned some lessons, like coordination of command centers could be better.” Afterwards the city debriefed with the sheriff’s department about what went well and what could be improved.

For training the city relies primarily on table top training,  They don’t as a city have more structured training exercises,  Departments, such as the fire dept. are however constantly training for emergency responses,  The water department has an in-house training, and the schools within the city conduct individual training,  There is no role for community members in any of the training.

Training or educating the public is done by way of written articles in the community newsletter alerting people to the tornado/ severe weather sirens and fire safety,  The city is hesitant to be any more specific with the public regarding planning.

When asked if they are aware of whether or not the senior housing complex has an emergency plan or if group homes with in the city have plans the response was that if those facilities do have a plan, it is not the city’s responsibility to be aware of the plan and that there is no coordination between the city and facilities within the city,  There is communication between the fire department and facilities including training and inspections,  However, that is not part of the overall emergency plan.

4. What communication strategies do you have under your emergency preparedness plan?

Much of the emergency preparedness planning is done at the county level,  Andover’s plan is essentially part of the Anoka County plan which is far more detailed and specific,  The administrator said that for the most part, emergency preparedness is planned for and implemented at the county level.

Andover is part of a Mutual Aid Agreement with all of the cities in the area,  But even that works at a county level,  If Andover needs help it notifies the county who implements the plan to notify other cities.

Most of the communication with state and national agencies is also done at a county level.

If there is a situation such as loss of power, the city, if it needed to notify citizens would do so through the county sheriff’s department who would either go door to door or use a loud speaker from their vehicles,  There is not a community outreach plan.

5. Do you have adequate resources for your plan?

When asked about resources, the administrator said there is, “never enough.”  However, he also says that Andover is in good shape,  Andover has received a couple grants to help with emergency preparedness, but for the most part because of the income level in the city, the city does not even bother to apply for many grants,  The city has done everything necessary to qualify for FEMA assistance,  So if there is a disaster such as a flood, the city has qualified to get what funding would be available,  The administrator believes that Andover gets its fair share.

The North Metro Mutual Aid Agreement ensures that communities share resources such as emergency equipment,  One of the areas that the administrator feels could be improved is communication system that would allow for notification of citizens, but he feels that investment in a communication system is a county level responsibility,  He feels that staff to staff communication is excellent but the system to call in and out by other than staff could be improved.

6. How are citizens being involved in your emergency planning?

There seems to be some resistance on the part of the city to bring community members into the discussion and/or planning process for or about emergency preparedness,  We were met with resistance when we first requested the interview because they assumed we wanted to actually see the plan,  When assured that we only wanted to ask questions about the plan they were more comfortable meeting with us.

There is no public safety citizen advisory committee; there is no community emergency response team,  There are neighbor hood watch groups in Andover, and we asked if they were somehow included in the planning,  We were told that there is only so much the city can tell the public,  The city does not seem open to including community members in emergency preparedness planning or implementation.

The city has no plans to take advantage of funding sources designated for emergency training of citizens.

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City: Arden Hills

Who was interviewed:

Interviewed by:

1. Does your jurisdiction have an emergency preparedness plan and what area does it cover?

The City of Arden Hills has adopted by resolution to use the Ramsey County county-wide Emergency Operations Plan.  This plan is an all hazards plan.

2. Who implements your plan?

The plan will be activated as needed by the City Administrator, who is the city's overal Emergency Management Director, or their designee as needed.  The size of the activation will be determined by the magnitude of the incident.

3. What, if any, actions have you taken under your plan?
• The last partial response was to the severe storms in the summer of 2005.
• Staff and the City Council are continuing with training as they relate to overall Emergency Management and NIMS.
• A mock EOC activation is tentatively planned for 2008.
• The city itself was not involved in the 35W bridge response.  We contract with the Ramsey County Sheriff for police service and the Lake Johanna Fire Department for fire service.  Both of these agencies provided response to the bridge site.
4. What communication strategies do you have under your emergency preparedness plan?
• During an emergency our staff is prepared for quick response.
• We have after hours contact information for our neighboring communities as well as county officials.
• State and national would come from the state's duty officer.
• We use many different forms of communication.  Loss of power should not be an issue for communications unless it is long term.
5. Do you have adequate resources for your plan?
• The city has emergency equipment available.
• We have a county/statewidd mutual aid program.
• We can always use more funding.
• More generators for a faster response.
• We will use any resources as needed such as Red Cross, Salvation Army.
6. How are citizens being involved in your emergency planning?

We encourage citizen involvement.  The Ramsey County Sheriff's Department has a CERT program.

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City: Champlin

Who was interviewed:

Interviewed by:

