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042406 CC WS1 Min CITY OF SHOREWOOD CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MONDAY, APRIL 24, 2006 5755 COUNTRY CLUB ROAD CONFERENCE ROOM 5:30 P.M. MINUTES 1. CONVENE WORK SESSION MEETING Mayor Love called the meeting to order at 5:37 P.M. A. Roll Call Present: Mayor Love, Councilmembers Callies, Lizee, Turgeon, and Wellens; Administrator Dawson; Finance Director Burton; Director of Public Works Brown Also Present: SLMPD Chief Litsey Absent: None B. Review Agenda Without objection from Council, Mayor Love proceeded with the Agenda for the meeting. 2. EMERGENCY OPERATIONS PLAN REVIEW BY POLICE CHIEF LITSEY Administrator Dawson stated South Lake Minnetonka Police Department (SLMPD) Chief Litsey, who was also the Emergency Management Director for the cities served by the SLMPD, would review the Emergency Operations Plan for Shorewood per Council's request. Chief Litsey highlighted the items contained in the packet provided to Council. The packet contained: a follow-up memo regarding the Emergency Preparedness Workshop provided to local member city officials on November 17, 2006; a thank-you letter to Ms. Nowlan (a member of the Hennepin County Emergency preparedness Division) for her assistance with the Workshop; Shorewood's Emergency Management Ordinance; a Homeland Security preparedness brochure; a FEMA produced food and water emergency brochure for individuals; an Emergency Management Handbook for Government Officials produced by the Association of Minnesota Emergency Managers (AMEM); an Employee Personal Emergency Plan; and, a general summary of the Lake Minnetonka Regional Emergency Operation Plan. Litsey explained it was important for Council and City officials to have a personal emergency plan prepared so they would be able to focus on their civic responsibilities in the event of an emergency. Litsey stated Xcel Energy's response time during a time of emergency was less than desirable; Xcel Energy's slow response time often stood in the way of expediting the recovery process (e.g. following severe storms or tornados). He commented Shorewood's radio system was 800 MHz frequency, the same frequency used by Hennepin County and the SLMPD's radio systems; he hoped the other SLMPD member cities would be able to upgrade their radio systems to 800 MHz. Litsey stated the South Lake Minnetonka siren system was possibly one of the oldest in Hennepin County. He explained he had not asked the member cities to fund an upgrade to the sirens yet because the CITY OF SHOREWOOD WORK SESSION MEETING April 24, 2006 Page 2 of 4 technology was in the midst of change. He also explained member cities were responsible for paying for replacement parts for the sirens. He noted Director Brown assisted in coordinating the testing of the sirens each month. Director Brown stated the City should consider upgrading/replacing its sirens in 2007, noting every month at least one siren fails for some reason during the test. Brown explained the sirens were checked a minimum of twice each month. Mayor Love asked Chief Litsey to explain why residents should not rely to extensively on sirens to be alerted to possible dangers. Chief Litsey explained sirens were intended to alert people outside that they should seek shelter inside; he stated residents should purchase weather radios that would automatically go off in the event of a weather emergency. Councilmember Turgeon stated during the warm-weather months large numbers of residents are participating in outdoor activities; therefore, the sirens need to be in good working order. Mayor Love agreed. In response to a question from Councilmember Callies, Chief Litsey stated the SLMPD follows the protocol established by Hennepin County when activating the sirens. He stated the SLMPD monitors the weather in Carver County. He noted the sirens are activated for tornadoes but not for severe thunderstorms, because of the frequency for severe thunderstorms. Councilmember Lizee questioned if there was any program that made weather radios available to residents at a reduced cost. Councilmember Turgeon stated she thought Channel 11 had some type of program like that. Mayor Love stated in the same television program it stated sirens should encourage residents to turn on their radios for further information. In response to a question from Councilmember Callies, Chief Litsey stated the sirens are generally used for weather purposes. He stated a different sound was used for other types of emergencies. Chief Litsey explained any agency or person involved in a city emergency operation plan (e.g. SLMPD personnel, the EFD personnel, public works employees, city officials, and any organization where people could be sheltered in an emergency) must take National Incident Management System (NIMS) 700 training by September 2006. He explained although the Federal Government couldn't force the training to be taken, it may disqualify a city from any form of federal grant money. He noted the training could be completed online, or an instructor could conduct group sessions for member cities during the summer. He also noted there was an advanced level of training Director Brown and he would have to take. Mayor Love stated he would prefer an instructor provide the training. He then stated there may be a limit of what can be done to respond to an emergency, but there should not be a limit on