Ozaukee County, Wisconsin

Emergency Management

2003 presented many challenges for the Emergency Management Department, however, Homeland Security clearly ranks as one of the most critical. Homeland Security operations became a focal point for the Department since the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in September 2001. Other program areas involving Emergency Management, Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-know Act, and Water Safety Patrol operations continued throughout the year. Each program area will be briefly addressed in this report.

The Department administered three simultaneous Homeland Security grants for public safety agencies in Ozaukee County last year. The Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2002 grant award received in March 2003 totaled $57, 706. This was followed by the FFY 2003, Part 1 award received in July 2003 totaling $89,844, which included a 5% incentive allocation for early submittal of the grant application. Finally, the County also received an FFY 2003 Part 2 award of $232,709 in September 2003. These three grants total $380,259.

Each grant covered successively broader categories of authorized equipment destined for emergency response agencies in Ozaukee County. In order to determine how to allocate the spending, the Department invited each response agency in the County to participate in a Domestic Preparedness Planning Group (DPPG). The group carefully analyzed local needs and the available funding to determine an appropriate plan for each grant. The DPPG membership worked to determine what equipment should be available to manage emergency responses in Ozaukee County. Members approached the allocation from the perspective of what equipment purchases will help the greatest number of people.

Members also elected to create a Central Equipment Cache rather than duplicate resources in each community. Members charged Emergency Management with responsibility to manage, deploy and replenish the Central Cache as necessary. One area of primary concern for the DPPG focused upon equipping the County-wide Level B Hazardous Material Emergency Response Team with proper equipment to effectively handle a wide range of incidents involving chemical, biologic, radiological, nuclear or explosives weapons. The Planning Group allocated funding to develop a Primary Response Vehicle and an Equipment Trailer with a dedicated Tow Vehicle to rapidly deploy the Haz-Mat Team and Central Equipment Cache anywhere in the County.

Another area of major concern for the DPPG focused upon coverage improvements in the county-wide 800 MHz Radio system. The group allocated 87% of the Part 2 funding to address county-wide radio system issues to ensure that local responders can effectively communicate anywhere in the County. Additionally, Radio Service is installing a bank of Mutual Aid Radio transceivers to ensure that resources from outside the County can communicate with local agencies using their own equipment patched through our 800 system. One of the enhancements involves construction of a portable repeater, radio interface unit and portable antenna system permitting rapid deployment along the fringe areas of the County’s radio system coverage.

In order to be eligible for future funding, Emergency Management served as the coordinating agency for a County-wide Risk and Vulnerability Assessment and Needs Analysis. This information served as the basis for determining the FFY 2004 Equipment Grant. Ozaukee County is eligible for $190,955 in funding for 2004. The assessments required by the Federal Department of Homeland Security were very involved and at time complicated, requiring close working relationships with the municipalities in the County.

Emergency Management completed the annual Plan of Work developed in coordination with the State of Wisconsin, following guidelines from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The County Emergency Operations Plan received a complete review and update of each section of the plan, including the stand alone Hazard Analysis. The Department also undertook a comprehensive program to develop or update the Emergency Operations Plans in each of the Towns, Villages, and Cities in Ozaukee County. Emergency Management functions were supported by over $24,000 in grant funds.

The Department sponsored or participated in a number of training programs during the year as well. The State of Wisconsin regularly requests assistance in teaching a number of Emergency Management Related programs to new students /emergency managers across the State. The Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) Council continues to mature and develop, bringing volunteer agencies together in a coordinated manner to assist following major events. The Ozaukee Amateur Radio Emergency Services (OZARES) participates on a monthly basis with various training programs and modules to ensure effective communications should emergencies occur. OZARES members also function as severe weather spotters in Ozaukee County. The Emergency Management Director attended the Incident Command System Train the Trainer course at the Emergency Management Institute in Emmitsburg, Maryland in September to meet the growing need of local agencies for training personnel in the use of ICS. The Director is also one of the State’s lead instructors for the Community Emergency Response Team Train-the-Trainer course.

Public Education Campaigns undertaken by the Department during 2003 focused upon Tornado Awareness, Water Safety and Hazardous Material Awareness. Each campaign is composed of a variety of activities designed to increase public awareness in each program area. Our program involved a combination of 19 activities throughout the year.

The Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) is charged under Federal law with administration of a County-wide hazardous materials program. Facilities using, storing or manufacturing hazardous materials over certain thresholds must report and / or participate in planning for emergency releases of those materials. The LEPC prepares and updates a County-wide Hazardous Material Emergency Response Plan, collects inventory reports, reviews and accepts "Off-site" Emergency Plans. The Emergency Management Department carries out the day-to-day functions of the LEPC. The Department processed 18 Off-site Plan updates and manages the County-wide Hazardous Material Emergency Response Team.

The LEPC assists or coordinates in training and exercise activities as well. During the year, the Department coordinated a total of 5 exercises. The Hazardous Material Team responded to 21 incidents during 2003. Fortunately, most were small incidents. LEPC issued a total of $4,694.54 in invoices for services rendered and collected the full amount to offset expenses incurred responding to these calls. Grant funding helped offset LEPC operational costs by over $38,000.

The Water Safety Patrol launched the Rescue Boat in mid-April, running 60 calls for service before hauling out at the end of the season October 31^st. Ten percent of these calls (6 of 60) involved life-threatening situations requiring immediate intervention. The crew successfully returned all vessels and their occupants safely to the Port Washington Harbor.

One recurring question from last year’s budget process was, "Why doesn’t Ozaukee County charge for Rescue Boat calls to offset the cost of operations?" Many long term Supervisors recall there are several crucial factors involved. First, charging for services makes the operation a business enterprise. As a business, the Rescue Boat loses its liability protection under the Good Samaritan rules. Secondly, as a commercial operation, insurance premiums will skyrocket.

Thirdly, maritime law specifies that as a commercial operation, the "Chief of the Boat" or person in immediate control of the vessel must be a certified Captain. This certification course is an 80-hour program, all of which are held out of state. Following completion of the training, candidates must attend a certification examination (also held out of state). Course tuition, travel and meal expenses are quite steep, especially when you consider that all four Crew Leaders would be required to attend the training and become certified. The certification is good for 4 years and requires annual drug testing and other administrative functions. Additionally, each crewmember must participate in in-service training in accordance with federal guidelines.

One also must understand that not every run is a billable call. Insurance coverage limits of liability severely limit the amount recoverable from insurance payments. These latter two factors dramatically reduce the in-coming revenue stream. Finally, issuing invoices for services rendered will require establishing an accounting system to issue and track invoices, payments and manage delinquent account collections.

Consequently, the process of issuing invoices will be much more costly in both short and long term than our current process, making the process very impractical and not cost-effective. Current operation of the Rescue Boat amounts to less than 60 cents per person annually. Removing interdepartmental overhead charges drops that cost to about 35 cents per person!

Respectfully Submitted,

William F. Stolte, Director