1. Does your jurisdiction have an emergency preparedness plan and what area does it cover?
• Has an emergency preparedness plan
• Unique community assets and vulnerabilities—3 senior /assisted living complexes, 1 handicapped apartment building
• Privately-owned utilities or other unique private-sector targets—gas stations, Jackson Middle School has chlorine for the swimming pool
• Schools (public and private)—4 schools (8000+students within a single quadrant area
2. Who implements your plan?
• Agency or individual with overall responsibility—Emergency Management Director (Chief of Police)
• Change in leadership structure depending on type of emergency?—Fire Chief handles fire emergencies; plan is in place dependent on the type of emergency
• Involvement of hospitals, schools, NGOs such as Red Cross, religious leaders—yes
3. What, if any, actions have you taken under your plan?
• Most recent response to emergency? What? When?—straight line wind storm in Sept, 2006
• Next training/structured exercise? When? Who will be involved?—TBD.
• Most recent training/structured exercises? When? Who involved?—city staff, city council recently. Do “table tops” every year (practice in paper form around conference table.) Did a ½ scale exercise—lost child in Andrews Park Complex. Full scale regional coop exercise in Plymouth—active shooter in high school. This was a 4-8 hour training with debrief and evaluation.
• Involvement in 35W bridge collapse response?—offered but were not needed, on stand-by Most recent response to emergency? straight line wind storm in Sept, 2006
• Next training/structured exercise? TBD.
• Most recent training/structured exercises? When? Who involved?—city staff, city council recently. Do “table tops” every year (practice in paper form around conference table.) Did a ½ scale exercise—lost child in Andrews Park Complex. Full scale regional coop exercise in Plymouth—active shooter in high school. This was a 4-8 hour training with debrief and evaluation.
• Involvement in 35W bridge collapse response?—offered but were not needed, on stand-by
4. What communication strategies do you have under your emergency preparedness plan?
• Staff knowledge of what to do in an emergency—yes. Trainings have been conducted within public safety, public works, and administrative municipal staff. Have an established organizational flow chart.
• Horizontal communication with neighboring communities in emergency—yes. Champlin participates in regional/county wide emergency preparedness cooperative
• Vertical communication with state or national agencies—yes
• Community outreach plan including visitors and non-English speakers—no plan, but can call on resources at the University. Champlin doesn’t have areas of concentration of non-English speakers. Specific plan structure with school systems in place
• Public website—now mostly tips to educate public. In an emergency it would go on the “news” section. Have an on-going Champlin Public Safety show which shares citizen personal preparedness educational info
• Communication in case of loss of power—yes
• Communication with those who might feel threatened by the plan—open and regular communication with citizens to build trust. Explain circumstances.
5. Do you have adequate resources for your plan?
• Emergency equipment available and staff knowledge of its use?—yes, but it comes from outside and could be tight if emergency is widespread as many orgs will need to access the same resources. Planning is progressing to have electronic resource vendors index and contractual relationships
• Plan for sharing resources? With whom?—yes, Hennepin county wide, and neighboring communities incorporating already existing Mutual Aide relationships/agreements. Fire is a joint powers agreement with City of Anoka.
• Receiving fair share of federal and state funds?—no. FEMA gives money to the state which goes to the counties. Cities apply to county. There’s never enough. Most goes to Minneapolis and Bloomington because that’s in the best interest of the Hennepin Co. Our frustration is that the local people are there first and stay until the end. County, state and federal come for a time and then leave.
• Where decisions are made about spending—county; then local for local dollars
• Equipment and other resources needed that are currently unavailable—list is too long. Working toward regional cooperation. Everyone doesn’t need a SWAT team, for example.
• Participation by private or non-governmental resources such as Red Cross or local media/cable communications system—yes
6. How are citizens being involved in your emergency planning?
• Public safety citizen advisory committee?—no, we’re not there yet, but infrastructure is in place.
• Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)?—no
• Have you taken advantage of funding sources specifically designated for emergency training of citizen?—no
• Including diversity of age groups and population?—yes. On the forefront of emergency management is public education. We plan to start with faith and business communities, letting them know what we need and they will run with it.
7. Additional Comments:

Hennepin Co has 42 cities, 32-34 of which have their own police. The county is divided up into 4 regions: S, Lakes, N, and Minneapolis. Champlin is in the North region where the 12 cities are under the same plan: Basic Emergency Preparedness Plan. The plan covers any emergency: natural, man-made, biological, terrorist.

They are actively developing a resource manual which will be web based and accessible by police in their cars. Hennepin plus 8 other counties are working on this and eventually it will be statewide. Regionally, for example, who has port-a-potties, fencing, generators, dump trucks?

They use the National Incident Management System (NIMS) which is the best thing the federal government did after 911. It is a fluid, flexible flow chart form of management. City council and staff have been trained as well as schools and nursing homes. They are moving to businesses and faith organizations.

They are working on “Play Books”, Critical Incident Books, with pictures and maps of schools, shopping malls, etc. and are putting them on CDs so officers can know what they are getting into and can get to the appropriate spot with ease, even if they don’t know the area.

Eventually will meet with faith groups to see what they can bring to the table. For example, transporting a group from one place to another (victims or vulnerable adults), reuniting people. This is a 2 year process for training.

The plan is an overall guideline. Within it, we plan for

• Preparedness—for a flood, sand/bags, pumps
• Response—resources to do the job
• Recovery—bring it back to the way it was
• Mitigation—prevention, don’t build in the flood plain
Right now we are mitigating by working on resource management, yearly training, inspections (bridge), reroute plans (if the Mississippi bridge collapses), getting contracts with venders for transportation, port-a-potties, etc.

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City: Cottage Grove

Who was interviewed:

Interviewed by:

1. Does your jurisdiction have an emergency preparedness plan and what area does it cover?

Cottage Grove has an extensive plan.  They also co-ordinate with Washington County.  3M Chemolite has a large facility in the southern part of the city with their own plan in case of release of chemicals.  Railroad traffic is increasing and will need better communication between the railroads and this office.  There is 1 private boarding school and we are the home of District 833.  Part of our plan is to use the Jr. High and High school for mass dispensing and sheltering.

2. Who implements your plan?

The chain of command is the police chief, who is also the Public Safety Director, the fire chief, the administrator, mayor and city council.  The first person on scene would start the plan and as soon as possible a meeting would be held for further planning.  Our medical control response is coordinated with Dr. Frascone at Regions.  The schools will shelter in place.  We also cooperate with the Red Cross, Salvation Army, Chaplains Group for counseling and Ham radio operators for communication.

3. What, if any, actions have you taken under your plan?

There was a fire and explosion at Up North Plastics about 6 mo. ago.  We will be having a table top exercise this winter and during the summer we will work with the schools to plan a medical exercise in the fall.  Recently we had a simulated school shooting and a chemical release.  They worked with the county on the 35W bridge disaster manning dive boats and water rescue.