what was done to prepare for one. Councilmember Turgeon suggested what ever type of training was done that it be coordinated with Deephaven's training, noting Deephaven had emergency operations people and the EOPs for the two cities were similar. Chief Litsey suggested the training occur again within six months of new Councilmembers being elected. Chief Litsey explained a Lake Minnetonka Regional Emergency Management, Preparedness Planning and Review Committee consisting of the Emergency Management Directors (most frequently the police chief for the city) for the Lake Minnetonka area had been established to bring some commonality to the plans for cities around Lake Minnetonka. He stated the Committee had prepared a model ordinance, noting each city had to adopt the ordinance separately once the city had modified it based on the specific CITY OF SHORE WOOD WORK SESSION MEETING April 24, 2006 Page 3 of 4 needs of that city. The Committee was responsible for ensuring the cities' EOPs were consistent with State provisions. Litsey then stated the Committee had received a grant to purchase a portable Emergency Operations Trailer that could be used as a command post, and the trailer was stored at the SLMPD. He noted the group met monthly. Chief Litsey reviewed the four phases of emergency management (preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation), the Mayor's and Council's responsibilities, the emergency management declared emergency flow chart, and the Lake Minnetonka Regional Emergency Plan Membership. Chief Litsey explained the EOP had two main sections - a relatively public section, and an Emergency Plan Resource Manual which was security sensitive and distributed to key officials. He then highlighted the public section of the Lake Minnetonka Regional Emergency Operations Plan that had been distributed. Director Brown noted the City had adopted a policy with regard to debris cleanup, and Hennepin County would also provide some level of assistance with debris management during an emergency. He suggested Council use its influence to improve XceI Energy's response time to identify which fallen wires were "live" wires; the Public Work's Staff cannot begin debris removal around fallen power lines until XceI Energy ensures the fallen wires were not "live". He noted Xcel Energy did not encourage placing wires underground as it was more costly to troubleshoot problems with underground wires. Administrator Dawson explained a special Council meeting would be called as soon as possible in the event of an emergency, and the first location to consider for the meeting would be City Hall. He also stated it was not necessary to adhere to normal meeting notification requirements. Director Brown explained the City would not be eligible for possible FEMA reimbursements if it had not declared an emergency as soon as it was practical. Chief Litsey stated documentation was critical. Brown reviewed what had happened during a declared emergency eight years ago; Council met in the first few hours of the declared emergency to prepare a policy that was practical, would support opening the major roadways as-soon-as-possible, and would ensure there was adequate funding to support the effort until FEMA monies were possibly made available. He stated the most likely emergency would be the result of a tornado, and in that situation debris management became a monumental task that would require Council to establish additional policies. Following discussion regarding the ability to reach Councilmembers in the event of a declared emergency, Mayor Love suggested all Councilmembers provide a contact phone number (i.e. mobile phone number) that can be used in that situation. He stated there were weather radios which had back-up generators that had the capability to re-charge a mobile phone. Chief Litsey suggested Councilmembers contact City Hall in the event of an emergency, and that would be the place to report if the building was usable. Director Brown then explained Staff had been directed to ensure there was portable back-up power for City Hall and the Public Works Shop, and Staff was in the process of determining how to accomplish that. Chief Litsey stated the back-up generator at the West Side Station was tested monthly. Administrator Dawson explained there were plans to conduct a simulation emergency exercise during the summer, and only a few selected people would be made aware in advance of when it was going to happen (those people did not include Council and Staff). CITY OF SHORE WOOD WORK SESSION MEETING April 24, 2006 Page 4 of 4 Chief Litsey stated the SLMPD was trained in the handling of hostage situations. Chief Litsey encouraged Council to become very familiar with the City's EOP and the Emergency Management Handbook. He then stated the process for communicating information during an emergency should be clearly documented and understood. He also stated it was important to educate residents about personal EOPs and the City EOP through newsletters, word-of-mouth, etc. Mayor Love stated during Y2K scenario planning a number of disaster planning Issues had been identified and resolved. 3. OTHER There was no other business for discussion. 4. ADJOURN Turgeon moved, Wellens seconded, Adjourning the City Council Work Session Meeting of April ::;:::~:::::~::;:;:sed 5/0. (j/~).'_~,~ ~:-. Christine Freeman, Recorder J. --------" - Woody Love, Mayor ATTEST: