East Longmeadow

Local Emergency Planning Committee

150 Somers Road

East Longmeadow, MA 01028

 

To the Members of the Board of Selectmen and the Community;

 

            As with the end of calendar year 2002 this past year (2003) has continued to be one of a transitional period. Throughout the year the committee has continued to bring local emergency planning back in line where it should be.

 

The committee has worked on updating chemical reporting by receiving updated material from businesses that have been submitting Tier II - Hazardous Materials reports. In addition to the annual updates, the reporting process has been taken one step further by requiring businesses that have not filed reports in the past to start.

 

 Hazardous Materials records have also been improved upon through the use of Tier II Submittal Software for the committees record keeping. The submittal software provides an electronic record of hazardous material storage within the community in addition to the paper documents.

 

The reporting process will be stepped up again in 2004, as the committee will now require Tier II reports to be filed electronically. This was to have taken effect as of 2001 but did not happen.

           

With the assistance of the Commonwealth’s - Office of Emergency Management and the Town Accountant’s Office the provisional certification money the committee received in 2001 was located. The money has been reallocated from the General Fund and accounts have been established for the payment of committee expenses as well as to allow for receiving grant monies in the future.

 

Since September 11, 2001, Homeland Security has been a priority for our great nation. This has added to the planning requirements for this committee as well as many other town departments. Part of this planning has been a joint effort by this committee and the Local Office of Emergency Management to promote emergency/disaster planning by our residents and property owners. Disaster planning should be an on going process.

 

If and when a disaster strikes our community all of us must be prepared to deal with the disaster for the first 72 hours. This is the minimum amount of time that it will take to receive assistance from outside resources. Disaster planning information is available at the fire department, through the American Red Cross, and from the Office of Homeland Security at www.ready.gov.

 

 

 

During 2003 the chairman and Leon Gaumond, Executive Secretary for the Board of Selectmen, attended Massachusetts Department of Public Health seminars at Holyoke Community College on: Partnerships for Preparedness: A Satellite Broadcast Training Series on Emergency Preparedness & Response, and Strengthening Emergency Preparedness in Massachusetts Communities.

 

            In addition three members of the committee attended the Western Massachusetts Local Emergency Planning Seminar on November 13 at the Basketball Hall of Fame. This seminar was conducted by the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.

The seminar covered; Making LEPC’s Work More Effectively, Shelter-In-Place, the National Incident Management System, Integration of the Hazardous Materials Team in LEPC Planning & Response, and Expanding LEPC Membership Beyond the Required Thirteen.

 

            During 2003, the committee became the governing body for the local CERT – Citizen Emergency Response Team for the local office of emergency management. This is an initiative that has been instituted as part of Homeland Security by President Bush.

 

            The committee is also in the process of looking into incorporating the Town of Longmeadow into our committee and becoming a regional emergency planning committee.

 

In 2004 the committee will be updating the town’s; Emergency Evacuation Plan,

which addresses chemical storage data under the Tier II reporting system, the special needs of the community during an emergency. This plan is incorporated into the towns Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan under the local office of Emergency Management.

 

            In addition the committee has received word from the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, that there will be a seminar on filing Tier II reports. It is tentatively scheduled for February 2004. The regional office of the Department of Transportation will conduct the program. To ensure that all of the businesses in town, who are required to file Tier II reports are invited, the committee has forwarded a list of the twenty-four businesses to MEMA

 

            My goal as chairman has and will continue to be to update & improve upon the responsibilities of the LEPC.

 

Respectively,

 

Brian A. Falk, Chairman