4. What communication strategies do you have under your emergency preparedness plan?

We use the National Incident Command Structure, which all our people are familiar with and EOC.  We have mutual aid agreements with 19 other departments and we work well together.  There is a 15-30 min. response time and St. Paul Fire is available for hazardous materials.  The MN State Duty Officer can assist us in getting recourses such as special equipment, phone trees, National Guard and handling chemicals.  Non-English speakers will be a problem.  Back up generators are in city command centers and more can be obtained from Public Works and Excel.

5. Do you have adequate resources for your plan?

Fire has the EOC(emergency command center.  We have our mutual aid system and Healtheast will supply extra ambulances).  The Public Safety Director makes up a budget that is sent to the administrator and then the council.  The 800 mghtz system will be up soon and that will be a big help.  We also use phones and faxes to communicate.

6. How are citizens being involved in your emergency planning?

Bob says there is a lack of interest on the part of the citizens.

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City: Eagan

Who was interviewed:

Interviewed by:

1. Does your jurisdiction have an emergency preparedness plan and what area does it cover?

The original Eagan Emergency Preparedness Plan was being revised and not available for review until December 27, 2007.  This report is based on information taken from an on-line copy of the final revision.

The City of Eagan recently updated its original plan and will be submitting it to Dakota County for their review.  It is anticipated that future changes to the format of the plan will be made to comply with Federal regulations.  The document is intended to assist key city officials and emergency organizations to carry out their responsibility for protection of life and property under a wide range of emergency conditions.

High risk facilities have been identified through other planning initiatives, and for security purposes will not be specified in the plan.  The role of schools in the event of an emergency is detailed in the Standard Operating Procedures for Pandemic Influenza.  Schools will served as congregate care facilities or shelters staffed by NGOs such as the Red Cross.

2. Who implements your plan?

The City Administrator is responsible for providing overall guidance and direction of city government resources involved in the response to a disaster.  The Emergency Management Director (Police Chief) will serve in a staff capacity to the City Administrator and to the City Department Heads and will coordinate all aspects of this plan.  In the event of a major disaster, the mayor or City Council may declare a local emergency.  Such a declaration will invoke necessary portions of the plan and will permit the city to take such actions as may be required to protect lives and property.

Various city government departments and non-government agencies are designated to provide Primary, Support & Coordinator roles. Each city department is responsible for developing their own internal SOP, resource lists and checklists to accomplish their operational responsibility.  As the size or complexity of the response increases, an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) will be activated to support the incident commander.  This will generally become necessary when the incident covers a large geographic area, or when multiple locations and/or multiple responding agencies are involved.

3. What, if any, actions have you taken under your plan?

The City of Eagan plans to follow the Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) for future exercises to ensure compliance with state and federal directives.  Eagan’s response to a violent wind storm in August, 2007 was managed through the Emergency Operations Center.  A large training/structured exercise was held in October of 2007.  Personnel from the National Guard, Mps/St. Paul Airport, Dakota County, and all neighboring communities participated.  Such exercises are scheduled to be held county-wide every three years.

Eagan's involvement with the 35W bridge collapse included sending police officers to assist with perimeter security, and providing a rescue boat from the fire department as requested by the State Patrol.

4. What communication strategies do you have under your emergency preparedness plan?

Each city department is responsible for developing their own internal Standard Operating Guides (SOGs), resource lists, and checklists to accomplish their operational responsibilities.

The Emergency Management Director is responsible for coordinating all city government communication activities.  The Eagan EOC has the capability to communicate with Dakota County Sheriffs, other municipalities within Dakota County, local hospitals, state and regional EOCs, and the mobile command vehicle.  Communication can be accomplished through the use of telephone land lines, cellular telephones, or VHI or 800MHz radio systems.

In an emergency affecting more than one political jurisdiction, officials of all jurisdictions involved will coordinate their services to the maximum extent possible.  The Eagan Emergency Management Director will assist in providing resource coordination between government agencies and the private sector.  The City of Eagan website was used with limited success in the 2007 windstorm to provide information regarding debris removal.  The public needs to be educated and encouraged to access the site for critical information in the event of emergency.

The primary EOC is at the Eagan Police Facility with several alternate locations.  Set-up of the primary EOC with dedicated phones and additional necessary equipment can be completed within 15-20 minutes.  Full activation of the EOC is highly dependent on response times of the personnel filling the required positions, but past events indicate that the primary EOC can be fully activated within 1-2 hours of notification.  Emergency power for the primary EOC will be supplied by a 150 KW generator located at the police facility. In the event of a power failure, the generator is automatically activated.

5. Do you have adequate resources for your plan?

Yes, communities of the metropolitan area are better equipped to address emergency needs than communities out state.  Coordination between neighboring communities and private contractors is essential.  Eagan is in "pretty good shape" in regard to funding.  Grant money funded the recent Disaster Exercise.  Local funding is provided by the Police Department Emergency Budget and approved by the City Council.

The Red Cross and Salvation Army are responsible for ensuring that emergency housing, feeding, clothing and counseling needs of disaster victims are met.  Eagan’s Administrative Services Director will be responsible for providing the overall coordination of congregate care functions.

6. How are citizens being involved in your emergency planning?

At the current time there is no citizen advisory committee in Eagan.  Discussion of establishing such a committee has been initiated by the Jeremy Klein, Eagan Support Services Manager.  He indicated that there is funding available for training and equipment to participate in a Federal program to develop Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT).  Currently the Dakota County Domestic Preparedness Committee meets once a month to review emergency plans.

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City: Eden Prairie

Who was interviewed:

Interviewed by:

1. Does your jurisdiction have an emergency preparedness plan and what area does it cover?

Kip Springer is responsible for direction, development and changes in the overall master emergency plan for the city.  The basic framework applies to any type of emergency with individual response activities for various situations as: tornado, fire, terrorist activity, infrastructure failure, and pandemic flu.  Mayor Young had only words of praise and accolades for the plans as developed by Mr. Springer.

Besides the official fire, police, administrative and public works employees members of the business community are involved thru PER (Partnership for Emergency Readiness) become actively involved.  PER was formed in 2006 between the city and several local businesses which work together to prevent and respond to disasters and acts of terrorism.  Each business has a committee and point person who can be contacted when needed.  Businesses must have a comprehensive and well-designed disaster response and recovery plan which allows the entity to return to normal operations as soon as possible.

Eden Prairie also has a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) of 92 trained citizens who assist the professionals at a more basic level of response and action.  CERT members are contacted via “talk about” radios so those near the emergency can arrive, size up the situation, start emergency action and alert the professionals to type of emergency and action needed.

Eden Prairie public and private schools send copies of their preparedness plans to the fire department.  Officials inspect the school for most expedient routes to exits and actions planned for staff and students.  Schools have regular fire drills.

2. Who implements your plan?

City officials, staff, and elected officials are responsible for the emergency operations center and implementing the plan which is carried out by the above plus businesses and citizens who are trained to act in emergencies.  Depending on the type of emergency, the command center would be manned by fire, police, administrative, and public works departments.

There is no hospital in Eden Prairie but urgent care clinics can be involved.  NGO’s (Non Governmental Organizations) often call in to offer assistance after hearing of a catastrophe on television or radio.  The red Cross and Salvation Army will offer places to stay, food, clothing and counsel which is especially important for fires and sites which might be blocked off to prevent harm to citizens.  The Chaplains Program, consisting of local religious leaders provide counseling, death notifications and debriefing.

3. What, if any, actions have you taken under your plan?

The most recent response to an anticipated community emergency plan was during the Y2K alert.  City personnel were called in to man their stations in the event of an attack.  Fire and police were prepared to work with the armed services within our local or regional area. Eden Prairie CERT members responded to needs in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina.  Those who could were sent to assist in medical care, counseling, and clean up.  When the I- 35 Bridge collapsed, members of the EP fire department covered for the Edina Fire Department which went to assist in search and rescue.

The next large training exercise will be for a Pandemic Flu alert.  Training for this and a terrorist event will involve a full scale exercise incorporating use of the EP Mall for housing victims as traffic can be accommodated more easily via the circle drive around the Mall.  The 55th Army terrorist group and SWAT Teams will participate.  These drills are concluded every 4 years.  Other less extensive drills are scheduled more frequently.

4. What communication strategies do you have under your emergency preparedness plan?

Basic communication for CERT members is thru “talk abouts” a system connecting them to the command center.  Eden Prairie is initiating a new radio system with new radios for which all staff were trained in the last 6 months .This system ties into systems of suburban neighbors.  Mr. Springer stated that fire department officers are in constant training.

Television(especially our local Channel 9) and radio stations broadcast information regarding emergencies more widely.  Internet communication is a viable method.  EP’s website, http://www.edenprairie.org is available for information regarding resources. Battery powered radios and cell phones can be used in case of power loss.

5. Do you have adequate resources for your plan?

Eden Prairie has 94 firefighters who operate from 4 fire stations.  Equipment is newest and updated.  Whatever is needed can be shared or obtained from neighboring cities.  The city has pumper , tanker and crash trucks as well as front end loaders.

Levels of training include EMT’s who have first responder and hazardous materials training.  Mutual aide partners from adjoining cities include Edina with a collapse team, Hopkins with a hazardous waste team, and EP with a water and ice safety team.

EP is a self-funded city with financial resources coming from the capital budget passed by the City Council.  Equipment decisions are made on short and long term bases.  Federal grants are used to initiate new programs as CERT and a planned Fire Corps.  CERT is now city funded.

6. How are citizens being involved in your emergency planning?

The maintains a level of 98 Community Emergency Response Team Members who receive ongoing training.  Businesses are involved thru PER (Partnership for Emergency Readiness).  A new “Fire Corps” is to be initiated in which citizens will be trained to go into homes to evaluate how well prepared each family /citizen is for emergencies.  CO2 and smoke alarms are mandated; each household should have one of each.  Citizens will be taught how to plan for a fire, tornado warning, and a best way to safety.

Eden Prairie has a diverse population: a sizeable number of Somalian refugees as well as other ethnic backgrounds, and a moderate complement of older citizens.  Citizens are actively involved in the welfare of our community.

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City: Hugo

Who was interviewed:

Interviewed by:

1. Does your jurisdiction have an emergency preparedness plan and what area does it cover?

Hugo has a notebook, many pages with many details.

It covers the entire city – public and private

Four different school districts cover Hugo area

Utilities – Fifth well house presently under construction.  Protection with electronic monitors

SCADA system- (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition)

Well heads – security system monitored on a daily basis

Metropolitan Council on County Rd. 8 has control and this is an independent sewer station with generator

2. Who implements your plan?

The city has an Organization Chart that defines responsibilities

Warning officer, Washington County Sheriff

Fire chief, Jim Compton in Hugo

Mike Ericson, City administrator next informed

Regions Hospital – main agreement

Schools are all aware of emergency plans

Red Cross is aware of Hugo plans: Mike Ericson has been oriented to Red Cross

A chaplain is assigned to handle Hugo emergencies

3. What, if any, actions have you taken under your plan?

Summer ’07-Straight line winds, downed trees.  Public Works Equipment with personnel to clear roads, power lines etc

NIMS – National Incident Monitoring Systems-City admin. attended in Wash. DC

Major training again once each year

Fire Dept. trains and reviews, once per month

Hugo was informed of 35 W Bridge collapse.  No personnel directly called however the Dive team from Washington County city of Scandia participated in the rescue effort

4. What communication strategies do you have under your emergency preparedness plan?

Ongoing training – see earlier info.

800 mega hertz – radio system

Mutual Aid agreement with 12 other cities

THE CITIZEN newspaper and Hugo city newsletter

Mayor of the city declares a disaster site, and informs state, Fema etc

No public website info.

No interpreters for non-English speaking residents

Hugo Fire station with have generator installed soon, thus cover center for communication

Preplan – inspections by fire dept. to businesses who volunteer to accept this service.  No business licenses in Hugo

5. Do you have adequate resources for your plan?

Emergency equipment available and staff knowledge of its use - Yes

Plan for sharing resources? - Yes

Receiving fair share of federal and state funds – Yes

Where decisions are made about spending. EOC Emerg. Operations center

Equipment and other resources needed that are currently unavailable Hugo uses the aerial rescue truck from Forest Lake when needed

Participation by private or NGO such as Red Cross or local media – Yes. See previous info.

6. How are citizens being involved in your emergency planning?

Public safety citizen advisory committee? No

Community Emergency Response Team ( CERT)? No

Taking advantage of funding sources specifically designated for emergency training of citizen?  Yes.  FEMA funds for training.  Also DNR Emergency equipment and training.

Including diversity of age groups and population?  Discussion ensued about Day Care Centers and Senior Housing units.

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City: Maplewood

Who was interviewed:

Interviewed by:

1. Does your jurisdiction have an emergency preparedness plan and what area does it cover?

Yes.  The plan areas cover all hazards and include response, mitigation, clean-up and restoration.  There are plans for the city, the schools (public and parochial), 3M, the Maplewood Mall, St. John's hospital, nursing homes, etc.  Each plan dictates what happens in event of tornado, evacuation, etc.,  The city reviews these plans with them.

2. Who implements your plan?

In the City of Maplewood the 3 major components in implementation consist of Public Works, Police,and Fire departments.  The Emergency Manager is the liaison with the city council (which makes the determination that there is a state of emergency).  Their basic plan is on the web site although some specifics may be confidential.  They have reciprocal response agreements with neighboring communities, counties, and various other entities and groups such as the Red Cross

3. What, if any, actions have you taken under your plan?

Instant command is used on a day-to-day basis--for major fires, hazardous material notification to the Red Cross, Salvation Army, etc.

Have drills about every two years.  The plan gets updated each year.

Have had drills with hospital, 3M, Schroeders, ...others.  They were at the 35W bridge collapse, but were not called on to participate.

4. What communication strategies do you have under your emergency preparedness plan?

He gave a detailed description of the organizational chart layout of who contacts whom in the city in what type of event (major or minor, local, adjacent jurisdiction, county, cell phone problems, etc.) They have a number to contact when translators are needed, but it takes time for them to show up.  County also has people available to translate.  Sometimes the best immediate source is a child.  He explained measures and methods to be employed in event relocation is necessitated, and the steps and resources that would be utilized to be able to avoid panic, accurately track those evacuated to the proper relocation site(s) (wrist bands?) and communicate this informationfo concerned family, etc..  Possible new warning system or hazard plan, concerns about special needs of elderly, vulnerable adults

5. Do you have adequate resources for your plan?

Yes, with back-up from mutual aid agreements with neighboring jurisdictions, counties, and regional.  The major needs costs are built into the police, fire and public works budgets rather than a separate emergency planning item.  They have the information and numbers of various groups, agencies or other non-profits whose services can be utilized if needed.

6. How are citizens being involved in your emergency planning?

While the plan was developed by professionals, the private side was/is involved, (3M, hospital, etc.) CERT is another community resource to be used in an emergency to help people to help themselves, their neighbors and their neighborhood.  He explained their training and role.  There will be a recruitment effort for additional volunteers who would be trained in February and would have to be at least 18 for this training.

A big barrier is sometimes not so much a language barrier as a cultural one

7. Additional Comments:

Was your community a responder in the 35W bridge collapse? Have you made any changes in your own plan since that event?

Yes.  Have been doing more on refining mutual aid agreements, doing some minor tweaking in their communications areas, etc., working closely with MRCC??

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City: Minneapolis

Who was interviewed:

Interviewed by:

1. Does your jurisdiction have an emergency preparedness plan and what area does it cover?

Minneapolis has a comprehensive emergency preparedness plan which is prepared under the leadership of Mr. Forte and includes all relevant public and private agencies in Minneapolis and is coordinated with Hennepin County, cities in the state, and with the State of Minnesota.  He is current chair of the Association of Minnesota Emergency Managers, an organization with 500 members around the state. State coordination is at the State Emergency Operations Center.  They do gap analysis for emergency management in all cities and the state.  Michael Campion is the state coordinator.

In March 2002 Minneapolis was among the cities selected by FEMA to attend an Integrated Emergency Management Course in Mt. Weather, VA.  80 officials attended the course whose purpose was to test emergency operations planning and identify weaknesses.  They reviewed and planned for a variety of possible disaster scenarios.  The shortcomings identified became the basis for subsequent planning.

Forte regards hazardous materials as the biggest risk.  This could be from a factory, railroad car, or tanker truck.  Minneapolis operates a "302 facility" which studies hazardous marterials strategies.  The two most vulnerable targets are the Mall of America and the Airport.  To some degree they have developed evacuation strategies, but often "Protection in Place" is the strategy that is needed for the situation.  Among other activities, they routinely test water intake for 55 contaminants every 15 minutes.

Planning is required by law for cities and counties, hazardous materials facilities, and nuclear plants.  They work with utilities on planning.  Schools, hospitals, nursing homes and large employers are not required to have plans.

2. Who implements your plan?

Overall responsibility is held by Rocco Forte, Director of Emergency Preparedness for Minneapolis.  He is the former fire chief, and received a commendation from President Bush for his role in the 35W bridge collapse aftermath.  Forte as coordinator works with agencies as needed by the emergency.  His office contains three bookshelves full of manuals in which the approach to the emergency in question is outlined, including the agencies and personnel and services who should be involved.  There are ten different "disciplines" in the planning, including emergency management, law enforcement, fire, hazardous materials responders, public works, health care, emergency medical service, public safety communications, public health, government administration.  The umbrella group meets quarterly.  Forte is chair of the Metro Area Plan team which meets bi-weekly at the state office.  The also work with a Senior Advisory Committee.

3. What, if any, actions have you taken under your plan?

The most recent action has been the collapse of the 35W bridge.  Thanks to prior planning, it took 10 minutes for emergency responders to arrive at the scene.  The office ran 24 hours a day for the first 4 days.

4. What communication strategies do you have under your emergency preparedness plan?

The system utilizes an 800 megahertz radio system which was implemented in studies following September 11, 2002.  It connects all levels and responders.  The city can communicate through cable TV in 6 languages.  They have a reverse 911 phone system for calling residents during an alert.

5. Do you have adequate resources for your plan?

Do you have adequate resources for your plan?
Funding comes from federal grants ($30 million over the past 5 years), the state and the City of Minneapolis.  Currently pending before the City Council is a request for $5.5 million to open a larger Emergency Operations Center.  They found during the bridge collapse that the current Center is inadequate: they need a facility that will hold 100 people.  Total cost for the expanded center is $13.  In addition to proposed city funds they have received $1.5 million in grants so far.

6. How are citizens being involved in your emergency planning?

Minneapolis has an active CERT program providing emergency authorities in neighborhoods.  Minneapolis has an extensive array of information on the internet, including a website with an overview, but not the actual plan, and a "Code Ready" on the internet—they spend 1/2 million per year to keep this up.

He feels residents will not take interest until there is an emergency.

7. Additional Comments:

The city has an emergency supply of pharmaceuticals in depots for 400,000 people.

Pandemic flu would sicken a huge number of people.  Schools and non-essential business would need to be closed.  Residents would self-quarantine at home.

City preparing for major disruptions by activists during the Republican National Convention here in 2008.

Major evacuations would be very difficult in a chemical or radiation disaster.  Highways would be clogged.  Residents would probably be asked to secure themselves at home.


1. In your opinion, what other groups should be required to have a Plan (schools, nursing homes, utilities)?

Schools are already fairly advanced in their planning and training, largely as a result of the school shooter incidents throughout the country.  Utilities have the experience of dealing with natural disasters like strong winds and tornadoes, so their emergency planning is also quite advanced.  After Katrina, nursing homes across the nation realized the importance of emergency plans particularly evacuation plans.

Most of what we call the "critical infrastructure sectors" have plans in place.

In my opinion, the general public is the group that needs to do more in terms of planning - often referred to as family disaster plans - and any help the League could give to raise the profile of this type of planning would be well worth the effort.

2. What should be the essential elements of that Plan?
   The plan should address common types of incidents that a family might face such as a power outage for several days, where families go if a major disaster strikes, what to do during a tornado warning, etc.
   
3. With whom should they work to create a Plan?
   There are three major online sources of help:
   
   • codeReady: Minnesota Disasters
   • Ready.gov - Prepare. Plan. Stay Informed.
   • American Red Cross
   • Get Prepared

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City: Richfield

Who was interviewed:

Interviewed by:

1. Does your jurisdiction have an emergency preparedness plan and what area does it cover?

He showed us a large notebook of their emergency plans.  Vulnerable areas will be water plant, city hall, and underground utilities.  Private organizations such as Best Buy and Grammercy Condominiums (2) work with them.  The Mall of America, although in Bloomington, is an area for which we have a mutual aid agreement.  Schools have had plans since before 9/11 and Columbine for lockdown procedures.  Law requires that they have 5 practice lockdowns per year.

2. Who implements your plan?

Our public safety manager is in charge of the overall plan. We spoke to the Emergency Management Coordinator.  There is a coordinator for 5 areas: CFLOP: coordination, finance, logistics, operations and planning.  It operates the same as Minneapolis and Bloomington (mutual aid agreements).  They follow rules and regulations before they deploy to emergency sites.  They have used the Red Cross and the Salvation Army.  Churches would provide shelter and feeding sites. The Red Cross coordinates that part.

3. What, if any, actions have you taken under your plan?

The last response other than the 35W bridge collapse was to a tanker truck rollover on I-494.  They had to contain chemicals with sand berms and foam. Richfield works with the airport in case of airplane crashes.  The department does drills.  They do tabletop exercises once or twice a year, suggesting different scenarios requiring improvisation.  Richfield’s department has at least regional pet sheltering responsibilities since the Katrina problem.  There is a need to provide separate shelters for people and pets.

4. What communication strategies do you have under your emergency preparedness plan?

There is a radio system that is multi-jurisdictional with surrounding communities. State and federal departments of homeland security are contacted through the duty officer of the BCA.  The community can make use of a web site and hot line numbers.  There is a suburban cable show – ECHO – that provides information in seven languages.  Spanish is the predominant non-English language used in Richfield.  Richfield has officers who speak Spanish and Laotian.  They are working on a CODE RED program which would provide free delivery of emergency messages automatically by telephone to the residences within a designated area surrounding an incident.

5. Do you have adequate resources for your plan?

We have somewhat adequate resources. We have the ability to call for help from other communities.  We share resources because it is too costly for every community to have all equipment.  The police have an 800 megahertz communication system with redundancy built in to provide back-up in case one portion of the system fails.  It is managed by the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Department.  Cell phones may not work so a back-up is needed.  In some emergency situations the provider can re-direct lines to provide more coverage.

6. How are citizens being involved in your emergency planning?

The Department is working on CERT.  A way to finance the program is needed.  Richfield has a large reserve force.  For the city to finance it becomes a budget issue, so they are seeking first to apply for grants for funding.

7. Additional Comments:

Later this month we are doing a cable program “Inside the Issues” which will deal with Richfield’s emergency plans, including health concerns.

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City: Roseville

Who was interviewed:

Interviewed by:

1. Does your jurisdiction have an emergency preparedness plan and what area does it cover?

The City of Roseville adopts the Ramsey County Emergency Preparedness Plan along with all the cities within Ramsey County.  Through the Public Safety Departments we work closely with our community partners, schools, and private businesses.

2. Who implements your plan?

The Mayor of Roseville and his/her designees have overall responsibility for the implementation of the emergency preparedness plan and leadership structure.

3. What, if any, actions have you taken under your plan?

Most recently the City of Roseville made an Emergency Declaration to Ramsey County in September of 2005, for damages sustained in severe whether.  The declaration did not go beyond the county level.

The City of Roseville continues to follow the guidance of FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security in training city employees in the incident command system and anticipating further training in the form of FEMA recommended exercises.

Employees of the City of Roseville Fire and Police Department’s participated in victim rescue, personnel and equipment support, scene safety and traffic diversion.

4. What communication strategies do you have under your emergency preparedness plan?

All these areas of communication are covered within the Ramsey County Emergency Preparedness Plan which the City of Roseville also follows.  Ramsey County Emergency Management division has a web site which links to the current plan and is available to the public.

5. Do you have adequate resources for your plan?

Emergency Preparedness Plans and developed for an “All Hazards” response and depending on the hazard allows for expansion of resources through mutual aid agreements at the local level.  Once local levels or resources are exhausted mutual aid agreements through the State and Federal level are activated.  Current plans also annex resources with private and volunteer organizations.

6. How are citizens being involved in your emergency planning?

The City of Roseville currently has a Community Emergency Response Team and continues to seek citizens interested in emergency preparedness and city recovery efforts.  Through the City of Roseville Fire and Police websites efforts are made to recruit citizens into CERT and increase general preparedness in emergencies.  Links are also provided to county, state and federal preparedness sites.

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City: Saint Paul Park

Who was interviewed:

Interviewed by:

1. Does your jurisdiction have an emergency preparedness plan and what area does it cover?

St. Paul Park has 5000 residents.  They have their own plan as a supplement to the Washington County Plan.  They also follow the State of MN chapter 12 as well as Homeland security and Environmental Protection plans.  They have a large Marathon Refinery(which has it’s own plans as well as safety and security and fire) and 2 railroad lines going thru different areas of the city.

2. Who implements your plan?

The chain of command is the chief, administrator, fire and mayor(who can declare a state of emergency).  The Department of Transportation has a plan for rerouting of traffic and evacuation of the citizens thought to be in danger.  They have response agreements with South St Paul, Inver Grove Heights, Maplewood, Woodbury, Newport and Cottage Grove which handles all medical for the city.

3. What, if any, actions have you taken under your plan?

The most recent response was an explosion and fire at Marathon Refinery with one fatality.  We train with the police and fire as well as the refinery fire brigade so we handle these emergencies efficiently.  We also coordinate with the cities in our response agreements.  Special equipment and skills are available from larger cities like Maplewood, Cottage Grove allowed us to use their command unit and they stood by in case of injury.  St Paul provides hazmat assistance.

4. What communication strategies do you have under your emergency preparedness plan?

St. Paul Park has 9 officers and all are familiar with the plan.  Cottage Grove handles medical and 800 mghtz is coming to aid in inter agency communication.  We depend on the state duty officer for other help and equipment.  Community outreach is very difficult with non-English speakers and we can’t use the AT&T interpreters, the county is not a lot of help either.  The city has several generators available and police or fire will check o the seniors at the apartments as part of our emergency plan(1 senior housing).  We review interacting with those people that may feel threatened during our training.

5. Do you have adequate resources for your plan?

For the most part they have what they need, they share an operations truck with Cottage Grove and the MN Duty Officer can find expertise and equipment.  The refinery has some equipment for fire suppression.  The railroad does any cleanup and mitigation for derailments.  Railroad engineers carry a list of what is in each car of a train and we don’t have any problems with them.

6. How are citizens being involved in your emergency planning?

Involving the public is difficult because of we are so small.  I would like to see the county or state offer regional training for CERT teams.  We have Wakota care which involves the Chamber of Commerce as a public/private cooperative.  We also have a police/fire reserve.

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City: White Bear Lake

Who was interviewed:

Interviewed by:

1. Does your jurisdiction have an emergency preparedness plan and what area does it cover?

Quite a number of small manufacturing facilities.  Three large grocery stores.  Many filling stations.  Ice-cream factory at the head of Lambert Creek, which dumps into Pleasant Lake and then into St. Paul water supply.  High School with two compuses.  Many public grade schools.  Two small private grade schools.

2. Who implements your plan?

Overall responsibility is with Ramsey County.  Employees in the Fire Department and the Volunteers.  This Department serves the above named area for fire control.  Familiar with work of Mary Kowitz, Emergency Prep. for WBL Area Schools.  "She is well prepared."&nsp; Works with Labore, Public Works Chief of WB Township.  He is in charge of Emergency Preparedness, not the Town Clerk, Mr. Short.

3. What, if any, actions have you taken under your plan?

No recent emergency.  Continual training in regard to fires and this includes many types of emergencies.  No involvement in the bridge collapse.

4. What communication strategies do you have under your emergency preparedness plan?

This centers on the actions of Ramsey County.

5. Do you have adequate resources for your plan?

Fire equipment of all municipalities is listed.  It then can be and is shared among the municipalities.  Receiving fair share of funding? Consult Bill Hughes, Ramsey County at 325-5867.

6. How are citizens being involved in your emergency planning?

Nothing was noted.  Ramsey County has an auto phone system that can block off an area and give information to all its residents.

7. Additional Comments:

Serves WBL, WB Township, Gem Lake (in Ramsey County) and Birchwood in Washington Cty.

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City: Woodbury

Who was interviewed:

Interviewed by:

1. Does your jurisdiction have an emergency preparedness plan and what area does it cover?

Yes for the City of Woodbury. It considers the following hazards and resources:


1. natural – tornadoes, floods (we've had flash floods in certain areas), winter storms etc.
2. man made – 2 Interstate highways pose risks if trucks with hazardous loads have accidents that close main arteries requiring response for the incident and alternate routing of traffic. In addition our community is within 5 miles of potential emergency sites on the Mississippi River, the BNSF Railroad line and at an oil refinery.  Our community is also in near proximity to the Prairie Island nuclear plant.
3. geopolitical terrorism – While we don't have high value targets for terrorism, the plan considers response to it.  The City may need to participate in security during the Republican Convention this summer in St. Paul.
4. Resources of our community includes Woodwinds Hospital and several health clinics.  Woodbury has a strong medical community as well as a strong, functioning city government.
2. Who implements your plan?
1. The Emergency Manager is Lee Vague, the Public Safety Director who is in charge of the police, fire, and EMS.
2. The focus is on preparedness with each day's operation viewed as a rehearsal for something that might be bigger. On every emergency call, the police, fire, and EMT respond together.
3. Public Safety works with other city departments and elected officials to coordinate response e.g. working with the public works department during recent flooding situation.
4. Each member of the team knows their responsibilities and who reports to whom.
5. The City has adopted the strategy of an organized volunteer response corps made up of several organizations and businesses.  It is in the development stage with a steering group of public safety staff and community members with background in emergency response.  Rather than the Citizen Emergency Response Team (CERT) approach, Woodbury will use a structure of volunteer organizations who provide the individuals volunteers.  Once the steering committee completes their plan, other groups will be encouraged to join.  In recent flooding situation two church groups, Explorers and Boy Scouts helped with sandbagging.
6. Designated sites have been identified for staging and shelter – primarily with four churches with space, school buildings, and Bielenberg Sports Facility.
7. Washington County receives all 911 calls for the entire county and can coordinate resources. The City also has mutual aid compacts with other Washington County communities, Dakota County, Capitol City, etc.
3. What, if any, actions have you taken under your plan?
1. A recent tornado (F-0) caused a power outage and fire in a home.  Fire Department realized that there other affected homes and instant command structure took effect.  Red Cross called to provide shelter.
2. FEMA has standardized instant command and Woodbury follows the structure.  NIMS, National Incident Management System spells out procedures and since most communities follow this, working with other communities on a more regional emergency is easier.
3. All City staff, not just Public Safety members, get training.  This has just been completed.  The volunteer groups will get this as well once organized.
4. The City was not directly involved in the response to the 35W bridge collapse.
4. What communication strategies do you have under your emergency preparedness plan?
1. Because of inter community communication, the city's Public Safety staff knows what resources are available to augment the city's equipment, e.g. water tanker for rural fires.
2. Washington County communications are technologically compatible and will be upgrading to the 800 MHz band. This requires all county communities to do the same.
3. There is vertical communications with the State and updating to meet it's requirements.  The department had a discussion with Manager of the State Homeland Security in Woodbury offices same day as my interview regarding the City's pandemic plan which has been a year in development.
4. Communications with citizens consist of the City's website but this is not timely.  A special website will be set up for the volunteers.  The City's In Touch notification system can send out public safety special alerts to those who sign up.
5. If there is a total loss of communication within the City, a backup system of information officers will staff all fire stations for citizens to turn to for information.
6. Some Public Safety personnel are taking Spanish lessons to assist them in dealing with Hispanic emergency needs – primarily with workers at the Bailey Nursery.
5. Do you have adequate resources for your plan?
1. “Blessed with equipment.” Resources meet plan requirements.  Every department member receives training which is on going.
2. Has applied for and received federal funds.
3. Funding decisions are part of the budgetary process.  Schlichting believes the department receives fair hearing.
4. Woodbury Crime Prevention and Public Safety Board is a nonprofit organization that raises money to donate equipment to the department.  It has donated money for purchase of dogs for the canine unit, a thermal imaging device for smoke filled environments and a medical simulator.
6. How are citizens being involved in your emergency planning?
1. Service on steering committees for the volunteer response corps and pandemic planning.
2. Volunteer Response Corps organized by businesses and community groups, as described in #2 e).
3. Woodbury Crime Prevention and Public Safety Board, as described in 5 d).
4. There is work yet to be done to prepare citizens to be self-help ready.  The City website “is thin” on this issue according to Schlichting and may direct citizens to use the state and federal websites.
7. Additional Comments:

follow-up telephone conversation January 8, 2008

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Does your jurisdiction have an emergency preparedness plan and what area does it cover?

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Who implements your plan?

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What, if any, actions have you taken under your plan?

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What communication strategies do you have under your emergency preparedness plan?

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Do you have adequate resources for your plan?